Occurence of dinoflagellate bloom of ceratium furca in the coastal waters of south andaman

The bloom forming mixotrophic dinoflagellate, Ceratium furca, has been linked with the coastal eutrophication in tropical and subtropical coastal regions. During November 2012, a bloom of C. furca was observed in Chouldari, Port Blair, South Andaman. Such events of dinoflagellate have not been previously reported in this area. The bloom was recorded during II phase of Monsoon (November 22nd – 26th) of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. During the bloom period, C. furca was counted as 22, 230 to 37, 132 cells.ml-l. Analysis of nutrients and environmental parameters also studied. The results revealed that the increase in the nutrient concentration have initiated the bloom. Changes in the nearby land use practices of the study area may have been the primary inducer of this bloom. Intense fertilization of the farms coupled with ineffective management strategies is hypothesized to have a direct link to the increase in nutrients found in Chouldari and may have been the trigger for the initialization of these blooms.