Volume 18 Issue 3 Third quarter, 2010 ISSN 0971-8656 Seshaiyana Seshaiyana Seshaiyana Seshaiyana Seshaiyana Quarterly newsletter of ENVIS on Indian estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs and lagoons Instructions to authors We welcome research and popular articles, notes, news, snippets and cartoons or any scientific information on our core subjects—estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs and lagoons in and around Indian waters. The articles should not exceed five typed pages in double space. Figures should be clear for good reproduction. References should be limited and cited in the text by name and year. Council of Science Editors Style may be referred to for listing references at the end. E-mail your articles, in MS Word 2003 or 2007, to: casmb@envis.nic.in (or) cdl_aucasmb@sancharnet.in or send both the hard and soft copies to: The In-Charge ENVIS Centre Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology Faculty of Marine Science Parangipettai 608 502 Tamil Nadu, India We invite comments, suggestions and constructive criticism on Seshaiyana from the authors and readers. Editors Prof. T. Balasubramanian (Dean & ENVIS In-Charge) Prof. S. Ajmal Khan ENVIS team Dr. E. Karthikeyan: Research Officer Mr. R. Saravanan: Research Asst. Mrs. L. Vijayalakshmi: Asst. Programmer Mr. B. Senthilkumar: Information Asst. Mr. A. Subramanian: Reprography Asst. Mr. R. Nagarajan: Office Asst. Published by Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Centre Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology Faculty of Marine Science Annamalai University Parangipettai 608 502, Tamil Nadu, India Sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India, New Delhi Authors are solely responsible for the scientific facts and copyright permissions, if they have reproduced materials or quoted lines from other sources. They are also responsible for the publication of the same in the past or in the future. Disclaimer Newsletter Subscription Seshaiyana is available on a subscription fee of Rs. 100/- per year. Subscription covers four issues from the date of receipt of the fee. Interested readers may send Rs. 100/- through M.O. to: Prof. T. Balasubramanian Dean & ENVIS In-Charge Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology Faculty of Marine Science Annamalai University Parangipettai 608 502, Tamil Nadu, India CONTENTS Page No. 1. Coral bleaching in and around Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India 1 2. Antimicrobial activity of Acanthus ilicifolius L. collected from mangrove forest of Karwar coast 3 3. Journal citation and impact factor 4 4. Abstracts of recent publications 6 5. New record of a zoanthid genus Palythoa from the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat (back cover) Editor’s Desk Dear Readers, In this issue we have included four articles, three from our core areas [2 on corals and 1 on mangroves] and another one on Journal Citation and Impact Factor which have become all the more important for scientists of the present era. Among the biodiversity rich areas, corals and mangrove occupy the prime slots. Global warming has impacted corals to a greater extent than the mangroves. The first article presents the results of monitoring undertaken in two islands of the Andaman group of islands bringing to the fore threshold level of temperature for the corals and the extent of bleaching in these islands. India has rich traditional knowledge about the values of biodiversity notwithstanding mangroves. The second article validates the traditional knowledge available for the medicinal uses of a mangrove species. We all have entered into an era in which publications are made with an eye on impact factor. How this practice began and how it is calculated, the authors of the third article have explained nicely. We cannot but appreciate their national fervour as they have given in the end tips for improving the impact factor of Indian journals. The fourth article reports the occurrence of a new zoanthid genus namely Palythoa from Gulf of Kachchh which may be of interest to the marine census scientists. The threat the reported two species belonging to this genus can pose to the soft corals will be of interest to the ecologists and environmental scientists. Besides these, latest abstracts of papers published on estuaries, mangroves and lagoons are included for the benefit of the readers. Apart from reading, the readers are requested to contribute to Seshaiyana in the form of articles, notes and reports. Your feed backs will also receive