K. Sakthivel , P. Thirunavukkarasu , K. Kathiresan

Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Annamalai University, Parangipettai: 608 502, Tamil Nadu, India
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2014, Vol. 4, No. 58   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2014.04.0058
Received: 24 Apr., 2014    Accepted: 13 Jun., 2014    Published: 11 Oct., 2014

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Sakthive et al., 2014, Mangroves and associates in the estuaries of Tamil Nadu coast of India, International Journal of Marine Science, Vol.4, No.58 1-7 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2014.04.0058)

Mangroves and associated plant species were surveyed in 56 estuaries from Pulicat Lake (13º25' 955" N; 080º 19' 284" E) to Manakkudy Estuary (08º 05' 254" N; 077º 29' 049" E) along 1076 km of coastline in Tamil Nadu, during 2012-2014. The study area was divided into five groups: West coast of Tamil Nadu, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, South and North Coromandel coasts. A total of 16 mangrove species, belonging to nine families and 11 genera, were recorded along with 23 mangrove associates belonging to 17 families and 21 genera. The mangrove species, Avicennia marina and associate species, Pongamia pinnata, Ipomoea pes-caprae and Calotropis gigantea were found to be prevalent along the North Coromandel coast. The mangrove species, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza was only recorded in the Ariyankuppam and Thengaithittu estuaries while Avicennia alba was only found in the Palayakayal Estuary in the Gulf of Mannar. Two mangrove associates Acrostrichum aureum and Fimbristylis ferruginea were reported in the Manakkudy estuary. The mangroves along the North Coromandel Coast were represented more number of mangrove species. Avicennia marina was the dominant species almost all collect sites. Few mangrove plants only available in some species of mangroves in particular study areas, further investigation about mangroves plnats diversity or continue monitoring is necessary. Field studies are wanted for unexplored minor estuaries and hence the present work was undertaken. The aim of the study to identify the more number of rare mangrove species by survey more number of collection sites.

Mangroves; Coromandel coast; Avicennia; Rhizophora; Gulf of Mannar; Palk Bay