Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences

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Occurrence of Scleractinian corals from the outer Gulf of Kachchh, West coast of India


Affiliations
1 Division of Fisheries Resources Harvest and Post Harvest Management, ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai – 400 061, India
2 Department of Aquaculture, Junagadh Agricultural University – College of Fisheries, Veraval, Gujarat – 362 265, India
3 Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Junagadh Agricultural University – College of Fisheries, Veraval, Gujarat – 362 265, India

Coral reefs of the outer Gulf of Kachchh were surveyed for abundance and occurrences of scleractinian coral. The survey was conducted in the intertidal zone of three selected sites, namely Okha, Mithapur, and Shivrajpur. The maximum live coral cover area percentage was observed at Shivrajpur (72 %) followed by Mithapur (55.5 %) and Okha (45 %). In the present study, 23 species of scleractinian corals belonging to eight different families and 12 genera were recorded. The highest numbers of the scleractinian corals were recorded from the Shivrajpur with 22 species belonging to 12 genera followed by Mithapur with 16 species belonging to ten genera, and Okha 12 species belonging to eight genera. The Poritidae family contributed the highest number of scleractinian coral species assemblage followed by the Faviidae and Merulinidae family at all the stations. Geo-morphology of the coast and anthropogenic pressures are the two factors that seemed to have more impact on the distribution and diversity of scleractinian corals.
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  • Occurrence of Scleractinian corals from the outer Gulf of Kachchh, West coast of India

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Authors

N N Katira
Division of Fisheries Resources Harvest and Post Harvest Management, ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai – 400 061, India
B B Nayak
Division of Fisheries Resources Harvest and Post Harvest Management, ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai – 400 061, India
A K Jaiswar
Division of Fisheries Resources Harvest and Post Harvest Management, ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai – 400 061, India
N H Joshi
Department of Aquaculture, Junagadh Agricultural University – College of Fisheries, Veraval, Gujarat – 362 265, India
H Kardani
Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Junagadh Agricultural University – College of Fisheries, Veraval, Gujarat – 362 265, India
G Deshmukhe
Division of Fisheries Resources Harvest and Post Harvest Management, ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai – 400 061, India

Abstract


Coral reefs of the outer Gulf of Kachchh were surveyed for abundance and occurrences of scleractinian coral. The survey was conducted in the intertidal zone of three selected sites, namely Okha, Mithapur, and Shivrajpur. The maximum live coral cover area percentage was observed at Shivrajpur (72 %) followed by Mithapur (55.5 %) and Okha (45 %). In the present study, 23 species of scleractinian corals belonging to eight different families and 12 genera were recorded. The highest numbers of the scleractinian corals were recorded from the Shivrajpur with 22 species belonging to 12 genera followed by Mithapur with 16 species belonging to ten genera, and Okha 12 species belonging to eight genera. The Poritidae family contributed the highest number of scleractinian coral species assemblage followed by the Faviidae and Merulinidae family at all the stations. Geo-morphology of the coast and anthropogenic pressures are the two factors that seemed to have more impact on the distribution and diversity of scleractinian corals.