Editorial: Benthic Biodiversity of the Indian Ocean

Abstract

Benthic organisms are an important component of the marine biodiversity. Although the benthic organisms constitute only a fraction of the total marine biomass, their contribution to the remineralization and thus biogeochemical cycling of different elements in the ocean is immense. Therefore, it is important to document the benthic biodiversity of ocean regions and also to understand their contribution to the elemental cycling. Here, we have briefly reviewed the benthic biodiversity studies from the Indian Ocean.