Bacterial and algal chlorophyll in two salt lakes in Victoria,Australia

The standing crops of autotrophic sulphur bacteria in terms of bacterial chlorophyll at various depths is described. They were found to be in larger quantities than algal chlorophylla. Both at the surface and at the bottom, bacterial chlorophyll was about ten times as much as algal chlorophylla. Their population in smaller quantities at other depths may be due to the heavy grazing by the zooplankton. It is suggested that the bacteria may be a good food source for the zooplankton. It is also suggested that the deep orange pigmentation in the Copepoda may be due to their grazing on the pink bacteria.