Imtiyaz Beleem

Ecology of marine crabs possess the life-cycle, competition, predation, feeding, migration and species-environment relationships. Population ecology dealt with the population dynamics of the species which interact with their surrounding environment. The main concept of population ecology is to predict species distribution within the study area. The dynamics of population shows population size, density and abundance where population size change over time. The resources limitation factor affected the population size where environment sustain maximum population size called carrying capacity.

Present paper reports four species of porcelain crabs in three genera from the Gujarat coast, India. Ancylocheles gravelei (Sankolli, 1963), Pisidia dehaanii (Krauss, 1843), P. gordoni (Johnson, 1970) and Polyonyx hendersoni Southwell, 1909 are reported from the Gujarat coast for the first time. Twelve porcellanid species are known from the Gujarat coast, including four species reported in this paper.

The central aim of the study is to evaluate intertidal diversity of marine fauna in mangrove ecosystem of Ghogha coast. The present study deals with investigation of macro as well as mega fauna reported in mangrove ecosystem of Ghogha coast, Gulf of Khambhat, India. Total 71 marine fauna were reported, 42 avian fauna from 31 genera from 12 families, 14 species of Crustacea from 13 genera recorded from 10 family, 9 species of Molluscs from 8 genera were recorded from 7 family and three species of Mudskippers were recorded from Oxudercinae-gobies and three different genera and three species of snakes from three genera and two family were recorded in mangroves ecosystem of Ghogha coast.

Two species of majid crabs, Micippa philyra (Herbst, 1803) and Micippa thalia (Herbst, 1803) reported for the first time from the western coast of India. M. philyra is commonly distributed along the muddy sandy coast, while M. thalia sparsely distributed in Gulf of Kutch. Taxonomical description with illustrative figures, worldwide distribution and habitat of both the species are given here.

Present study reports the occurrence of two leucosiid crabs species, Leucisca squalina (MacLeay, 1838) and Ryphila cancellus (Herbst, 1783) from Gujarat, west coast of India for the first time. Previously five species of leucosiid crabs were recorded from Gujarat coast. L. squalina was reported only from Karwar coast of Karnataka while R. cancellus was reported from entire Indian coastline except Gujarat coast. Taxonomic description and distribution of reported leucosiid crabs are given here.

A Callichiridae ghost shrimp species Corallianassa coutierei (Nobili, 1904) is recorded and described here for the first time from the Indian waters. Formerly, five species under the family Callichiridae were recorded from different coastal waters of India. In addition, C. coutierei was infested with several copepods. Additional description of C. coutierei with key characters and distribution status is given for this species. A comprehensive checklist of the infraorder Axiidea is prepared based on previous records from Indian waters.

Present paper report a species of false or allied cowrie Margovula tinctilis (C. N. Cate, 1973) for the first time from west coast of India. This species sparsely distributed in premises of coral reef zone at lower intertidal zone of Sikka, Gujarat. Formerly, M. tinctilis has so far been reported only from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Morphological shell characters such as shell description, habitat, geographical distribution, illustrations and affinities with similar species is discussed here.

Present work carried out to study the animal-vehicle collisions on the roads of Bhavnagar city and adjoining areas. During 2014-15, 35 animal species have reported dead due to vehicle collisions, among them two amphibians, 12 reptiles, 9 birds, and 12 mammals. Collision victim animals like Striped Hyena and Red send Boa categorized under Near Threatened and Indian soft shell turtle under vulnerable category by IUCN. Highest, 104 collision reported during the month of August’ 2015 and lowest during May, February month of ’15 and November’ 14.

Antibiotic resistance has been one of the most persistent global issue. Specifically, marine microbiomes have served as complex reservoirs of antibiotic resistant genes. Molecular advancements have enabled exploration of the uncultured microbial portion from hitherto difficult to sample niches such as deeper oceans. The Gulfs of Kathiawar Peninsula have been known for their unique properties like extreme tidal variations, different sediment textures and physicochemical variations. Pelagic sediment cores across four coordinates each of the Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Khambhat and an open Arabian Sea were collected, processed for metagenomic sequencing and assessed for antibiotic and metal resistome. The dominant genes were mostly resistant to macrolides, glycopeptides and tetracycline drugs. Studied samples divided into three clusters based on their resistome with carA, macB, bcrA, taeA, srmB, tetA, oleC and sav1866 among the abundant genes. Samples from creek of Gulf of Kutch and mouth o...

Arcania heptacantha is reported and described herein for the first time from the west coast of India. Earlier only one species of the genus Arcania was reported from the West coast of India. A. heptacantha is different from closely resembled species A. septemspinosa in having uniformly granulated carapace and shorter merus of chelipeds in length. Taxonomic insight and distribution status of both the species have been given.

The central aim of the study is to evaluate intertidal diversity of marine fauna in mangrove ecosystem of Ghogha coast. The present study deals with investigation of macro as well as mega fauna reported in mangrove ecosystem of Ghogha coast, Gulf of Khambhat, India. Total 92 marine faunas were reported, 62 avian fauna from 43 genera from 18 families, 15 species of Crustacea from 13 genera recorded from 10 family, 9 species of Molluscs from 8 genera were recorded from 7 family and three species of Mudskippers were recorded from Oxudercinae family in three genera and three species of snake from three genera and two family were recorded in mangroves ecosystem of Ghogha coast.