Occurrence of Portuguese man-of war along Digha coast, West Bengal: a threat to tourists and fisherfolk

96-98Physalia physalis belongs to the phylum Cnidaria and class Hydrozoans. It’s commonly called blue bubbles and mimic like jelly fish. In the present study, we observed the presence of floating P. Physalis from the Digha coast of West Bengal during the summer time of 2017. The occurrences and distribution of the organism were recorded in different sizes in three different sites (Old Digha, New Digha, Udaipur beach) during summer season

Diversity and distribution of shallow water octocorallia from Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, South Andaman, India

1567-1575Diversity and distribution of octocorals of Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park (MGMNP), South Andaman were investigated from June, 2013 to May, 2016 using a Line Intercept Transect method with help of SCUBA diving. The study was carried out in 11 different islands named as Alexandra, Belle, Chester, Snob, Grub, Jolly Bouy, Boat, Red Skin Rutland, Tarmugli and Twins Islands. We undertook a systematic study on the diversity of octocorals. Thirty five species belonging to 29 genera were reported from MGMNP of which, the alcyonacea was a dominant group followed by gorgonacea, helioporacea and pennatulacea at all the study sites which is also substantiated by Principal Component analysis, and Ternary plot. Results on Bray-Curtis cluster analysis showed 35 % to 76 % similarity between the study sites in MGMNP

A report on rare occurrence of a mushroom coral, Cycloseris cyclolites (Lamarck, 1801) in Gulf of Mannar, India

333-334The frequent heavy–scale climatic oscillations and the recent local disturbances on the reefs worldwide were a menace for biodiversity sustenance. The major concern is that many species of Scleractinian corals could have been lost while being unaware of their existence. The recent survey yielded Cycloseris cyclolites after 29 years in the reef areas of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park

New record of Melithaea retifera (Lamarck, 1816) from Andaman and Nicobar Island, India

1516-1520Alcyoniidae octocorals are represented by 405 species in India of which 154 are from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Surveys conducted in Havelock Island, South Andaman and Shark Island, North Andaman revealed the occurrence of Melithaea retifera and is reported herein as a new distributional record to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This species is characterised by the clubs of the coenenchyme of the node and internodes and looks like a flower-bud. The structural variations and length of sclerites in the samples are also reported in this manuscript

Two new records of Dendronephthya octocorals (Family: Nephtheidae) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

343-348An extensive survey to explore the variety and distribution of octocorals and associated faunal community in and around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands yielded two species (Dendronephthya mucronata and D. savignyi), which is new zoogeographical record in India. The elaborate description, distribution and morphological characters are presented in this paper. The literature reveals that so far 55 species of Dendronephthya octocorals have been recorded from India

Occurrence of black corals (order: Antipatharian) in Andaman and Nicobar Island, India

99-107A total of 15 species of antipatharians were accounted from the study sites. Maximum number of species was reported in Henry Lawrence Island and minimum in Paget Island, Rowe Island and North Reef Island. The present study yielded seven species (Cupressopathes abies, C. pumila, Tanacetipathes hirta, Antipathes dendrochristos, Cladopathes plumose, Trissopathes tetracrada, Dendrobathypathes boutillieri) and all are first report to India

Utilization of seafood processing wastes for cultivation of the edible mushroom Pleurotus flabellatus

A study was conducted to examine the utilization of seafood processing wastes for artificial cultivation of edible mushroom Pleurotus flabellatus in laboratory condition. Utilizing bioconversion technology such as the slow release of nutrients for agricultural based activities like producing mushroom will profitably reduce seafood waste and also enhancing environmental quality. The selected agro-industrial wastes such as coir pith, woodchips and sugarcane bagasse were mixed with cooked fish waste (CFW) in the ratio of 1:1 (500 g : 500 g). The substrates which were not mixed with CFW were treated as control. All the above materials were allowed to decompose partially for about 15 days. The partially composted materials were placed in heat resistant transparent sterilized polyethylene bags. Each sterile bag was then aseptically inoculated with P. flabellatus. The bags were then incubated under ambient temperature and controlled humidity. The maximum biological yield per bed was obtained with sugarcane bagasse control bed 58.05±0.88 g/bed. The lowest yield was observed in the substrate woodchips: CFW (1:1) 24.43±0.30 g / bed. Based on the mass obtained for P. flabellatus, the best substrates were in the ordered of woodchips>coir pith>sugarcane. This could be used to cultivate an edible mushroom while at the same time promoting environmental sustainability and increase soil fertility.Keywords: Mushroom, cooked fishery waste, solid substrates, biological yieldAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(17), 1779-178

A note on shallow water octocorallia from Nicobar Islands, India

60-66Present study revealed the diversity of shallow water soft coral octocorallia (Helioporacea, Alcyonacea, Pennatulacea, Gorgonacea) in Nicobar group of Islands. The sampling made at 11 study sites with help of SCUBA diving to the depth of 5 to 30 m. A total 27 species were found in Nicobar Island. Of which the Alcyonacea was dominant group followed by Gorgonacea, Helioporacea and Pennatulacea at all the study sites which is contributed with result obtained based on Principal Component analysis, De-Treneded analysis and Ternary plot. Bray-Curtis cluster analysis resulted 75% similarity between the study sites in Nicobar Islands

Space competition studies between <em>Briareum violaceum</em> (Octocorallia; Alcyonacea) and scleractinian corals in Shark Island, north Andaman, India

2390-2394Present study focused on growth competition between Scleractinia vs. Alcyonacea corals. Percentage of live scleractinian coral cover is 44.17% of which 11.67% Briareum violaceum (Alcyonacea) soft coral encrusted on scleractinian hard corals. Among them maximum 2.5% of Acropora and Porites species were causes by same species from the study site