Abstract

The assessment of species diversity in a particular region is very important in formulating conservation strategies. In the present study, the diversity of marine shrimp species along the  coast of Nagapattinam,Tamil Nadu has been assessed on the basis of landing of variety of shrimp species. Penaeidae species were recorded from four landing sitesviz.Akkaraipettai (Station1), Keechankuppam (Station 2), Samandanpettai (Station 3) and Nagore (Station 4) for the period of three months (Dec’2016- Feb’17). Totally 10 shrimp species viz., Penaeus  monodon, Penaeus  indicus, Penaeus semisulcatus, Penaeus merguiensis, Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei, Penaeus affinis, Metapenaeus dobsonii, Metapenaeus monoceros, Metapenaeus  brevicornis and  Parapenaeopsis  stylifera  belonging to family Penaeidae  were identified. All the species were available in all four stations during the study period except Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei, Metapenaeus monoceros  and parapenaeopsis  stylifera  were not found regularly. The occurrence of different species  in different stations were presented in the following order: Akkaraipetai > Keechankuppam > Samandanpettai and > Nagore. The maximum and minimum  number of  shrimp species (6 and 4 species) recorded in all the months.  Parapenaeopsis stylifera  was  minimum catch in all the months. December 2016 was ideal month for the maximum shrimps catches. Shrimp diversity is good in Nagapattinam and abundance of shrimp species are greatly  influenced by environmental changes and destructive human activities.

Keywords

Penaeidae, Diversity, Nagapattinam coast, Abundance.

Received on 24/04/2018, Accepted on 26/05/2018, Published on 31/05/2018