Pigment chromatic adaptation in Cyclotella caspia Grunow (Bacillariophyta)

the diatom cyclotella caspia grunow, isolated from surface waters of the ubatuba region (s？o paulo state, brazil) was submitted to different light spectral distributions for examination of its adaptative response. growth rate and the photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll a, chlorophyll c, carotenoids and phaeopigments were measured under white, blue and red light of the same intensity (8 and 20 μe.cm-2.s-1). growth rate increased under blue light while red light increased chl a concentration. the relative proportion of chl a and carotenoids did not change, demonstrating the absence of complementary chromatic adaptation.