our utmost attention. Prof. T. Balasubramanian Prof. S. Ajmal Khan On the Saurashtra coast, it is found at Dwarka, Veraval, Mangrol and Bural-Chank reef. The first three locations are rocky shores but the last one is an off shore reef within the Marine National Park. In intertidal regions of Dwarka near sunset point and lighthouse (lat. 22° 14’35" N and long. 68° 57’17" E) large colonies of Palythoa are found growing on rocks and in shallow water pools. The growth rate of the colonies is very high. Within a short span of 3 months the expanse of a few colonies was observed to have doubled. On Bural-Chank Reef a small colony was observed in the month of April-2008 and it was in the initial stage of colony development. As there is little natural control it could rapidly spread over to other areas in the reef. Keeping in mind its aggressive growth and its ability of overgrow on natural coral community, there is an immediate need to study its distribution vis-à-vis other corals in other sites on Bural-Chank reef as well as other reefs of the Marine National Park. References Acosta, A., P.W. Sammarco and L.F. Duarte, 2005. New fission processes in the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum: Description and quantitative aspects. Bull. Mar. Sci., 76(1): 1–26. Amada, A.R., 1970. Feeding behavior in the Hawaiian zoanthids Palythoa and Zoanthus. The Doctoral Dissertation, the University of Southern California. Haywick, D.J. and E.M. Mueller, 1997. Sediment retention in encrusting Palythoa sp.— a biological twist to a geological process. Coral Reefs, 16: 39–46. Kemp, D.W., C.B. Cook, T.C. Lajeunesse and W.R. Brooks, 2006. A comparison of the thermal bleaching responses of the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum from three geographically different regions in south Florida. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 335: 266–276. Mueller, E. and D.W. Hawick, 1995. Sediment assimilation and calcification by the Western Atlantic reef zoanthid, Palythoa caribaeorum. Bulletin de I’nstitut océanographique, Monaco, 14(2): 89–100. Reimer, J.D., K. Takishita, S. Ono and T. Maruyama, 2007. Diversity and evolution in the zoanthid genus Palythoa (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia) utilizing nuclear ITSrDNA. Coral Reefs, 26: 399-–410. Suchanek, T.H. and D.J. Green, 1981. Interspecific competition between Palythoa caribaeorum and other sessile invertebrates on St. Croix reefs, U.S. Virgin Islands. Proc. Fourth International Coral Reef Symposium, Manila, Vol. 2: 679–684. Verónica, A.S., 2007. Effects of sedimentation on the distribution and ecology of the reef zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum. A Dissertation Thesis of M.Sc., University of Puerto Rico. (continued from back cover) S. Bhattji Nayruti*, G. Shah Dharmendra, D. Desai Nikhil and C. Mankodi Pradeep Faculty of Science The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Vadodara 390 002 Gujarat *Corresponding author (e-mail: nayruti@gmail.com) Booklets English 1 Estuaries 64 25.00 2 Mangroves 32 15.00 3 Coral Reefs 54 25.00 4 Lagoons 44 30.00 Tamil 5 fopKfg; gFjpfs; 62 25.00 6 rJg; Gepyf; fhLfs; 32 15.00 7 gtsg; ghiwfs; 52 25.00 8 cth; eP h; Vhpfs; 34 30.00 Bibliographies 9 Bibliography on Indian Estuaries (1981–2005) 289 275.00 10 Bibliography on Indian Mangroves (1980–2005) 172 175.00 11 Bibliography on Indian Coral Reefs* (up to 2000) 74 80.00 12 Bibliography on Indian Coastal Lagoons (1907–2008) 105 100.00 13 Palk Bay: Information and Bibliography (up to 2005) 227 250.00 Reports 14 Estuaries of India: State-of-the-art Report (up to 2000) 195 300.00 15 Mangroves of India: State-of-the-art Report (up to 2000) 140 250.00 16 Mangroves of India: State-of-the-art Report (2001–2005) 112 17 Coral Reefs of India: State-of-the-art Report (up to 2000) 104 250.00 18 Lagoons of India: State-of-the-art Report (up to 2000) 100 250.00 Special publications 19 Flowering Plants and Fern in Mangrove Ecosystems of India 110 300.00 —An Identification Manual 20 Role of Crabs in the Mangrove Environment 101 300.00 21 An Anthology of Indian Mangroves 66 75.00 22 Wave in Bay (Impact of Tsunami on Coastal Resources) 129 150.00 23 Living on the Edge* 111 120.00 24 Non-living Resources from the Coastal Environment 40 50.00 *Only photocopies are available. S. No. Book titles Pages Cost (Rs.) Visit our CASMB-ENVIS Centre Digital Repository (http://www.casmbenvis.nic.in) Estuaries 1390 Mangroves 754 Coral Reefs 656 Lagoons 231 Total 3031 Habitats No. of reprints Our Publication List Our Publication List