Applicability of flow imaging microscopy (FlowCAM) as a ballast water investigation tool

• Published in: Regional studies in marine science Vol. 60; p. 102821
• Main Authors: Chen, Yating, Wang, Qiong, Xue, Junzeng, Yang, Yifan, Wu, Huixian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2023
• Subjects: Ballast water; FlowCAM; Phytoplankton; Species identification; Phytoplankton; FlowCAM; Species identification; Ballast water
• ISSN: 2352-4855; 2352-4855
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2023.102821

With the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) in force, exploring an efficient tool for organism detection is critical for successful ballast water management. We evaluated the capability of flow imaging microscopy (FlowCAM) for investigating the abundance, size, and classification of 10–50 μm organisms in ballast water by comparing with a fluorescence microscope (Olympus BX53). FlowCAM (10×) performed better than FlowCAM (20×) for abundance measures, showing a significant correlation with the results of the microscope (R2=0.9966). And there existed significant differences in the counting results of Prorocentrum micans generated by FlowCAM (10×), FlowCAM (20×), the microscope (p < 0.05). We found that W (Width) showed the minimum dimension measurement. In addition, we can identify particles with a W between 10.0 and 53.5μm as 10-50μm organisms classified in the BWM Convention D-2 standard. For some species, recognition rates generated by FlowCAM were significantly lower than the microscope (p < 0.05), indicating that the identification accuracy of FlowCAM needs to be further improved. The results of our study showed that FlowCAM may become a promising tool for ballast water analysis if instrumental sensitivity and biological characteristics can be taken into account.