STUDY ON MANGROVE-ASSOCIATED SHELLFISH DIVERSITY OF AAYIRAMTHENGU MANGROVE FOREST, KERALA, INDIASreeraj B. and Nisha Thomas P.Abstract Fishery resources of mangrove forests are very productive because they act as the natural habitat for various species of fish, shrimps and crabs. Aayiramthengu mangrove forest, lying between Latitude 9° 02â- 9° 16â N and Longitude 76° 20â - 76° 32â E was selected for the study. The present study was conducted during a period of four months from April 2022 to July 2022 to document the shellfish diversity existing in the Aayiramthengu Mangrove Forest. Their conservation status according to IUCN 2022 was also checked. Three species of bivalves belonging to the family Mytilidae, ten species of crabs under four families, twelve gastropods belonging four families and five species of prawns under the family Penaeidae were found to be occur in the study area. A total of 30 shellfishes were collected from the mangrove forest and their IUCN status was found to be Not Evaluated (NE). The present study indicates that there is an abundance of Gastropods and crabs in the study area, but the diversity of bivalves and prawns was comparatively less. Diversity among mangrove vegetations was also analysed. Six species of mangroves were found in the study area under six different families and the IUCN status of all these mangrove vegetations were found to be of Least Concern (LC). |