Sponge fauna of Lakshadweep

Abstract

The present collection of sponges from Lakshadweep is of great significance since this group had been left out while Gardiner (1903- 1906) dealt with the fauna and geography of the Maldive and Laccadive archipelagoes. Since then several works dealing with the sponge fauna of the Indian seas have appeared, but unfortunatly, few of these relating to the sponge fauna of Lakshawdeep. In this context the special interest taken by Dr. S. Jones, the then Director of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in the 1960's in studying and documentting the fauna of Lakshadweep is worth mentioning. Besides obtaining data on the various fisheries of the island by the scientists posted at Minicoy, other scientists/research scholars, who were deputed to Minicoy from time to time also collected voluminous data and material from the different islands of this archipelago, to be later worked out by those interested. Sponges, thus collected, formed the part of a Ph. D. thesis (11 species including one new species) submitted by the present author in 1968 to the Kerala University. The subsequent collections of sponges from Minicoy were worked out and published serially (Thomas' 1973; 1979, 1980 and 1980a). The above works have helped to know mainly about the sponge fauna of Minicoy island and these accounted for a total of 41 species of Demospongiae falling under 23 families and 32 genera, while the sponge fauna of other islands still remained unexplored.