C ON TENTS Foreword by Dr. S. Z. Qasim v Editor's Preface vii Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 Oceanographic Investigations of the Andaman Sea 4 Curren'ts in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal7 Zoogeography of the Andaman Sea 14 Marine Environment and its zones 19 Rocky Shores 19 Sandy Shores23 Muddy Shores 30 Mangroves 33 Plants in the Sea-Sea grasses 36 Living Floaters-Plankton 42 Perforations and Spicules-Sponges 43 Sailing Colonies-Pelagic Coelenterates 45 Floating umbrellas-Jelly Fishes 47 Flower Animals-Sea Anemones48 Polyps with Skeletons-Corals 57 Marine Worms-Flat Worms, Ribbon Worms & Segmented Worms 69 Armoured Animals with Jointed Feet--Crustaceans 72 Soft Bodied Animals with Eight, Two, One or No Shells-Molluscs 86 Lace Work with Beaks-Bryozoans 100 Spiny Skinned Animals-Echinoderms 102 Sea Squirts and Tulips-Tunicatea 121 Fins and Backbones-Fishes 122 Cold Blooded Air Breathers-Turtles.Crocodiles and Snakes133 Flyiifig Visitors of the Sea Shore-Birds 141 Warm Blooded Animals-Whales, Dolphins and Sea Cows 143 Selected Bibliography 145 Appendix153 List of Species of Marine Invertebrates Recorded from Andaman andNicobar Islands a Sponges 154 b Coelenterates 154 c Polychaetes 158 d Crustaceans 160 e Pycnogonids 165 f Molluscs 165 g Sipunculids 179 h Echinoderms 179 Index 184