Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ECO-BIODIVERSITY OF MARINE MYCOFLORA OF GULF OF MANNAR BIOSPHERE RESERVE (INDIA)

R. Gayatri Mambiar and K. Raveendran

Abstract

Gulf of Mannar (GOM) is considered as the world's richest marine biological resource. The present study deals with the frequency and abundance of marine fungi from GOM. A total of 40 marine fungi were encountered including 24 Ascomycetes, 2 Basidiomycetes and 14 Mitosporic fungi. All are new reports from GOM. The percentage of occurrence of individual species is quite variable. Nine species, namely Corollospora maritima, Lignincola laevis, Torpidospora radiata, Cirrenalia sp, Clavatospora bulbosa, Cumilospora marina, Dendryphiella sauna, Periconia prolifica and Phoma sp. were the most frequent species of GOM. Twelve species were frequent and eleven were occasional in occurence. Among the frequent ones, Savoryella paucispora and Nia vibrissa occurred in more number of samples. Similarly, Aniptodera indica and Corollospora filiformis among the occasional category were present in maximum number of samplings. Eight species constituting 19.51% of the total taxa were 'sporadic' in occurrence. Percentage colonization was high ie., 77.78 % and average number of fungi per sample was 2.51.