Coral-boring fauna of the Great Nicobar Island

Abstract

Carbonate skeletons of both live and dead hermatypic corals harbour diverse populations of coral-boring organisms. These boring organisms play a vital role in structuring reefs, maintaining its diversity and its CaCO3 budget. The Great Nicobar Island is located in the south western Andaman Sea, on the fringes of the two most ecologically diverse oceans of the world, namely, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The islands also serve as the type locality for many species of coral-boring fauna. The present study provides a check list of coral-boring fauna of the Great Nicobar Island, their diversity, substrate preferences and intertidal distribution and also compares the species composition with that of the south eastern Andaman Sea. A total of 33 species were recorded of which 40% are new records to Indian waters and 60% are new records to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In addition, three genera, namely, Pione, Alectona (Porifera) and Leptoconchus (Mollusca), are new records to Indian waters.