Nannochloropsis sp. The diatoms Skeletonema costatum, Ach- nanles sp. and Chaetoceros sp. had higher specific growth rates i.e. 0.87e0.99d1 than other strains. However, the Nanno- chloropsis group attained the best overall biomass yield i.e. 0.2e0.4 g L1. From the screening, Nannochloropsis and several other strains among the best biomass producers were further investigated for lipid accumulation. Naturally, a strain which has high biomass productivity may manifest in a relative low lipid productivity and vice versa [18].