Seaweed resources off Tamil nadu coast, Sector - IVudKilakkarai - Rameswaram island (Dhanushkodi

摘要

Survey of the deep water area from Kilakkarai (Appa Tivu to Rameswaram Islandud(Dhanushkodi) was undertaken from December 1990 to January 1991 in the IV Sector surveyudof Deep water Seaweed Resources off Tamil Nadu coast, which formed the last phase of theudsurvey from Rameswaram to Kanyakumari carried out during 1986-91. An area of 417 .5 sq.km.udwas surveyed yielding a total biomass of 18,162.5 tons (wet) seaweeds. Out of 167 stationsudsurveyed in 13 transects, vegetation occurred only in 12 stations. Of the 29 species of marineudalgae recorded 8 belonged to Chlorophyta, 8 to Phaeophyta, 12 to Rhodophyta, and I toudCyanophyta, One species of seagrass Cymodocea serrulata was also recorded. Twenty speciesudwere found in estimable quantities, of which the following 8 species were abundant: Halimedaudmacr%ba, Spatog/ossum asperum, Zonaria crenata, Sargassum ilicijolium, Amphiroaudjragilissima, Hypnea muscijormis, Botryocladia /eplOpoda and Lyngbya majuscula with a biomassudof 1325, 9775, 650, 1550, 1925,300,862.5 and 1012.5 tons (wet) respectively. The species ofudHypnea and Sargassum could be exploited for the manufacture of phytochemicals.