Seasonal patterns of coccolithophores in the ultra-oligotrophic South-East Levantine Basin, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Coccolithophore seasonality was examined in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, both at the edge of the coastal shelf and in the open sea offshore Israel during 2018–2019. Oceanographic conditions varied seasonally between markedly stratified and ultra-oligotrophic from April to September and water column-mixing with relatively higher nitrate levels from October to February. Coccolithophores were quantified during the early (April), mid (July) and late (October) stratification period and in the mixing period (January). During stratification, cell densities progressively declined to