P. KARTHICK, R. MOHANRAJU, KADA NARAYANA MURTHY, CH.

RAMESH
ANDSUMANTHANARAYANA
Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University
Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair - 744 112, Andaman

A survey was conducted in Little Andaman during July and August 2012. Altogether 52
species belonging to 28 genera of seaweeds were recorded at five stations. Among these, 32
species comprising Graci/aria. Gelidie/la. Caulerpa. Sargassum. Turbinaria. Acanthophora.
Viva. Halymenia and Laurencia are commercially important. These algae were found
growing in appreciable quantities on the rocks in the intertidal region. The occurrence of
Caulerpa lenti//ifera is a new record in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This study showed
rich macro algal diversity and they could be used for the industrial applications.

will provide employment opportunities for

Seaweeds are photosynthetic marine
macro algae which are classified into green,
brown, red and blue-green algae. They are the
only source for the production of
phycocolloids like alginate, carrageenan and
agar. Some green and red seaweeds are
consumed as vegetables in many centuries
especially by people of Southeast Asia and
some are used for agricultural and other
industrial purposes in confectionary, textile,
pharmaceutical, dairy, paper industries etc.
Economically important seaweeds are found
growing luxuriantly along Indian coast
including Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chennubhotla et al. (1987). Kaliaperumal
(2005) suggested that the bays and creeks in
the east and west coast, Andaman-Nicobar
islands and atolls of Lakshadweep are suitable
places for the cultivation of seaweeds, which
coastal population. Seaweed distribution in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands were published
by Krishnamurthy and Joshi (1970), Jagtap
(1992), Silva et al. (1996), Umamaheswara Rao
(2000) and Mohanraju and Tanusree (2012).
Palanisamy (2012) reported that harvestable
quantities of brown seaweeds are available in
South Andaman. Seaweed biomass study in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands and South
Andaman was made by Gopinathan and
Panigrahy (1983) and Muthuvelan et al.
(2001). Vinoth et al. (2011) documented rich
seaweed diversity and biomass in Great
Nicobar Island. For Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, considerable amount of data with
respect to seaweed distribution are available
but information on biomass and availability
of commercial seaweeds are scanty. The
present study was made with a view to estimate
the potentially important seaweed species of
Little Andaman and to prepare list of seaweeds
for future reference.
In the present investigation, five
stations (Fig. 1) were selected in Little
Andaman and all were located in the east coast
of Andaman Sea. Seaweeds present in the
intertidal zone were collected during the low
tide periods in July and August 2012. Entire
plants along with holdfast representing
different genera and species were separated
and washed with seawater to remove sand and
epiphytic fauna associated with them. Then
the samples were transported to the laboratory
and preserved in 4% formalin and herbariums
were also prepared for the identification. The
algae were identified by referring various
N
10· JO
literatures (Srinivasan, 1969, 1973; Untawale
et aZ., 1983; Umamaheswara Rao, 1987;
Chennubhotla et aZ., 1987; Silva et aI., 1996;
Oza and Zaidi 200 I; Bhavanath Jha et aZ.,
2009).
Result and Discussion
This study showed the occurrence
of 52 algal species belonging to 28 genera from
five stations of Little Andaman (Table-I).
Commercially important agarophytes,
alginophytes and carragenophytes were
found in large quantities. Agarophytes were
more than alginophytes and carragenophytes.
Agarophytes like Graci/aria corticata, G
edulis, G crass a and G verrucosa were seen
abundantly followed by alginophytes such
as Sargassum sp, Hormophysa cuneiform is,
 Chlorophyceae 27. Hormophysa cuneiformis (J. Gmelin) P. Silva
I. U/va lactuca Linnaeus 28. Sargassum duplicatum C. Agardh
2. U/va reticulata Forsskal 29. Sargassum sp
3. Enteromorpha sp 30. Sargassum sp
4. Anadyomene stellata (Wulfen) C. Agardh 31. Turbinaria conoides (J.Agardh) Kuetzing
5. Chaetomorpha crassa (C.Agardh) Kuetzing 32. T. decurrens Bory de Saint-Vincent
6. C. spiralis Okamura 33. T. ornata (Turner) J. Agardh
7. Boergeseniaforbesii (Harvey) J. Feldmann 34. T. triquetra (J.Agardh) Kuetzing
8. Dictyosphaeria cavernosa (Forsskal) Rhodophyceae
Boergesen 35. Gelidium pusillum (Stackhouse) Le Jolis
9. Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh 36. Gelidiella acerosa (Forsskal) J. Feldmann &
10. C. peltata Lamouroux G Hamel
11. C. racemosa (Forsskal) J. Agardh 37. Graci/aria canaliculata Sonder
12. C. serrulata (Forsskal) J. Agardh 38. G crassa Harvey ex J.Agardh
13. C. taxifolia (Vahl) C. Agardh 39. G corticata (1. Agardh)J. Agardh
14. C. sertularoides (S. Gmelin) Howe 40. G edulis (S.Gmelin) P.Silva
15. Codium tomentosum Stackhouse 41. G verrucosa (Hudson) Papenfuss
16. Codium elongatum (Turner) C. Agardh 42. Amphiroa anceps (Lamarck) Decaisne
17. Codium sp 43. Chei/osporum cultratum (Harvey)
18. Halimeda opuntia (Linnaeus )Lamouroux Areschoug
19. H. macroloba Decaisne 44. Jania sp
20. Halimeda sp 45. Hypneapannosa J.Agardh
21. Neomeris annulata Dickie 46. H. hamulosa (Esper) Lamouroux
22. Acetabularia calyculus Lamouroux 47. Hypnea sp
23. Bryopsis plumosa (Hudson) C. Agardh 48. Acanthophora spicifera (Vahl) Boergesen
24. Valonia sp 49. Laurencia papi/losa (C. Agardh) Greville
Phaeophyceae 50. Halymenia durvi/lei Bory de Saint-Vincent
25. Padina gymnospora (Kuetzing) Sonder 51. Halymenia sp
26. P pavonica (Linnaeus) Thivy 52. Peyssonnelia obscura Weber -van Bosse

