Studies on the planktonic Decapoda and Stomatopoda (Crustacea) from the western Bay of Bengal

Abstract

Abundance and distribution of decapods and stomatopods were studied, based on 90 samples collected from the western Bay of Bengal (Lat. 09 degrees 58' and 20 degrees 50'N and long. 80 degrees 00'E) between 24 August and 2 October, 1976. The decapod larvae were present in 50 samples. The maximum abundance of these larvae (11,000 specimens) was found in shallow, coastal waters. As much as 19 species were obtained from a single sample collected from a shallow station between Pondicherry and Nagapattinam. The maximum number of larvae obtained was 2393/100 m3 in a single haul from a coastal station, north off Madras. The major forms obtained in the present collections were penaeids, sergestids, carideans, thalassinids, pagurids, crab zoeae and megalopae and Alima larvae. Their relative occurrence and abundance in the western Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea have been discussed