Halophilic algae were collected from Kelambakkam salt pan which is situated in the outskirt of Chennai, and they were identified. A total number of 16 taxa were reported, of these 4 taxa belong to the class Cyanophyceae, 2 to Chlorophyceae, and 10 belong to Bacillariophyceae. During the study period, it was observed that the species diversity has decreased sharply when the salinity of the water increases. In the high saline region i.e. in the crystallizing area only the species of Dunaliella and Nitzschia closterium were seen. Dunaliella salina was the most prominent species in the crystallizing area forming orange-red patches on the salt crystals. When the algae were cultured under laboratory condition, most of the species were failed to grow except Oscillatoria salina and Dunaliella sp.
