Ph.D. Work

· This study was the first attempt to understand the infaunal macrobenthos of the entire shelf region of the west coast of India by collecting samples from every degree square.

· Fishery and Oceanographic Research Vessel (FORV) ‘Sagar Sampada’ was used for sampling.

· Data from two cruises (Cruise No. 162, during February–March 1998 and Cruise No. 192A, during February 2001) were used for this study.

· Polychaetes were the predominant benthic taxa.

· Prominent depth-wise and less prominent latitudinal variations in species richness of polychaetes, total infaunal biomass and abundance were noticed.

· Based on DO values measured from the various depth strata of the study area, the entire continental shelf edge of the west coast of India is considered to be lying within an OMZ (<0.5 ml l-1).

· In general, the standing stock of macrobenthos and species richness and diversity of polychaetes were reduced in the OMZ.

· This study revealed that the northern continental shelf edge experiences considerably lower DO (≤0.03 ml l-1) than shallower or more southern areas.

· Under such conditions, a majority of the spionid and cirratulid polychaetes common elsewhere were absent, whereas, crustaceans and molluscs were not affected to the same degree.

· Detailed study on polychaete community structure showed that the assemblages typical at 200 m in depth along the Indian continental shelf are characteristic of OMZs reported elsewhere.

· This study was funded by the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), India.

Following are some publications based on this study: