Investigations With Species of Dunaliella Teod.

Zusammenfassung

A mysterious phenomenon, the “red flowering” of salt watersheds located in low latitudes worldwide, was known long before the genus Dunaliella was described. The Academy of Sciences in Paris requested A. Payen ascertain the origin of the phenomenon. He believed the red coloration of the salt water was caused by a tremendous increase in the population of brine shrimp (Artemia salina L.) and their subsequent destruction due to the high concentration of salts. The die-off was accompanied by a distinctive violet odour. Subsequently, Michel Felix Dunal (1789-1856), a professor of botany in Montpellier, France, questioned this conclusion (1838). He found microscopic algae that he named Protococcus salinus Dunal and Haematococcus salinus Dunal in the salt bogs of Montpellier on the South coast of France. According to Dunal the algae were responsible for the coloration of the salt water. A special committee of the Academy of Science confirmed his conclusion although discussion about the cause of the coloration continued for nearly another century