Diversity and distribution of the cetaceans along the Indian Sea and the contiguous sea

Biodiversity is a term that describes the ecosystem complexity or taxonomic diversity at the species, genus, family and order or phylum level and distributed unevenly across different environment (Allaby, 1998; Chase and Leibold, 2002). Marine and tropical environments maintain extremely diverse species assemblages, whereas others such as dessert and alpine support a restricted range of species (Gastan 2000). The ocean makes up 97% of the biosphere and support tremendous species diversity but understanding the most species diversity in marine environment remain extremely limited. The marine mammal is one of the major neglected communities in the pelagic ecosystem of most of the oceans

Unusual catch of flapnose ray in ring seine

An estimated 130 ring seiners are employed exclusively to exploit small pelagic resources such as sardines and mackerels along south Cuddalore coast. Occassionally large mobulid rays are also landed in stray numbers as by-catch in the ringseine landings at Cuddalore Fisheries Harbour. There has been no incidence of elasmobranch landings in large quantities by ring seines in this region. However on 15.07.2017, an unusually high landing of an estimated 1. 3 tonne (t) of the flapnose ray Rhinoptera javanica was observed

Mortality of olive ridley turtles during nesting season along Chennai coast

Sporadic nesting activities of olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) are often reported along the Chennai coast in northern Tamil Nadu. These turtles approach the beaches for nesting in the Tamil month of Panguni and have thus derived the local name “Panguni aamai”. As in every year, with the onset of annual nesting season in early 2017, mortality of turtles along the Chennai coast was recorded. From 02.01.2017 to 07.01.2017, a total of seven adult turtle carcasses were observed in 20km stretch of beach between Marina beach and Kanathur Reddykuppam

Morphometric characteristics of spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris (Gray,1828) from Bay of Bengal

Morphometric characteristics of the spinner dolphin Stenella longirostris were analysed based on samples (n=16) collected from two centres along the east coast of India (Bay of Bengal). The total length of the samples ranged from 84 to 170 cm. Of the 11 characteristics related to the anterior part of the body, the ratio of 10 characteristics to the total length is higher for calf male than that of adult male. There are also a few conspicuous differences between adult male and female. The Bay of Bengal form appears to differ from the other forms of world oceans, confirming that the morphometric characteristics of the spinner dolphin vary greatly geographically

First record of pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874 from India with a review of their occurrence in the World Oceans

The pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874 has been reported from Munambam fishing harbour, Kochi for the first time in India. Two specimens, one adult of 2.2 m total length and a calf of 1.5 m were recorded. The sighting/ stranding records from 115 data sets of pygmy killer whales around the world have been documented in the paper. The range of distribution of this species is discussed

Marine climate and fisheries scenario of Tamil Nadu Climcard-1

Marine climate and fisheries scenario of Tamil Nadu Climcard-

பருவ நிலை அட்டை: தமிழ்நாட்டின் பருவ நிலை மற்றும் மீன் வளம் CMFRI - NICRA Pamphlet No. 4/2016

CMFRI - NICRA Pamphlet No. 4 பருவ நிலை அட்டை: தமிழ்நாட்டின் பருவ நிலை மற்றும் மீன் வளம

कोवलम, तमीलनाडु के तटीय क्षेत्रों में उपलब्ध सुरमई मछली के मत्सयन स्थल का जिओस्पेशियल नक्शा

कृपया पूरा लेखा पढ

A note on cetacean distribution in the Indian EEZ and contiguous seas during 2003-07

Relatively little is known about the distribution of cetaceans in Indian seas due to lack of systematic surveys. For collecting data on species distribution, 35 opportunistic surveys were conducted onboard FORV Sagar Sampada between October 2003 and February 2007 in the Indian EEZ and contiguous seas. In 5,254 hours of sighting effort, a total of 473 cetacean records were made with 5,865 individuals. The occurrence of 10 species from three cetacean families was confirmed. The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin was the most frequently sighted species, whereas the spinner dolphin was dominant in terms of abundance. Long-beaked common dolphins, Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin and sperm whales were also recorded at frequent intervals. Cetaceans were found to have a wide geographical distribution in the Indian EEZ and contiguous seas. High abundance and species richness were recorded in the Southeastern Arabian Sea and southern Sri Lankan waters. From the information collected during the present study, the platform of opportunity has proved to be a useful means for cetacean surve

The first sighting of Longman’s beaked whale, Indopacetus pacificus in the southern Bay of Bengal

Information on at-sea sightings of beaked wholes are rare from the Indian and Sri-Lankan waters because of the relative rarity of vessels working in deep oceans where these species are encountered. A recent survey onboard FORV ‘Sagar Sampada’ brought out the first confirmed sighting of live animals of Longman’s beaked whole. Indopacetus pacificus from the southern Bay of Bengal. The details of the sighting, illustrated with photographs are presented in this note