Marine mollusc diversity and conservation in India

Saravanan, Raju (2024) Marine mollusc diversity and conservation in India. In: Training Manual on "Know Your Marine Biodiversity and Environment (MarBiE 1)". CMFRI Training Manual Series (42). ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, pp. 63-66.

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Abstract

The global ecosystem encompasses over 1.75 million distinct species, among which there are 46,000 recognised species of marine molluscs (Bouchet et al. 2016). The phylum Mollusca accounts for around 60% of the total global biodiversity, as stated by Gosliner et al. in 1996. India possesses a diverse range of marine environments, including tidal flats, lagoons, coral reefs, deep sea areas, and islands. The exploration of marine biodiversity in India did not occur till the seventeenth century. India has a coastline that spans 8,129 kilometres and a continental shelf that covers 0.5 million square kilometres. Within its waters, there are 3,370 different species of marine molluscs belonging to 220 families and 591 genera (Ramakrishna and Dey 2010). Among these the bivalves are the most diverse (1100 species), followed by cephalopods (210 species), gastropods (190 species), polyplacophores (41 species) and scaphopods (20 species). There is no consensus among various authors on the total number of marine molluscs from India. Nevertheless, the current knowledge regarding the status of different mollusc species in maritime environments in India is lacking, and their threat status remains unidentified. India is home to five out of the seven classes of molluscs found worldwide, as stated by

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