Title: Identification of 'Blue tears' and its relationship with water quality of coastal waters in Pingtan Island

Authors: Yingbing Zou; Junkun Chen; Xiuling Ma; Yuxiang Yang; Jianyong You; Qianhuo Chen; Yi Zheng; Shengchang Xiang

Addresses: Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China ' Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China ' Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China ' Pingtan Environmental Monitoring Center of Fujian, Pingtan, 350400, China ' Pingtan Environmental Monitoring Center of Fujian, Pingtan, 350400, China ' Fujian Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China ' College of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China ' Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

Abstract: This is the first example of research on the identification of 'Blue tears' and its effect on water quality. In view of the fascinating 'Blue tears' appearing in Pingtan Island from April to July in recent years, a survey on plankton and regular water quality was conducted in Pingtan related sea areas all throughout the year 2018. It showed that plankton increased sharply during the bloom of 'Blue tears' in May and June, and Noctiluca scintillans with bio-luminescence ability is one of the main dominant species, up to 50,700 cells·L−1 in May. Phytoplankton availability largely determined the bloom of N. scintillans. Different from the reported work that Noctiluca scintillans may cause the sea water to deteriorate, the assimilative capacity of the coastal waters in Pingtan Island holds good. The growth and disappearing process of N. scintillans was also proposed.

Keywords: Pingtan Island; coastal waters; Noctiluca scintillans; water quality; blue tears.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2021.130310

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2021 Vol.70 No.1/2, pp.86 - 109

Received: 05 Sep 2021
Received in revised form: 04 Aug 2022
Accepted: 17 Oct 2022
Published online: 17 Apr 2023 *

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