Diversity and Abundance of Marine Macroalgae along Borli Coast: a Zone under Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India

Richness of Marine macroalgae species along the Konkan coastline has been well reported by few researchers. Yet, there are many coastal villages in Konkan where the research is still to be undertaken. Borli is one such village having rocky shore which provides perfect habitat for growth of macroalgae. In ourstudy during (June 2012 to May 2013) we found, total 35 species of marine macroalgae. Rhodophyceae is a dominating class contributing 15 species followed by Phaeophyceae and Chlorophyceae with 12 and 8 species respectively. The algal diversity of Borli coast needs to be documented as this coast is a part of Western Ghats that has solicited the interest from scientist fraternity world over. Further, nearby coasts are frequented by tourists and this coast is quite likely to have an impact of anthropogenic invasion.