Envis Centre, Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India

Printed Date: Thursday, December 19, 2024

Marine Biodiversity of Kerala

 

 

  

                                         The oceans cover 70% of the planet’s surface area, and 95% of the biosphere. They produce a third of the oxygen that we breathe, offer a valuable source of proteins, and are among the largest natural resources of Carbon dioxide and moderates global climatic change. Some species, such as the great auk and the sea mink, are extinct; others, notably the great whales, have been hunted to fractions of their original populations. Species diversity is known to be as high as 1000 per square metre in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, and new oceanic species are continuously being discovered, particularly in the deep sea. Tropical marine ecosystems of Kerala coasts includes lagoons, mangrove swamps, sandy and rocky shores and open sea front. Apart from fishes Kerala coast has a rich array of Crustaceans, corals, echinoderms, mollusks, turtles etc.

 

 

Sl No

 

Group

 

Approx number of species

1

Phytoplankton

468

2

Sea weeds

118

3

Mangroves

33

4

Zooplankton

251

5

Sponges

91

6

Coelentrates

151

7

Annelida

154

8

Crustacea

218

9

Echinodermata

112

10

Gorgonids

34

11

Mollusca

730

 

                       Marine Vertebrates - India & Kerala

 

 

Taxonomic group

 

Marine

 

India

 

Kerala**

 

Percent in Kerala

Fishes

2546

716 (28.1%)

28.1

Reptiles

35

9 (25.7%)

25.7

Mammals

 25

23 (92 %)

92.0