J. Mar. Biol. Ass. India, 59 (2), July-December 2017 Shipwrecks in Andaman and Nicobar Islands: An artificial habitat for corals Tamal Mondal* and C. Raghunathan 1 Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, National Coral Reef Research Institute, Haddo, Port Blair-744 102, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. 1 Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 7000 53, West Bengal, India. *Correspondence e-mail: t_genetics@yahoo.com Received: 10 June 2016 Accepted: 20 Dec 2017 Published: 30 Dec 2017 Original Article Abstract Globally scleractinian corals are facing the threats of devastation due to anthropogenic activities as well as natural calamities. The concept of artificial reef was developed to increase the parallel reef areas along with the natural reef to strengthen marine biodiversity. The artificial reef ecosystem can be developed with the help of shipwrecks, abandoned tyres, cars etc. while the reef ball concept is the modern one to adapt. Andaman and Nicobar Islands is one of the biologically diverse areas with healthy number of scleractinian corals. Four shipwrecks scattered along the waters of these islands are serving as substratum for 125 species of scleractinian corals. North Bay shipwreck alone reported 114 species under 41 genera with the diversity (H’) of 2.91. The studies on natural reef area showed 61% similarity in species content in comparison with the shipwrecks of North Bay region due to the proximity in location. The present study indicates that, shipwrecks serve as artificial substratum for the formation of coral reef with high diversity. Keywords: shipwreck, artificial reef, marine biodiversity, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Available online at: www.mbai.org.in doi: 10.6024/jmbai.2017.59.2.1910-12 Introduction The coral reefs are the most complex and diverse ecosystem of marine habitat. The structural attributes of corals along with symbiotic animals construct a reef which harbours plethora of associated faunal communities. The ecological, biological and pharmaceutical contributions of coral reefs are immeasurable. The estimated value of the total economic goods and services provided by coral reefs is around US$ 375 billion/year with an average value of around US$ 6,075/hectare of coral reef per year (Edwards and Gomez, 2007; Ammar, 2009). The coral reefs of the world’s ocean are the oldest living creatures of the globe, which have been undergoing as well as disturbing through a variety of anthropogenic stresses and natural threat and severely deteriorate their condition towards destruction (Wilkinson, 2000). The activities may include un-managed recreational activities, anchoring of boat on reefs, siltation, sewage discharge, excessive nutrient input, thermal pollution, and overfishing etc. (Rinkevich, 1995; Luoma, 1996; Warzecha, 1997). The gradual loss and destruction of coral reefs can be replaced by focusing on the restoration programme of coral reef ecosystems. The concept of Artificial Reefs (ARs) was identified as a promising tool for reef restoration and rehabilitation which will develop the entire reef structure (Clark and Edwards, 1999;