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Kailash Chandra , P. T. Rajan

Abstract

The present paper reports the occurrence of 88 species ot birds from different localities or Mount Harriett National Park, South Andamans.

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C. Raghunathan ¹, K. Venkataraman ², P. T. Rajan ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744 102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, IN
2 Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053, IN

Abstract

Sea cow (Dugong dugon) is the only extant species in the Family Dugongidae and true herbivorous marine mammal. It is listed as vulnerable to extinction at a global scale by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The present paper documents the status of dugong in Andaman and Nicobar Islands by collating the published data as well as investigation through undersea surveys in selected places of this archipelago. Based on the existing data on dugong in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it is observed that over the period of 51 years since 1959, a total of 76 dugongs were recorded either in the form of live or dead. Among them 47 dugongs were from Andaman Islands, whereas 29 encountered from Nicobar Islands. The distribution of this mammal is comparatively high in north Andaman, Ritchie's Archipelago and Great Nicobar Island. Potential threats and managerial strategies for the effective conservation of dugongs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have also been discussed in the paper.

Keywords

Dugong dugong, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Extinction.

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C. Raghunathan ¹, C. Sivaperuman ¹, Ch. Satyanarayana ², P. T. Rajan ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Station, Port Blair-744 102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, IN
2 Zoological Survey of India, 2nd Floor, Fireproof Spirit Building, IndianMuseum Complex, 27, JawaharlalNehru Road, Kolkata-700 016,W. B., IN

Abstract

The density and diversity of corals and their associated faunal communities were investigated by underwater survey in Katchal and Teressa Islands of Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago in order to assess the post-tsunami status of corals. The density of scleractinian corals in Katchal Island is 1-13 colonies/10m², and in Teressa Island it ranged from1 to 18 colonies/10m². Fifteen species of scleractinian corals belonging to 13 genera and 6 families with the species diversity of 0.98 were identified during the survey in Katchal Island. Whereas in Teressa Islands 25 species of corals under 14 genera and 7 families with the species diversity of 1.17 have been reported. The density and diversity of coral associated faunal communities such as zooplankton, octocorals, sponges, molluscs and echinoderms were also studied at both the islands.

Keywords

Corals, Post-Tsunami, Katchal & Teressa Islands, Coral Associated Fauna.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, N. Vikas ²

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744102, IN
2 Dive India, Havelock, South Andaman, IN

Abstract

The last few years have seen a significant increase of knowledge about the fishes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. During this study, four new record of fishes were made under 1 order, 2 families and 4 genera: Lepidozygus tapeinosoma (Bleeker, 1856), Neopomacentrus cyanomos (Bleeker, 1856), Pomacentrus pavo (Bloch, 1787), and Acanthurus auranticavus Randall, 1956 associated with coral reefs.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, N. Vikas ²

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744102, IN
2 Dive India, Havelock, South Andaman, IN

Abstract

Andaman Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6°45´-13°45´N and 92°10'-94°15´E, consist of 352 islands 220 islets and rock and cover a distance of almost 470 km over North South, with a coastline of 1962 km, and bring in for India an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 600 thousand sq km. The coast is under the influence of a diverse set of oceanographical and ecological conditions. The shelf topography of these islands show frequent rises supporting coral reefs, which are characterized as fringing reefs on the eastern side and barrier reefs off west coast; the depressions are known as passages and straits.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, C. R. Sreeraj ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744102, IN

Abstract

Andaman Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6°45´-13 45´N and 92°10´-94°15´E, consist of 352 islands 220 islets and rock and cover a distance of almost 470 km over North South, with a coastline of 1962 km, and bring in for India an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 600 thousand sq km. The coast is under the influence of a diverse set of oceanographical and ecological conditions. The shelf topography of these islands show frequent rises supporting coral reefs, which are characterized as fringing reefs on the eastern side and barrier reefs off west coast; the depressions are known as passages and straits. Besides coral reefs, the shore is composed of rocky and sandy areas and vast stretches of Mangrove swamps, also few freshwater rivers and streams. A comprehensive and authoritative account of fishes of the Indian region including Andaman and Nicobar Islands was published by Francis Day (1870, 1875-78 and 1888). Herre (1941) listed 490 species of fishes. Talwar (1990) prepared a comprehensive list of fishes consisting of 724 species, followed by a supplementary list by Kamla Devi (1991) containing 71 species of fish. The recent developments in the fish taxonomy of these Islands are the works by Kamla Devi and Rajan (1991), Mishra and Krishnan (1992), Krishnan and Mishra (1992), Dhandapani and Misra (1993), Rajan (2001 a, 2001b, 2003, 2009), Rajan et al. (1992, 1993a, 1993b, 2012), Kamla Devi et al. (1993), Kamla Devi and Rao (1997, 2003a, 2003b, 2007), Rao et al. (1992, 1992a, 1992b, 1994, 1993a, 1993b, 1997, 2000), Rao (2003, 2009), Rao and Kamla Devi (1996, 1997a, 1997b, 1998, 2004), Soundararajan and Dam Roy (2004), Remadevi et al. (2010) Rajaram et al. (2007), Ramakrishna et al., 2010. Smith-Vaniz, 2011, Smith-Vaniz & Allen (2012) and Rajan and Sreeraj (2014).

