Algal vegetation in southern coastline of Iran

Algae are the main producer in aquatic ecosystems of ocean and seas which cover 71 percent of the earth planet. These organisms are environmentally very important. Seaweeds also produce a large part of oxygen in the atmosphere. Sothern parts of Iran are bordered with coastlines of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea which have high valuable biological potential that marine seaweeds are one of the most important one among them. During recent years over than 347 species of marine algae have been recognized and reported from this area including 167 Rhodophyta, 79 Chlorophyta, 80 Phaeophyta, 15 Cyanophyta and 6 Diatoms. Some of these seaweeds show high productivity and can be cultivated in commercial scale that will result many job opportunities in Iran.