A study on diversity of molluscs in neil Islands

The Andaman sea Eco region is biologically rich in both diversity and abundance. The high diversity is encountered from genus to individual species, habitat and ecosystems. The coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds, marine lakes and deep sea valleys of the region form a constellation of diverse habitat that support a spectacular variety of fauna. Molluscsare highly successful invertebrates in terms of ecology and adaptation and are found nearly in all habitats ranging from deepest ocean trenches to the intertidal zones, and freshwater to land occupying a wide range of habitats. Much of the molluscan diversity occurs in the tropical world. Despite this great diversity, very few studies on molluscs have been carried out in the tropical world. An attempt was made to study the diversity and distribution of molluscs along the intertidal regions of Neil islands. During the survey three different beaches of Neil Island were selected, named, Sitapurbeach, Laxmanpur beach and Bharatpur beach. The study area is located 37 kms to lies in the northern part of south of the Andaman Islands. A total of 45 molluscs (bivalves and gastropods) were investigated from these islands. Gastropods were more abundant than thebivalves. Maximum species were obtained from Bharatpur beach as compared to Sitapurbeach and Laxmanpur beach. The dominant gastropodsspecies belong to order Neogastropodain all the three study area whereas dominant bivalve were reported under order Veneroida from Bharatpur beach. Laxmanpur recorded only one species of bivalve and no bivalves were recorded from Sitapur beach. The molluscs fauna showed variations in all the three study but the community structure is stable along the study area; it seems that habitat type has a strong influence on the distribution and abundance of both phyla. The present study investigated rich diversity of molluscs which included gastropods and bivalves. The result of the present study will be discussed.