Comprehensive diversity study with few new records of sea anemones along the Saurashtra coast, Gujarat

Cnidarians have high ecological importance because they associate with a vast variety of faunal species and often represented by high species diversity in reefs. Sea anemones are among the most diverse and successful members of the (Phylum: Cnidaria, Class: Anthozoan) subclass Hexacorallia, occupying benthic marine habitats across all depths and latitudes. Many species of sea anemones inhabit rocky shores, especially where there is tide pools in which remain submerged during low tide. The aim of this study was to present diversity and status of the Sea anemone from intertidal area of the Saurashtra coast. The Saurashtra coast which is the Northern part of Indian coastline is characterized by rocky, muddy and sandy intertidal zones harbouring rich and varied fauna which occupies a total stretch of 985 km. For the present study, some sampling sites along the Saurashtra coastline viz., Okha, Shivrajpur (Kachhighadi), Mithapur, Sutrapada, Vadodra-Jhala were selected. There were total 15 species of sea anemones belongs to 5 families and 10 genera were recorded from these selected sites.