Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Marine Faunal Diversity. 1. An updated report on the diversity of marine sponges of Andaman and Nicobar Islands / T. Immanuel, P. Krishnan and C. Raghunathan ; 2. Abundance of shallow water octocorals from the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, India / J.S. Yogesh Kumar, C. Raghunathan and K. Venkataraman ; 3. Occurrence of brown paper nautilus Argonauta hians (Lightfoot, 1786) at Inglis Island, South Andaman / K. Devi ; 4. Marine molluscan diversity in India / B. Tripathy and A.K. Mukhopadhyay ; 5. Diversity of brachyuran crabs of Cochin backwaters, Kerala, India / P. Lakshmi Devi, A. Joseph and S. Ajmal Khan ; 6. Status of horseshoe crabs at Digha, northern east coast of India / P. Yennawar ; 7. Diversity of bryozoans of India with new records from Maharashtra / M. Mankeshwar, A. Kulkarni and D. Apte ; 8. Diversity, distribution and nesting behavior of sea urchins along the coast of Port Blair, South Andaman / J.K. Mishra, Yasmin, A. Mishra, J. Sinduja, D. Adhavan and N.P. Kumar ; 9. Coral reef associated macrofaunal communities of Rutland Island, Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago / C. Raghunathan and K. Venkataraman ; 10. Diversity and distribution of sea grass associated macrofauna in Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, southern India / K. Paramasivam, K. Venkataraman, C. Venkatraman, R. Rajkumar and S. Shrinivaasu ; 11. Diversity and ecology of sedentary ascidians of the Gulf of Mannar, southeast coast of India / G. Ananthan, S. Mohamed Hussain, A. Selva Prabhu and T. Balasubramanian ; 12. Diversity of marine fish of India / K.C. Gopi and S.S. Mishra ; 13. Fish and shellfish fauna of Chilika Lagoon : an updated checklist / A. Mohapatra, S.K. Mohanty and S.S. Mishra ; 14. New records of reef fishes from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands / K. Devi, K. Sadhukhan, J.S. Yogesh Kumar and S. Kumar Shah ; 15. Ichthyofauna of Digha coast, India / P. Yennawar, A. Mohapatra, D. Ray and P. Tudu ; 16. Seasonal abundance of sea snakes on the Chennai coast, southern India / C. Venkatraman, P. Padmanaban and C. Sivaperuman ; 17. Coastal and marine bird communities of India / C. Sivaperuman and C. Venkatraman ; 18. Diversity of marine mammals of India : status, threats, conservation strategies and future scope of research / S. Venu and B. Malakar ; 19. Coastal and marine biodiversity of India / K. Venkataraman and C. Raghunathan -- Part II. Ecology and Conservation. 20. DNA barcoding of marine venomous and poisonous fish of families Scorpaenidae and Tetraodontidae from Andaman waters / V. Sachithanandam, P.M. Mohan and N. Muruganadam ; 21. Molecular taxonomy of Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae, genus Plectropomus (Oken, 1817) of Andaman waters by DNA barcoding using COI gene sequence / V. Sachithanandam, P.M. Mohan, N. Muruganadam I.K. Chaaithanya and R. Baskaran ; 22. Diversity of antagonistic Streptomyces species in mangrove sediments of Andaman Island, India / R. Baskaran, P.M. Mohan, R. Vijayakumar and V. Sachithanandam ; 23. Impact of anthropogenic activity and natural calamities on fringing reef of North Bay, South Andaman / R. Raghuraman and C. Raghunathan ; 24. Lucrative business opportunities with shrimp brood stocks / V.S. Gowri and P. Nammalwar ; 25. An assessment of faunal diversity and its conservation in shipwrecks in Indian seas / J.S. Yogesh Kumar, S. Geetha, C. Raghunathan and K. Venkataraman ; 26. Saltwater crocodiles in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with special reference to human-crocodile conflict / S. Sivaperuman ; 27. Conservation status of marine faunal diversity in India : an analysis of the Indian wildlife (Protection Act) and IUCN threatened species / P.T. Rajan ; 28. Macrofaunal assemblages of Carbyn's Cove mangroves, South Andaman / R. Mohanraju ; 29. Status of fauna in mangrove ecosystems of India / K. Kathiresan, N. Veerappan and R. Balasubramanian.

Print version record.

More than 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water, making it an ideal and abundant resource for studying species diversity, faunal communities, and ecosystems. India's massive coastline (5,044 miles) means it plays a major role in housing these faunal communities. Of the 32 animal phyla, 15 are represented in India's marine ecosystem, covering more than 15,000 species. Marine and coastal ecosystems of India provide supporting services in the form of wide range of habitats. Major ecosystems such as estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, lagoons, seaweeds and sea grasses serve as nurserie.