Salinity was measured by the argentometric method [16]. Total dissolved and suspended solids were determined according to the Standard Methods for Analysis of Water and Wastewater [17]. Protein content was determined by
the Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) method. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) analyses on the clear supernatant (centrifuged at 6000 × g for 30 min) of samples were performed according to standard methods. Sufficient amount of HgSO4 (HgSO4/Cl = 10) was added to the samples to overcome the chloride ion interference in COD measurements. Biomass concentrations (for growth optimization studies) were determined by reading the absorbance of samples in a UV-spectrophotometer (Shimazdu, UV-2101 PC) at 600 nm.