Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol. 47 (01), January 2018, pp. 60-66

A note on shallow water octocorallia from Nicobar Islands,

J. S. Yogesh Kumar1*, S. Geetha2, C. Raghunathan3 & R. Sornaraj2

1Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change), Government of India, Digha – 721428, West Bengal, India. 2Research Department of Zoology, Kamaraj College (Manonmaniam Sundaranar University), Thoothukudi – 628003, Tamil Nadu, India. 3Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change), Government of India, M Block, New Alipore, Kolkata - 700 053,West Bengal, India.

[E.mail: [email protected] ]

Received 07 December 2015 ; revised 17 November 2016

Present study revealed the diversity of shallow water soft coral octocorallia (Helioporacea, , Pennatulacea, Gorgonacea) in Nicobar group of Islands. The sampling made at 11 study sites with help of SCUBA diving to the depth of 5 to 30 m. A total 27 were found in Nicobar Island. Of which the Alcyonacea was dominant group followed by Gorgonacea, Helioporacea and Pennatulacea at all the study sites which is contributed with result obtained based on Principal Component analysis, De-Treneded analysis and Ternary plot. Bray-Curtis cluster analysis resulted 75% similarity between the study sites in Nicobar Islands.

[Key words: Soft coral, Octocorallia, diversity, Nicobar Islands, India]

Introduction Nicobar Islands are situated in the Helioporacea (blue coral), Pennatulacea (sea southeast region of Bay of Bengal, between 60-10 pens), and Alcyonacea (soft corals, Stolonifera, N Lat. and 920 - 940 E Long. There are 22 islands gorgonians and telestacea) found in intertidal to in Nicobar group, of which 12 are inhabited. The abyssal depths around World Ocean from present communication deals with the octocoral tropical to polar seas1. distribution of Nicobar group of Islands. The The studies on the Indian octocoral Octocoral belongs to the Anthozoan subclass were initiated by Hickson2,3 from Lakshadweep Octocorallia comprised of three orders: and Maldive, Pratt4 and Thomson

TABLE 1 Areas surveyed in the Nicobar group of Islands for assessing the status of Octocorals.

Name of the study sites Abbrevation Latitude Longitude Malacca MA N 09009.701” E 092050.128” Kakana KA N 09007.750” E 092048.678” Tamaloo TA N 09011.350” E 092049.498” Parka PA N 09011.203” E 092049.877” Lapathy LA N 09013.978” E 092048.002” Nancowry NA N 08002.145” E 093033.117” Champian CH N 08001.718” E 093032.728” Kamota KM N 08002.183” E 093032.573” Munak (Alukiah) MU N 07059.806” E 093029.852” Nancowry Groups Trinket TR N 08003.352” E 093034.102” Great Nicobar Gandhi Nagar GN N 06051.056” E 093053.769”

INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 47, NO. 01, JANUARY 2018 61

and Handerson5,6 from Gulf of Mannar, Nicobar Islands. Followed by Rao and Kamala Sri Lankan coast at 1200 m depth. Thomson and Devi15 reported 54 species of soft corals from Simpson7 reported Octocorals from the collection Andaman and Nicobar Islands. of Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship in Indian Limited records of avilability on Ocean, while Thomas and George8,9,10 reported Pennatulacea only 9 species reported from India, gorgonian octocorals from Indian water. Van of which 6 species reported from the Gulf of Ofwegen and Vennam11 and Alderslade and Mannar16 and 3 species from Andaman and Shirwaiker12 Studied octocorals from Nicobar Island17. Altogether 171 species of Lakshadweep Islands. In west coast of India, gorgonian octocorals have been reported from Usha et al.13 found the distribution of octocorals Indian water18 among them 121 species from from the Gulf of Kachchh and Gujarat coast. southeast coast19 and 51 species identified from JayaSree et al.14 reported the occurrence and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Kumar et al.20. distribution of soft corals from Andaman and

