Marine microalgal extracts on cultivable crops as a considerable bio-fertilizer: A Review

849-854Around the globe, all countries whether developing or developed depend on agriculture. Nowadays due to advances in science and agricultural technology, the usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified crops is increasing day by day to meet the demand of the rising population. This looks helpful to meet our demand but this is a great threat for the future generation as the water and food will be more toxic due to accumulation of pesticides and chemical fertilizers which in turn reduces the soil fertility and contaminate the ground water. Due to this condition, the food web is getting totally collapsed. Because of realization of these problems, people are shifting to organic farming. Current researchers are focusing on terrestrial organic sources for agro production but there are immense sources in the wide marine environment. The marine sources will play a substantial role on agricultural development in the future. Microalgae are the best, as they are cheap, renewable source, easily available and are cultural organisms. Moreover, microalgae contain all the essential nutrients needed for plant growth. The majorities of microalgae are capable to fix the atmospheric nitrogen and are effectively used as bio-fertilizers. This review focuses on the broad overview of bio-fertilizers with special reference on marine derived microalgal bio-fertilizers and its role in increasing crop production by altering various physiochemical parameters of diversified agricultural crops

Impact of Microplastics on Aquatic Organisms and Human Health: A Review

fragments with various sizes ranging from meter to micrometer due to changing environmental conditions. Microplastics are a complex class of heavily modified, synthetic organic particulates, which contaminate a wide range of environments. They are a cause for concern because their size range mimics the prey size ingested by the aquatic organisms and these ingested microplastics can be potentially transferred to the higher predators. Recent studies have confirmed the ingestion of microplastics in commercially important fishes, which is ultimately consumed by humans. Thus, massive effort

First report of two species of Leucosiid crabs of the genus Arcania (Crustacea: Brachyura: Leucosidae) from Karnataka coast, India

Two species of Leucosiid crabs of the genus Arcania were recorded from the Mangaluru coast of Karnataka. Arcania gracilis (Henderson, 1893) and Arcania cornuta, (MacGilchrist, 1905) have been reported all along the east coast and along Kerala in the west coast of India. This study reports the distribution of A. gracilis and A. cornuta along the Karnataka coast for the first time. The external characters were photographed and examined, and their taxonomic characteristics and distribution details are described briefly

Growth performance of spiny lobster, Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus, 1758)

812-819The present study was undertaken to evaluate the growth performance, biochemical composition, feed utilization and water quality parameters of spiny lobster, Panulirus homarus in indoor culture. The fattening experiments was carried out with five different fresh feeds viz. green mussel, clam, oyster, trash fish and pellet feed. Indoor experimental culture of juvenile lobster, Panulirus homarus lasted for 75 days to find better growth rate and survival. There was a reasonable change in the carapace length and weight of lobsters fed with clam and green mussel. Their Biomass was significantly better than other three feeds viz. oyster, pellet feed and trash fish. The spiny lobster, Panulirus homarus fed with clam, green mussel and oyster can increase the size of carapace length compared with the trash fish and pellet fed one. The maximum growth performance was seen during the 75th day on the clam fed experiment which was found to be ranged between (6.7 ± 0.02 - 7.2 ± 0.03 cm) in carapace length, (6.1 ± 0.1 - 6.7 ± 0.08 cm) in body length, (12.8 ± 0.03 - 13.8 ± 0.08 cm) in total length and (105 ± 0.07 - 112 ± 0.08 g) in total weight. The maximum protein content (15.10 ± 0.34 g/100 g), carbohydrate (1.25 ± 0.06 g/100 g), lipids (5.25 ± 0.13 g/100 g) and moisture (76.15 ± 0.9 g/100 g) was noted in clam feed experiment. The maximum feed was also utilized during the clam fed experiment (45.39 ± 0.03 g). The moderate feed utilization were observed during the green mussel fed experiment (42.51 ± 0.02 g). The lowest feed utilization was observed in pellet fed experiment (23.75 ± 0.01 g). The water quality parameters were analyzed in the culture tank before and after the experiment

Stock structure analysis of the white-spotted spine foot fish (Siganus canaliculatus) along the Indian coast using Truss morphometry

The white-spotted spine foot, Siganus canaliculatus is a reef-associated pelagic fish widely distributed and consumed all along the Indian waters. The purpose of this study was to examine the stock structure of Siganus canaliculatus using truss morphometric data. A total of 434 specimens were collected from four different fish landing centers along the Indian subcontinent, namely Mangalore, Vizhinjam, Mandapam, and Vishakhapatnam. Morphological data including 28 truss distances were measured for each specimen and these data were subjected to analysis using several multivariate methods such as Principal component analysis (PCA), Discriminant function analysis (DF), and Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The PCA results demonstrated that the first two components (PC1 and PC2) accounted for over 52.6% of the total morphometric variance (PC1%-37% and PC2%-14%). PC1 and PC2 represented the posterior abdomen and the caudal peduncle region of the fish, and both components exhibited a positive correlation. The DF analysis identified 15 out of 28 variables as effective discriminators among the different locations. Additionally, the cluster analysis revealed the existence of two distinct stocks within the four samples groups. Specifically, the Vishakapatnam samples formed group I, forming a separate cluster while the remaining three samples were grouped together as group II indicating a common cluster. The result of DF and HCA confirmed the presence of different stocks of Siganus canaliculatus across the Indian coast