- Opisthobranchs, Nudibranch, Ecology and systematics of Opisthobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda), Sea Slugs, Intertidal ecology, Conservation, and 21 moreMarine Biology, India, Crustacea, Konkan, Discodoris fragilis, Phidiana, Thecacera pennigera, Ratnagiri, Amphipod, CMFRI, Paracaprella pusilla, Caprellid, Gulf of Kutch, AICOPTAX, Opisthobranch, Climate Change, Community Ecology, Diversity, Coral Reefs, Invasive Species, and Invertebrate Biologyedit
India has large coastal wetlands covering an area around 40,230 km2 which includes marine ecosystems like mangroves, mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, beaches, marsh lands and coral reefs. There are 34 MPAs in India comprising of 6272 sq.km... more
India has large coastal wetlands covering an area around 40,230 km2 which includes marine ecosystems like mangroves, mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, beaches, marsh lands and coral reefs. There are 34 MPAs in India comprising of 6272 sq.km of area. Compared to the size of coast, contribution of MPAs in India is only about 4% and these are not distributed evenly; most of them being on the east coast (30). West coast of India has only 4 MPAs (SCBD, 2006). Coastal Konkan in the state of Maharashtra has only one protected area. With an aim to identify potential MPAs, authors made comprehensive studies on coastal Konkan with an aim to identify the ecologically and biologically significant areas (EBSAs). The studies showed the rich diversity of rocky and sandy shores, corals, mudflats, luxuriant growth of mangroves and sea grass beds clearly indicating the presence of higher grade sustained ecological functioning. On this background, a report has been published during the Convention on Biodi...
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Disodorid sea slugs are gastropod molluscs belonging to the order Nudibranchia. These belong to family Discodorididae with diversity of around 250 species worldwide. Being nudibranch, these molluscs have lost shell and no remnants are... more
Disodorid sea slugs are gastropod molluscs belonging to the order Nudibranchia. These belong to family Discodorididae with diversity of around 250 species worldwide. Being nudibranch, these molluscs have lost shell and no remnants are found in contrast to other shelled associates. So identification is based on the external and internal morphology. Majority of the records are from east coast of India and the records from west coast are scanty.
A total of 33 species have been recorded from India till now. The morphological characters were used for taxonomy of discodorids. This study is an attempt to present diversity of discodorid sea slugs recorded during 2011-2014 along the intertidal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Surveys were conducted fortnightly along the few sites of Gujarat like Dwarka, Poshitra, Narara and of Maharashtra like Bhatkarwada and Mirya. A total of 10 genera and 14 species of the discodorids were recorded, in which Sclerodoris apiculata was first time recorded from Gujarat; a species Atagema tristis was rediscovered after its last report in 1952 and two species namely Rostanga cf. arbutus and Thordisa sanguinea are new records for India.
A total of 33 species have been recorded from India till now. The morphological characters were used for taxonomy of discodorids. This study is an attempt to present diversity of discodorid sea slugs recorded during 2011-2014 along the intertidal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Surveys were conducted fortnightly along the few sites of Gujarat like Dwarka, Poshitra, Narara and of Maharashtra like Bhatkarwada and Mirya. A total of 10 genera and 14 species of the discodorids were recorded, in which Sclerodoris apiculata was first time recorded from Gujarat; a species Atagema tristis was rediscovered after its last report in 1952 and two species namely Rostanga cf. arbutus and Thordisa sanguinea are new records for India.
