[Application of the method of capillary microscopy to determing the total population and biomass of microorganisms in seas and oceans].

The total number and biomass of microorganisms in samples of sea water were determined by direct counting in capillaries by Perfiliev and Gabe after preliminary concentration of water by filtering it through membrane filters. Reliability of the figures obtained upon concentration of diluted bacterial suspensions (10(3) to 10(5) cells/ml) was checked with dilutions of the cell suspension of Bacterium parvulum. The total number of the microorganisms was determined in 22 samples of sea water fixed with 4 to 5 per cent formalin, and deviations for each capillary were calculated.