Diversity and Distribution of Recent Ostracoda in the Continental Shelf Sediments off Pentakota and Kalingapatnam, Central East Coast of India

Twenty-nine species of Recent Ostracoda have been identified from the continental shelf sediments off Pentakota and Kalingapatnarn, Central East Coast of India. Of the twenty-nine species, five species are abundant, nine species are common and fifteen species are rare in occurrence. The distribution and diversity of the Ostracoda suggest that the inner and outer shelf environments are more favourable than the middle shelf of Pentakota whereas the inner shelf is more favourable than the middle and outer shelf environments off Kalingapatnam. On the whole, the Pentakota shelf environment is more favourable for the Ostracods to survive than Kalingapatnam shelf.