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Partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene from Anteaeolidiella specimens collected throughout temperate and tropical areas in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, eastern Pacific, and Indo-Pacific have revealed the... more
Partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene from Anteaeolidiella specimens collected throughout temperate and tropical areas in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, eastern Pacific, and Indo-Pacific have revealed the existence of a species complex under the name of Anteaeolidiella indica (Bergh, 1888). Further examination showed consistent differences in colour pattern and the internal anatomy that became evident only once the molecular outcomes were analysed. Moreover, the original description of A. indica suggests that this species has a very particular colour pattern that is not present in any of our specimens. A review of the literature led us to resurrect the names of Anteaeolidiella cacaotica (Stimpson, 1855), Anteaeolidiella saldanhensis (Barnard, 1927), Anteaeolidiella takanosimensis (Baba, 1930), and Anteaeolidiella lurana (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967). Aeolidiella chromosoma (Cockerell & Eliot, 1905) and Aeolidiella oliviae (MacFarland, 1966) are transferred to Anteaeolidiella based on our morphological and molecular data. Finally, three new species from the Indo-Pacific are described herein. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London
The nudibranch Thordisa villosa is recorded for the first time from the west coast of India. It is the third known record of this species from India, observed after a long gap of 60 years. The last known record of this species from India... more
The nudibranch Thordisa villosa is recorded for the first time from the west coast of India. It is the third known record of this species from India, observed after a long gap of 60 years. The last known record of this species from India was by Satyamurti (1952), from the Gulf of Mannar on the south-east coast. Specimens were collected in the intertidal rocky shores of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The occurrence of the species at three study sites confirms its range in this part of the Indian coastline.
Research Interests: Botany, Marine Biology, Zoology, Taxonomy, Ecology, and 4 moreBiodiversity, Phylogeny, Konkan, and Opisthobranchia
India has a large and diverse coastal area in terms of biological as well as habitat diversity. India is bracing for large coastal infrastructure development, which will impact intertidal biodiversity and the Maharashtra coast is not an... more
India has a large and diverse coastal area in terms of biological as well as habitat diversity. India is bracing for large coastal infrastructure development, which will impact intertidal biodiversity and the Maharashtra coast is not an exception. It is therefore essential to develop baseline information on inter-tidal marine biodiversity. As part of this effort, scientists are working on various taxa, and opisthobranchs are one such group under study. They are beautifully colored with highly diverse adaptations to compensate for the loss of shell during the course of evolution. Opisthobranchs are poorly studied from Indian coasts, and recent work on opisthobranchs was carried out by Apte (2009), Apte et al. (2010), Apte & Salahuddin (2011), Bhave & Apte (2010) and Ramakrishna et al. (2010). The present paper deals with a record of the goniodorid nudibranch Okenia pellucida Burn, 1967. There are very few records of goniodorids from India (Alder & Hancock 1864; Winckworth 1946; Ramakrishna et al. 2010). Table 1 provides the checklist of goniodorid species hereto recorded from the Indian coasts.
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The Ratnagiri coast is among the least studied areas for marine life in India. The coast is known to host a high diversity of marine habitats, and flora and fauna. Opisthobranchs have received attention only recently, Maharashtra coast... more
The Ratnagiri coast is among the least studied areas for marine life in India. The coast is known to host a high diversity of marine habitats, and flora and fauna. Opisthobranchs have received attention only recently, Maharashtra coast being the least explored. The paper presents 16 species of opisthobranch of which 15 are new records to Maharashtra and 8 to India.
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Opisthobranchs are fascinating molluscs with species diversifying not only in colours but also in their specificity of feeding habit and habitat. Historical studies are centred mostly on known species rich localities and are not evenly... more
Opisthobranchs are fascinating molluscs with species diversifying not only in colours but also in their specificity of feeding habit and habitat. Historical studies are centred mostly on known species rich localities and are not evenly distributed along all coastal states. Opisthobranchs are among the least studied group of molluscs in India and the work carried out on the opisthobranch fauna is scanty and sparse. Though India has over 8000 km long coastline along nine coastal states and two oceanic archipelagos and have diverse habitats such as coral reefs, sandy shores, rocky patches, mangroves as well as large mud flats; yet records of Indian opisthobranchs are very less. This study revealed that 311 species are known from India distributed over 7 orders, 53 families and 141 genera.