Biota Structure in Relation to Physiography of Rockpools of Visakhapatnam, Middle East Coast of India

Investigations on the physiographical and biological configuration of rockpools located at different places such as Palm Beach, Rushikonda, Bhimunipatnam, Yarada and Gangavaram were carried out during the period May 1996 to February 1997. Rockpools at Visakhapatnam coast are categorized into supra - littoral, mid - littoral and sub- littoral depending on the tidal level. The intertidal region of Visakhapatnam is composed of numerous rockpools of varying dimensions and topographical conditions. The community composition of the rockpools represents the following taxonomic groups such as sponges, coelenterates, isopods, amphipods, crabs, tanaids, gastropods, echinoderms and fishes. A survey has been made on the spatial distribution of macrofauna and macroalgae associated fauna. Both fauna and flora are identified at generic level. During the course of the study the abundance of organisms are recorded for selected pools. The results obtained from the study showed that these environmental conditions gave the specific faunistic features for individual pools.