TABLE 2 List of octocorals species from Nicobar group of Islands

Systematic Position MA KA TA PA LA NA CH KM MU TR GN Family: Helioporidae ______+ + + + _ 1 Heliopora coerulea Family: _ _ _ _ _ + _ + + + _ 2 Siphonogorgia media Family: Xeniidae ______+ Heteroxenia 3 fuscescens Family: Tubiporidae _ + ______+ 4 Tubipora musica Family: Alcyoniidae _ _ + + _ _ _ + + _ _ 5 Cladiella sp. 6 Lobophytum sp. + + + + + + + + + + + 7 Sinularia sp. + + + + + + + + + + + 8 Sarcophyton sp. + + + + + + + + + + + 9 Dendronephthya sp. _ + _ _ _ _ + + _ + _ Family: Gorgoniidae + _ _ _ + + + + + _ 10 Rumphella torta 11 Hicksonella princeps _ _ _ _ + ______Family: + _ _ _ _ _ + + + + _ Subergorgiidae 12 Annella mollis 13 Annella reticulate ______+ _ _ _ _ 14 Subergorgia suberosa + _ _ _ _ + + + + + _ Family: Plexauridae ______+ _ _ _ _ 15 Bebryce sirene Echinomuricea _ _ _ _ _ + _ _ + _ _ 16 indomalaccensis 17 Euplexaura amerea _ _ _ _ _ + _ + _ _ _ 18 Menella kanisa _ _ _ _ _ + + _ _ + _ Trimuricea + _ _ _ + _ _ _ _ + _ 19 caledonica Family: Melithaea _ _ _ _ _ + _ _ _ _ _ 20 Melithaea braueri 21 Melithaea caledonica + _ _ + _ _ + _ + _ + 22 Melithaea variabilis _ _ _ _ _ + _ _ _ _ _ Family: Isididae + + + + + + + + + + + 23 Isis hippuris Family: _ _ _ + _ _ _ + _ _ _ Virgulariidae 24 Virgularia mirabilis ______+ Family: Pennatulidae Pteroeides 25 caledonicum 26 Pteroeides esperi ______+ _ Family: Veretillidae ______+ _ 27 Cavernularia pusilla +Present, - Absent

62 KUMAR et al.: OCTOCORALS OF NICOBAR ISLANDS

FIGURE 1 Underwater pictures of some octocorals from the study site in Nicobar Islands (1.Heteroxenia fuscescens, 2. Sinularia sp., 3. Lobophytum sp., 4. Cladiella sp., 5. Sarcophyton sp., 6. Dendronephthya sp., 7. Heliopora coerulea, 8. Virgularia gustaviana, 9. Pteroeides esperi, 10. Siphonogorgia media, 11. Tubipora musica, 12. Rumphella torta, 13. Hicksonella princeps, 14. Melithaea caledonica, 15. Melithaea variabilis, 16. Melithaea braueri, 17. Isis hippuris, 18. Echinomuricea indomalaccensis, 19. Subergorgia suberosa, 20. Annella mollis. INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 47, NO. 01, JANUARY 2018 63

Materials and Methods B The undersea survey using SCUBA gears have been conducted in 11 sites at Nicobar GorgonaceaKM group of Islands during 2009 to 2015 by using NA Helioporacea SCUBA diving. Line Intercept Transect (LIT) CH Pennatulacea 21 and Quadrate methods were used to investigate TR GN Alcyonacea the diversity and dispersion of the Octocorallia. LAPA MA KATA These specimens were identified based on the morphological characteristics and sclerite MU structure and preserved in 70% ethanol following Breedy22 and deposited in the National Zoological collection of ZSI, Port Blair. The FIGURE 2 Principal Component Analyses (PCA): A- Life form categories and B – Octocorals recorded in the Nicobar statistical analysis like Menhinick Diversity, groups of Islands. Shannon – Weiner Diversity, Pielou’s Evenness, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) scatter A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) diagram, De-trended correspondence analysis of different live form categories and genera of and Ternary plot were made using PAST octocoral and its contribution with respect to 23 software . study sites are presented in the Fig 2 A&B. The live coral cover was maximum at NA, KM and Results MU while dead coral cover was maximum in A total of 27 species of octocorals under 23 LA, GN, TA and the rubble was reported genera, 13 families were recorded from the maximum at the KA (Fig 2A). Diversity and Nicobar group of Islands (Table 2, Fig. 1). A distribution of octocorals were maximum at TR maximum number of species were recorded from and minimum at TA. Percentage of octocoral TR (14 sp.) and minimum at TA (5 sp.). The cover was varied between the study sites, for the Menhinick Diversity index was recorded as 4 order Helioporacea, Alcyonacea, Pennatulacea, highest at PA (1.5) while LA and CH (0.8) Gorgonacea. Among them alcyonacea was represented the lowest diversity of Octocorals. dominant at all the study sites whereas and The Shannon – Weiner Diversity index was pennatulacea was rare in four field sites (PA, maximum in KM (1.24) and minimum in MU NA, KM, GN). The distribution of Gorgonacea (0.57). The Simpson’s Diversity indices, KM and Helioporacea were maximum at KM and TR (0.68) was noted maximum and MU (0.29) respectively (Fig. 2B & Fig. 3). minimum and the Pielou’s Evenness index for species community ranged from 0.59 at MU to 0.91 at LA. A maximum number of individuals and percentage of cover reported in TR and minimum in TA (Table 3).

