CHECK LIST OF PLANKTON IN THE GULF OF VLORE (ALBANIA)

A check list of plankton species in an Albanian coastal area is presented. Data derive from 384 samples collected with 3 different sampling devices at 20 stations over 2 years (2007-2008) in two oceanographic cruises in the framework of the Interreg CISM project coordinated by CoNISMa. A total of 425 plankton organisms were recognized, 300 of them as species. The plankton of the Gulf of Vlore was dominated by Crustacea, Dinophyta, Diatomeae, and Ciliophora. Only Penilia avirostris was collected with all the sampling devices, this demonstrating that an integrated sampling effort provides a more effective description of the reality. The checklist will be useful for studies in neighbouring areas, suchj as that of the FP7 CoCoNET project. The present inventory is also useful in the framework of EU Marine Strategy Directive