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P. T. Rajan ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744102, IN

Abstract

Andaman Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6°45´-13 45´ N and 92°10´-94°15´ E consist of 572 islands, islets and rocks and covers a distance of almost 750 km North-South, with a coastline of 1962 km, and bring in for India, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 600 thousand km². A comprehensive and authoritative account of fishes of the Indian region including Andaman and Nicobar Islands was published by Francis Day (1870). Herre (1941) listed 490 species of fishes. Talwar (1990) prepared a comprehensive list of fishes consisting of 724 species; followed by Rajan (2002) and Rajan et al. (2013) listed a total of 1434 species of fish including 48 species of groupers. Randall and Heemstra (1991) described 110 species of groupers from Indo-Pacific region.

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P. T. Rajan ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744102, IN

Abstract

Andaman Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6°45´-13°45´ N and 92°10´– 94°15´E consist of 352 islands 220 islets and rock. It covers a distance of almost 470 km over North South, with a coastline of 1962 km, and brings in for India an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 600 thousand sq km. The coast is under the influence of a diverse set of oceanographic and ecological conditions. The shelf topography of these islands show frequent rises supporting coral reefs, which are characterized as fringing reefs on the eastern side and barrier reefs off west coast; the depressions are known as passages and straits. Besides coral reefs, the shore is composed of rocky and sandy areas and vast stretches of mangrove swamps, also few freshwater rivers and streams.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, C. R. Sreeraj ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744102, IN

Abstract

Andaman Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6° 45´ -13 45´ N and 92° 10´ – 94° 15´ E consist of 352 islands 220 islets and rock. It covers a distance of almost 470 km over North South, with a coastline of 1962 km, and brings in for India an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 600 thousand sq km. The coast is under the influence of a diverse set of oceanographic and ecological conditions.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, C. R. Sreeraj ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre Haddo, Port Blair, IN

Abstract

Mount Harriet National Park is lies between 10°43’57N latitudes and 92°43’41 to 92°47’11E longitudes. The area of park is about 46.62 km2 (Fig. 1). The park possesses various hill ranges, which generally lie in the north and south direction of islands. From these, numerous spurs and ridges branch out in east and west directions. The hills are steeper on the east than on west. The principal peaks are Mt. Koyob (460m, the highest peak of N.P), Mt. Hext. (424m), Mt. Harriett (422m), Mt. Godridge (377m) and Mt. Carpenter (373m). The beaches on eastern coast are generally rocky with a few sandy patches.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, C. R. Sreeraj ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Haddo, Port Blair, IN

Abstract

Mount Harriet national park lies between 10°43'57"N latitudes and 92°43'41" to 92°47'11" E longitudes. The area of park is about 46.62 km2 and there is also a proposal to extend the area by another 1700 hectares to include the adjacent hill ranges on Southern part and to conserve the marine ecosystem along the Eastern coast (Fig. 1). The park possesses various hill ranges, which generally lie in the north and south direction as islands. From these, numerous spurs and ridges branch out in east and west directions. The hills are steeper on the east than on west. The principal peaks are Mt. Koyob (460m, the highest peak of N.P), Mt. Hext. (424m), Mt. Harriett (422m), Mt. Godridge (377m) and Mt. Carpenter (373m).

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P. T. Rajan ¹, C. R. Sreeraj ¹

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman Nicobar Regional Centre, Haddo, Port Blair-744102, IN

Abstract

Fusiliers are tropical Indo-Pacific marine perciform fish of the family Caesionidae and they are most associated with the reefs. Within the family there are 4 genera and 21 species (Carpenter, 1988 and Allen & Erdmann, 2008). They are colourful fishes; many have bright yellow stripes and patches. The caesionidae are related to the family Lutjanidae, the snapper fishes . The fusiliers posses s unique morphological features characteristic of their feeding mode. They are specialized for planktivorous feeding, while their nearest relatives, the snappers are typically benthic carnivores. The fusiliers possess a jaw morphology and body shape.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, S. S. Mishra ², K. K. Bineesh ¹

Affiliations
1 Andaman and Nicobar Regional Center, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair – 744102, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, IN
2 Marine Fish Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata – 700 016, IN

Abstract

Two grouper species, Blackfin grouper, Cephalopholis nigripinnis (Valenciennes, 1828), and Red-tipped Grouper, Epinephelus retouti (Bleeker, 1868) were reported for the first time from the waters around Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Their descriptions, ecology of habitat and distributional range has been provided. A list of 54 species of groupers (Family: Epinephelidae) known from Andaman and Nicobar Islands till date is also provided with conservation status and information on their first record.

Keywords

Andaman Islands, Cephalopholis nigripinnis, Epinephelus retouti, Groupers, New Record.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, S. S. Mishra ², K. K. Bineesh ¹

Affiliations
1 Andaman and Nicobar Regional Center, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair – 744102, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, IN
2 Marine Fish Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata – 700 016, IN

Abstract

A scorpionfish species, Scorpaenopsis diabolus (Cuvier, 1829) has been recorded for the first time from the Indian waters around Andaman Islands, India. Its description, ecology of habitat and distributional range has been provided.

Keywords

Andaman Islands, Devil Scorpionfish, India, New Record, Scorpaenopsis diabolus.

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P. T. Rajan ¹, Johann Bharucha ², K. K. Bineesh ¹, S. S. Mishra ³

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair - 744102, Andaman and Nicobar, IN
2 SCUBA explorer, Neil Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, IN
3 Marine Fish Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 700016, West Bengal, IN

Abstract

A moray eel species, Gymnothorax zonipectis Seale, 1906, is reported for the first time from India based on photographic evidence from Neil Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and expands its geographical distribution further westward. The description, habitat ecology and distributional range of the eel also provided establishing its first record from India. An annotated checklist of moray eels from these islands is also appended.

Keywords

Andaman Islands, Gymnothorax zonipectis, Muraenidae, New Record.

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