International Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202Vol. 4(10), 15-19, October (2015) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 15 A record of Mono-specific Carpets of Genus –Sinulariaon Coral reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, IndiaJigar D. Joshi, Devanshi M. Joshi, Rakesh S. Patel, Sandeep B. Munjpara and Harshad D. Salvi Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 11th August 2015, revised 31st August 2015, accepted 27th September 2015 Abstract The present observation is confined to the coral reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh at the western coast of India. The observation describes occurrence of two large patches of soft coral belonging to genus Sinulariaon Mangunda reef and Paga reef at the Gulf of Kachchh (GoK). It was observed that the colonies of Sinulariasp completely surrounded other Scleractinians. The present observation indicates occurrence of Allelopathicphenomenon on reef habitat. Keywords: Gulf of Kachchh, Sinularia sp., scleractinians, allelopathicphenomenon. Introduction Gujarat is one of the maritime states of the country, having the longest coastline in India. The length is mainly attributed two Gulfs of the state i.e., Gulf of Kachchh and Gulf of Khambhat. However, the coral reef formations are restricted to the Gulf of Kachchh. The Sourthen shore of GoK has numerous Islands which harbour vast area of mangrove and coral reefs. In order to conserve the rich marine biodiversity, the area was declared as India’s first Marine National Park and Sanctuary (MNP and S) in 1982. India having four main diverse coral reef areas, The Gulf of Kachchh (GoK) is one of them. The vast coral reef area is bestowed with rich marine biodiversity exhibiting a number of ecological phenomena. Especially, the benthic animals and plants have to compete in order to spread their coverage on the sea bottom. In order to survive in this competition, organisms show certain phenomena called allelopathy which helps them to increase their benthic coverage by inhibiting the growth of other nearby organisms with toxic secretions. In the present studies intertidal areas of GoK were surveyed under two projects i.e., i. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project (Mangunda reef) funded by World Bank and ii. Impact of Global Changes on Marine Ecosystems with special emphasis on Coral Reefs (Paga reef) funded by Space Applications Centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Methodology The present observations were recorded on an Island and a submerged reef. Both the locations are offshore, hence were approached by fishing trawl from the nearest coastal location. The observation was recorded by the authors during the field work of other projects where the data collection was carried out by laying quadrates on reef. The quadrate size was 1m X 1m and having 100 grids in order to collect data precisely i.e., each small square representing 1 % of the benthic category. The reef of the Gulf of Kachchh fringes the island coasts in more or less parallel manner, hence the quadrates were laid parallel to the reef edge. However, the large patch of the soft coral was not spread parallel to the observation line of the quadrate. In order to get all the dimensions of the soft coral patch, it was required to cover all the extreme direction of the patch and take measurements. Therefore, the present observation was accomplished by collecting GPS coordinates of the large patches from various directions in order to get the coverage of the soft coral. Results and Discussion The major benthos of the GoK reefs includes hard and soft corals, other invertebrates, seaweeds and sea grasses1,2. The outer reef flat of Paga reef was evidently covered with mono-specific patch of the Sinulariasp., oriented parallel to the reef edge. It stretched about 90 m along the edge and its breadth was about 10 m contributing to 900 m. The patch of Mangunda reef extended up to 150 m along the reef with the width up to 35 m covering about 5250 m. The exposed patches appeared to be dark pinkish-brown carpets over the reef at both locations during low tide (figure-2 a, b). However, the underwater colonies appeared brown with yellow tinge (figure-2c). Some of the Scleractinians viz., Montiporafoliosa, Turbinariapeltata and Gonioporatenuidens were also associated with this aggregation of Sinularia. It was observed that the colonies of Favitescomplanata and T. Peltata were completely surrounded by Sinulariasp. and it appeared that the colony growth of Scleractinians might be inhibited. Such observations have also been recorded by reef scientists in other part of the world. Many soft corals including, Sinulariasp.form large patches on reefs3,4. It was noted that Sinularia possess toxic chemicals and limit the growth of smaller colonies of Scleractinians . It was observed that approximately half of the soft corals of on the Great Barrier Reef contain toxic compounds . Moreover Sammarco had also examined the allelopathic effects of Sinulariapavida on scleractinians. Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 4(10), 15-19, October (2015) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 16  \n \n\n \r  \r  Source:Paga and Mangunda reefs “Coral Atlas of Gujarat State” GEC, Gujarat, India Figure-1 The two locations- Paga and Mangunda reefs in Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, IndiaFigure–2a A large exposed patch of Sinularia sp. Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 4(10), 15-19, October (2015) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 17 Figure–2b Exposed colonies of Sinularia sp. with retracted polyps Figure–2c Under water view of Sinularia sp. extended polyps gives brownish yellow tinge Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 4(10), 15-19, October (2015) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 18 Figure–2d Dominance of Sinularia sp. colonies in 1x1quadrat Figure–2e Colonies of Sinularia sp. Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 4(10), 15-19, October (2015) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 19 Conclusion The present observation indicated occurrence of allelopathic effects, enabling Sinulariasp. to survive despite the likely competition with other benthos on reef. Hence, it is recommended to carry out further investigations in the GoK to identify and isolate relevant bio-active compounds from Sinulariasp. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the Director, GEER Foundation for his valuable guidance and encouragement for manuscript preparation. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Ketan Tatu, Sr. Scientist, GEER Foundation for his constructive comments for the manuscript preparation. We extend our thanks to the Director, Marine National Park and Sanctuary, Jamnagar, for support and necessary permissions. We also acknowledge support of the research staff of GEER Foundation in the field work and office. 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