Observations on experimental artificial reef constructed at Tuticorin

Abstract

An experimental artificial reef was constructed in the break-water of Tuticopn Harbour during July-August, 1989 at a depth of 6 m using discarded lorry tyres. A total number of 23 modules, consisting of 69 tyres and fabricated in lhree different designs, were used for the reef construction. The reef occupied a bottom area of approximately SO sq.m. with a height of 0.8 to 1 m. Within a period of one month from the time of construction, autotrophic community dominated by red algae and heterotrophic community dominated by cirri pedes, in addition to colonization by various groups of invertebrate organisms, were observed on the reef structure. The inhabitation by fish was observed during the third month. The behaviour of fish and shellfish" in the artificial reef was observed by SCUBA diving