Unusual congregation of salps off Veraval and Bombay, west coast of India

Abstract

During September to October swarming of salps occur along the coasts off Veraval and Bombay. These congregations off Veraval are contributed by the single species Pegea confoederata recording an unusual biomass as high as 7.3 ml.m-3. Off Bombay the species contributing to the swarms are Ritteriella ambonensis and Salpa maxima recording relatively low biomass (2.95 ml.m-3). This appears to be a recurring phenomenon coinciding with the peak fishing season, particularly that of pomfret fishery. Importance of such congregation on environmental impact assessment studies has been emphasised