Coral reefs and their environs

Pillai, C S G (1983) Coral reefs and their environs. CMFRI Bulletin, 34. pp. 36-43.

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Abstract

The coral formations of Andaman and Nicobar Islands extend from 92°30' to 94''E Long, and T to 14° N Lat. flanking several large and small continental islands. This Indo-Pacific reef province, which is separated from the Sri Lanka and Southeast Indian coral formation by nearly one thousand km—a signi ficant gap in the coral growth of the Indo-Pacific, is more or less contiguous with that of Strait of Malacca, Arakan coast and the East Indies. The absence of reef development and growth of hermatypes in the vast stretches of Bay of Bengal is probably due to the great influx of rain water through the large rivers of the Indian subcontinent, that causes deposition of large quantities of terrigenous mud as well as a lowering of salinity, particularly in the upper reaches of the bay during rainy seasons. The waters of Ganges-Brahma putra river system are reported to be acidic in monsoon that may impose restrictions on skeletogenis of scleracti- nia (Sewell, 1935). Coral planulae will not settle and grow on muddy, soft bottoms with heavy silting and this may be the primary physical parameter that does not favour colonisation of corals in several areas of the Bay of Bengal.

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