Azooxanthellate hard corals (Scleractinia) from India

摘要

India has a coastline of 7516 km, of which the mainland accounts for 5422 km. The Lakshadweep coast extends up to 132 km and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a coastline of 1962 km. The coastal zone of India is endowed with a very wide range of coastal ecosystems such as estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, backwaters, salt marshes, rocky coasts, sandy stretches, and coral reefs which are characterized by unique biotic and abiotic properties and processes (Venkataraman, 2003). The mainland coast of India has two widely separated areas containing shallow-water coral reefs: the Gulf of Kachchh (=Kutch) at northwest, which has some of the most northerly reefs in the world and Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar in the southeast.