A

FIGURE 3 Percentage of octocoral cover in the study sites.

64 KUMAR et al.: OCTOCORALS OF NICOBAR ISLANDS

2.5

Nancowry Malacca Champian Trinket Alukiah Lapathi Parka G.Nicobar Kakanna Tamaloo 2 Pennatulacea

1.5 0.96

1 0.92 0.5 Alcyonacea

LA MU PA 0.88 GN KANA -2 -1.6 -1.2 -0.8 -0.4 KMCHTATRMA0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 0.84 -0.5 Gorgonacea

-1 Similarity 0.8

-1.5 0.76

-2 Helioporacea 0.72

FIGURE 4 De-Trended correspondence analysis based 0.68 Octocoral distribution between the study site in the Nicobar groups. 0.64

Helioporacea FIGURE 6 Bray-Curtis similarity cluster analysis under paired linkage for the Nicobar group of islands based on the species of octocoral.

De-Treneded analysis clearly showed that alcyonacean diversity was highly significant and pennatulacea was nonsignificant between the 50 50 study sites (Fig. 4). The percentage of octocorals were plotted in Ternary plot also illustrated all

MATATR KM the study sites closed to the order alcyonacea KACH NA PAGN (Fig. 5). As per the result of Bray-Curtis cluster MU analysis under paired linkage (Fig. 6), the study LA 50 sites were in two major groups with more than Alcyonacea Pennatulacea 75% similarity. Among them one group Malacca FIGURE 5 Ternary Plot analysis based Octocoral study site in Car Nicobar combined with distribution between the study site in the Nicobar groups. Nancowry and Kamorta study sites (81% TABLE 3 Octocoral diversity index between the study stations in Nicobar group of Islands Shannon - Menhinick Weiner Simpson's Diversity Diversity Diversity Pielou's Percentage of index Index Indices Evenness Individuals cover (%) Malacca 1 0.85 0.49 0.78 9 5.6 Kakanna 1.2 0.87 0.50 0.79 6 3.8 Tamaloo 1.3 0.95 0.56 0.86 5 3.1 Parka 1.5 1.15 0.61 0.79 7 4.4 Lapathi 0.8 0.60 0.41 0.91 7 4.4 Nancowry 1.2 1.20 0.65 0.83 1.2 2.4 12 3.6 4.8 6 7.5 7.2 8.4 9.6 10.8 12 Champian 0.8 0.93 0.54 0.84 13 8.1 Kamorta 1.2 1.24 0.68 0.86 12 7.5 Munak (Alukiah) 0.9 0.57 0.29 0.59 12 7.5 Trinket 0.8 0.89 0.52 0.81 14 8.8 G.Nicobar 1.4 1.21 0.66 0.84 8 5.0

