Gracilariopsis Lemaneiformis (Bory) Dawson - a Red Alga Reported from Certain Backwaters of Kerala

2005·0.57 MB·

by  P Kaladharan

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MANICKAM
July 14,2003 V.S.
A. BENNIAMIN
We thank ProfDr. Pullaiah T., Department ofBotany, S. HARIKRISHNAN
S.K. University,Anantapur,Andhra Pradesh; forguiding us CentreforBiodiversityandBiotechnology,
during our field work and the Ministry ofEnvironment and St.Xavier’sCollege,Palyamkottai627002,
Forests, GovernmentofIndiaforfinancial assistance. TamilNadu,India.
REFERENCES
Alderberlet van Rosenberg, C.R.W.K. (1908): Handbook to the Christensen,C.(1906)://ide.r Hafniae,Hagerup,Koenigstein.
Determination of the Ferns of the Malayan Island, Nair, N.C. & R.K. Ghosh (1978): A new record for India. Indian
Landsdrukkerij,Batarria. forester 104(5): 373-376.
33. GRACILARIOPSIS LEMANEIFORMIS (BORY) DAWSON - A RED ALGA
REPORTED FROM CERTAIN BACKWATERS OF KERALA
Alongcylindricalthalloidmultifariouslybranchedred
alga was reported from Dhalawapuram (Ashtamudi lake),
Kadalundi(Kadalundinagaram)andMoplaBay(Kannur)and
waslateridentifiedasGracilariopsislemaneiformis(Fig. 1).
The salinity in all these regions ranged from 14 to 20 ppt
during the non-monsoon period; during the SW monsoon,
this species could not sustain drop in salinity below 8.0 ppt.
The species grows attached loosely to the sediment along
withsubdominantformsofgreenalgaesuchasEuleromorpha
linza and Chaetomorpha limmi. The density ranged from
300-900 gm/sq. m in Mopla bay and 150-600 gm/sq. m in
Dhalawapuram during the peak growth season ofOctober to
January.Thestandingcropinboththeestuarineareasofabout
20hectareswasestimatedtobe 12-15tonnes(wetwt.)/yr. I 114 1*1 lie ilr ji| ii» jio si) sis als ale ala ala ala ala all »» all ala all ak
In India, Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis was reported
from Painban, Mandapam and Visakhapatnam by HI ii! «ii cii >ii cii -tt ’ll r—
Fig. 1: GracilariopsislemaneiformiscoWeciedfrom
UmamaheswaraRao(1972).Preliminarysurveyconductedin Dhalawapuram(Ashtamudilake)
certain areas of Ashtamudi lake revealed the presence of
agarophytes, alginophytes andcarrageenophytes(Nairetal. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1982);noattemptwasmadetoquantifythemandoccurrence
ofthisspecieswasnotreported. Resourceassessmentsurvey I am grateful to Prof Dr. Mohan Joseph Modayil,
conducted by Chennubhotla et al. (1988) along the Kerala Director,CMFRIandtoDr.M.Rajagopalan,PrincipalScientist
coast also did not record the occuiTence of this alga; the andtheHeadofFEMDivisionforencouragement.Courtesy
presentreportis thefirstfromthe Keralacoast. rendered by Prof. Umamaheswara Rao in confirming the
Thepolysaccharidecontentinthisspeciesrangedfrom identificationofthealga,isgratefullyacknowledged.
18 to 26% dry wt. The moisture content in the thallus was
87%. Sincethisalgahasaffinitytowardssandyloambottom, September 10,2003 P.KALADHARAN
bottom set nets/rafts can be used for cultivation trials as CentralMarineFisheriesResearchInstitute,
polyculture with mussels oroysters. Cochin682014,Kerala,India.
REFERENCES
Chennubhotla,V.S.K., B.S. Ramachandrudu, R Kaladharan& S.K. Nair,B.N.,V,Shoba&M.Arunachalam(1982):AlgaefromSouthern
Dharmaraja (1988): Seaweed resources of Kerala coast. In: Kerala coast. Indian J. war. Sci. 11(3): 266-269.
Aquatic Botany. Bulletin ofthe Dept.Aquat. Biol & Fisheries, Umamaheswara Rao, M. (1972): On the Gracilariaceae of the seas
University of Kerala Vol. V1K1991): 69-74. around India. J. marboil. Assn India. 14(2): 671-696.
378 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 102 (3), Sep-Dec 2005