Phytoplankton monitoring in the South Adriatic (Adricosm-STAR project), 2008-2009. Discrete water samples are taken at multiple depth layers. The samples were fixed with Ca(HCO3)2-buffered formaldehyde (0.8% final concentration) and cell abundance and species composition of phytoplankton were estimated according to Utermöhl’s method (1958), using an inverted microscope equipped with phase contrast, at 200-320-400x final magnifications.