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similarity), Munnak (Alukiah) paired with Conclusions Champian and Trinket (83% Similarity). In The biodiversity and bioresources of second group, Parka combined with Great octocorals habitats is under threats. Worldwide Nicobar (94% similarity), Kakanna combined distribution of octocoral was quite distinctive in with Tamaloo (90% similarity) and Lapathi 74% terms of their isolation and surviving in extreme similarity between four stations Parka, Great oceanographic and climatic condition. In India, Nicobar, Kakanna and Tamaloo. octocoral was least studied groups, present study reported 27 species of octocorals from Nicobar Discussions group of Islands. while more detailed Octocorals are the most common and examination needed to assess the octocoral widely distributed group after hard corals on the diversity and distribution in shallow to deep reefs that occupy a great variety of ecological waters. situations. Their habitat range from inter tidal exposed reefs to deeper reef slopes. Present study Acknowledgements illustrates that coral reef of the Andaman and Authors are thankful to the Department Nicobar Islands have a diverse octocoral fauna. of Science and Technology (DST) and Science Alcyonacea and helioporacea characteristic of and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for shallow reef habitats such as inter tidal reef and financial support to undertake the survey and the reef flats. Distribution of gorgonacea fond at reef Director, Zoological Survey of India, Ministry of slope to reef edge and pennatulacea reported on Environment Forest and Climate Change outside the reef, mostly in sandy bottom at (MoEFCC) for facilities provided. deeper water. A statistical analysis resulted alcyonacea was reported most common group References and pennatulacea was least found group in all the 1. Fabricius, K. and Alderslade, P., Soft corals and sea study sites. The result of PCA, De-Treneded and fans, a comprehensive guide to the tropical shallow water genera of the Central West Pacific, the Indian Ternary plot analysis were also similar trend in Ocean and Red Sea. AIMS, PMB 3, Australia, (2000), Nicobar groups. pp.1-264. The species Sinularia, Lobophytum, 2. Hickson, S. J., The Alcyonaria of the Maldives. Pt. I. Sarcophytum, and Cladiella (Alcyonacea) were the genera Xenia, Teleso, Spongodes, Nephthea, very common in shallow reef flat to upper reef Paraspongodes, Chironephthea, Siphonogorgia, 14,15 Solenocaulon and Melitodes. In the fauna and zone in Andaman and Nicobar Islands . geography of the Maldive and Laccadive Dendronephthya under alcyonacea groups was Archipelagoes, Gradiner, S.J. (ed), (1903), 2(1): reported in reef flat to reef slope, some time in pp.473-502. reef edge and sandy bottom6. According to 3. Hickson, S. J., The Alcyonaria of Maldives. Pt. III. 20 The families Muriceidae, Gorgonethidae, Melitodidae Kumar et al. , a total of 51 species of and the genera Pannatula and Eunephthea. In: the gorgonacea were reported at reef slope to deeper fauna and geography of the Maldive and Laccadive sites in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Archipelagoes. Gardiner, S.J. (ed.), (1905), 2(4): 807- Pennatulacea was least studied groups in 826. Andaman and Nicobar Islands16. 4. Pratt, E. M., Report on some Alcyoniidae collected by Prof.Herdman at Ceylon in 1902 in Herdman W.A. The present study reported 27 species of and Honell, J. Report to the Goverment of Ceylon on octocorals belonging 23 genera from the study the pearl and Oyster Fisherish of the Gulf of Mannar, sites in Nicobar Islands. The abundance of (1905), 3(19): 247-268. octocorals cover is in the following order: 5. Thomson, J. A. and Henderson W.D., Alcyonaria; Ceylon Pearl Oyster Fisheries Report. Royal Society, Trinket > Champian> Nancowry> Kamorta> London, (1905), pp. 271-328. Munnak (Alukiah)> Malacca> Great Nicobar> 6. Thomson, J. A. and Henderson W. D., An account of Parka> Lapathi> Kakanna> Tamaloo. Among the the alcyonarians collected by the Royal Indian Marine study sites, Trinket exhibited the highest Survey Ship Investigator in the Indian Ocean. Part 1. octocoral cover, while the Tamaloo exhibited the The Alcyonarians of the deep sea. Calcutta: The Indian Museum, (1906), pp. i–xvi + 1–132, plates 1– least octocoral cover. Bray-Curtis similarity 10. cluster analysis shows complete variations 7. Thomson, J. A.and Simpson, J. J., An account of the between the study sites based on octocoral alcyonarians collected by the R.I.M.S.S. investigator species cover. in the Indian Ocean II. The alcyonarians of the littoral area. Calcutta: The India Museum, (1909), ppXii+319.

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