Turbinaria conoides, T decurrens and T
ornata. Carageenophytes showed poor
diversity when compared to agarophytes and
alginophytes. Among the carageenophytes,
Acanthophora spicifera was found in large
quantities whereas Laurencia papil/osa and
Hypnea pannosa in less quantities.
The edible seaweeds like Viva
lactuca, Caulerpa racemosa and Caulerpa
lentillifera are available in substantial
quantities. Caulerpa lentil/if era was recorded
for the first time in Andaman and Nicobar
waters but earlier it was reported in Indian
coastal waters (Oza and Zaidi, 2001). This
green alga is used as major edible seaweed in
many South East Asian countries and it is
commercially cultivated on large scale in the
brackish water ponds in Philippines and other
countries. Little Andaman has rich seaweed
potential and the edible seaweed Caulerpa
spp is available in large quantity. But due to
lack of knowledge, the local people are not
utilising this species for consumption. Little
Andaman is having very good marine
ecosystem which provide favourable
environment for the luxuriant growth of
different seaweeds for wide use in Seaweed distribution in South and Little
pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries Andaman. In: Ecology of Faunal
etc. Further studies on the biomass of Communities on the Andaman and
seaweeds are necessary for evaluating the Nicobar Islands. K. Venkataraman, C.
standing crop of agarophytes, Raghunathan and C. Sivaperuman (eds).
carageenophytes and alginophytes in these Springer, Heidelberg. pp. 149-158.
islands which may provide valuable
Muthuve1an, B., V.S.K. Chennubhotla,
information to setup small scale seaweed
K.Y.KNair, Y. Sampath and M. Ravindran
industries for the benefit of local fisher
2001. Standing crop, biomass and
folk.
comparative distribution of agarophytes,
Acknowledgements alginophytes and other algae in South
Andaman. Indian Hydrobiol., 4: 130-138.
We thank the Head, Department of
Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Oza, M.R. and S.H. Zaidi 2001. A Revised
Pondicherry University and the University Checklist of Indian Marine Algae.
Authorities for providing the facilities to carry CSMCRI, Bhavnagar, India. 296 p.
out this work. Palanisamy, M. 2012. Seaweeds of South
Andaman: Chidiyatapu, North Bay and
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