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Diversity of Scleractinian Corals in Great Nicobar Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

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Abstract

Great Nicobar Island is the southernmost island of Andaman and Nicobar group of islands and largest island of Nicobar group included in UNESCO-MAB-Network of biosphere reserve. The island is inhabited by a total of 173 species of scleractinian corals from 6 different study areas among the 577 species reported from entire Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Shannon–Weiner diversity index ranged from 2.84 to 4.45 while the Simpson’s density index ranges from 0.93 to 0.99. Among the study areas, it was seen that the Laxman Beach is most diverse in comparison with the other 5 areas. Presence of 29.98 % scleractinian coral species in Great Nicobar Island denotes the sense of ecological attributes behind the sustainable support towards the coral settlement, growth and development.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India for providing financial assistance to undertake the study through the projects of National Coral Reef Research Institute, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair. The authorities of Department of Environment and Forests, Andaman and Nicobar Administration are duly acknowledged for logistic support to undertake field studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, National Coral Reef Research Institute, Haddo, Port Blair, 744 102, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

    Tamal Mondal & C. Raghunathan

  2. Zoological Survey of India, M- Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, 700 053, India

    K. Venkataraman

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  1. Tamal Mondal
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  2. C. Raghunathan
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  3. K. Venkataraman
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Correspondence to Tamal Mondal.

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Mondal, T., Raghunathan, C. & Venkataraman, K. Diversity of Scleractinian Corals in Great Nicobar Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Proc Zool Soc 69, 205–216 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-015-0145-8

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