DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION DENSITIES OF YEAST SPECIES IN PACIFIC WATER, AIR, ANIMALS, AND KELP OFF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA1

Abstract

Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula species were of common occurrence in water of the open sea and of a coastal zone. In a coastal water body, species of Metschnikowia were predominant. High counts of M. zobellii were obtained from fish guts ( Atherinopis affinis littoralis and Trachurus symmetricus ) and decomposing kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera ), while other yeast species occurred in low numbers if at all. These substrates apparently constitute a reservoir for marine occurring M. zobellii. The air over the area studied was yeast free. Free‐living California Sea Lions ( Zalophus californianus ), cormorants ( Phalacrocorux penicillatus ), and sea urchins (species of Strongylocentratus ) apparently do not constitute reservoirs of marine occurring yeasts, their gut contents being yeast free. The Western Gull (Larus occidentalis ) had high intestinal counts for Torulopsis glabrata, Candida tropicalis, and C. krusei. The reported occurrence of these species in warm seawater bodies and their apparent absence from cold Pacific water suggest the importance of temperature for secondary marine growth of pollution yeasts.