Recently, the number of algological studies in Turkish inland waters has increased remarkably. However, taxonomic and floristic studies on algae in the Euphrates basin are still scarce. This study contributes new information to the knowledge of the Turkish freshwater algal flora. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2018) 42: 533-542 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article New records and rare taxa for the freshwater algae of Turkey from the Tatar Dam Reservoir (Elazığ) 1, 1 2 3 3 Memet VAROL * , Saul BLANCO , Kenan ALPASLAN , Gökhan KARAKAYA Department of Basic Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries, İnönü University, Malatya, Turkey 2 Institute of the Environment, León, Spain 3 Aquaculture Research Institute, Elazığ, Turkey Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: Recently, the number of algological studies in Turkish inland waters has increased remarkably. However, taxonomic and floristic studies on algae in the Euphrates basin are still scarce. This study contributes new information to the knowledge of the Turkish freshwater algal flora. Phytoplankton samples were collected from the Tatar Dam Reservoir in the Euphrates Basin between January 2016 and December 2016. Two taxa were recorded for first time and 14 rare taxa for the freshwater algae of Turkey were identified in this study. The new records belong to the phylum Bacillariophyta, whereas taxa considered as rare belong to the phyla Chlorophyta, Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Charophyta, Euglenophyta, and Bacillariophyta. The morphology and taxonomy of these taxa are briefly described in the paper and original light microscopy illustrations are provided. Key words: Freshwater algae, new records, rare taxa, Tatar Dam Reservoir, Turkey 1. Introduction Algae are the undisputed primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. They play also an important role in biological monitoring programs since these organisms reflect the health of their environment through their abundance and diversity. Therefore, they are widely used as indicators of water quality and the pollution status of freshwater ecosystems (Stevenson et al., 1996). The number of algological studies in inland waters .
