Seaweeds Diversity And Abundance Along Two Sites Of Kanniyakumari Coast,Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

The present study on species diversity and abundance of seaweed available at Kanniyakumari coast, Tamilnadu, India. There were 101 species of seaweed. of the 101 species, 31 were from the class of Chlorophyceae (30.69%), 50 species from Rhodophyceae (49.50%), and 20 species from Phaeophyceae (19.0%).seaweed species were recorded from the two sites of Kanniyakumari coast i.e Manavalakurichi site and Arokiyapuram site. These 101 species belongs to 20 orders, 20 family and 50 genus. Ulva faciata was highly dominant followed by Gracilaria and sargassum.The density ranged between in station one 3.00 5.25 and station two is 3.00-5.22. The highest percentage of density was shown by Enteromorpha flexuosa  and Caulerpa peltata  during 2017. The frequency percentage values ranged from between in station one 26.53 to 43.33.67 and station two 23.15 to 49.30. The abundance value ranged from  collection site one 3.26.00-7.10. and and collection site two ranged 5.27-7.13. The highest abundance was show by Enteromorpha flexuosa and Ulva faciata during the month of December 2017. Species richness also calculated  and presented.