The coral fauna of Lakshadweep

Abstract

Despite the early works of Gardiner (1904, 1905) and Piilai il971, 1971a, 1986, 1986a, 1987) the coral fauna of Lakshadweep, except for Minicoy, remained virtually unknown to the scientific community. A. resume of corals and coral reef research from this area is presented by Piilai (1987) along with a discussion on the structure and composition of the fauna. During the survey of the marine resources by the Institute, corals were also collected from the various islands in Lakshadweep, and the present report embodies the information thus gathered along with data gleened from early literature. A detailed taxonomic treatment of the various species is not attempted in this communication. The material will be described in future work.