Occurrence of living corals at several places along the west coast of India

Abstract

On the west coast of India, several species of reef building corals have been recorded from the intertidal zone of Ratnagiri, Malvan and Redi. Most of the colonies of corals in these areas were small and appear to be not more than a few years old. At Malvan, the colonies were somewhat larger and fairly widespread. All the three areas, where corals occur, have a luxuriant growth of sea weeds. Strong wave action along the coast probably prevents the growth of branching types of corals in these areas. The occurrence of hermatypic corals along the western shores of India indicates that these corals are adapted to fairly wide changes in salinity and turbidity which they experience during the monsoon months. Special attention is needed to protect these corals from human destruction