Andaman booklet aw.FH10 - Zoological Survey of India

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diversity of reef fish. These brightly coloured species are in great demand for live export as ornamental fish. Other reef-associated fish, such as the clupids and apogonids, are important as live bait for the tuna industry. The bird diversity of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is remarkable with a total of 284 bird species and subspecies. Of these, 126 are exclusive to the Andamans and 56 to the Nicobars. BirdLife International (Stattersfield et al., 1998) has separately designated the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands as two of the 221 major 'Endemic Bird Areas' of the world. Among the well-known flagship species are the Nicobar Megapode, the Narcondam Hornbill and the Nicobar Serpent-eagle. The Andaman Serpent-eagle, Andaman Crow-pheasant, and the Andaman Tree-pie are some of the other endemic species in the Andaman group. The Nicobar Sparrowhawk, Nicobar Parakeet and Nicobar Bulbul are among the endemics in the Nicobar group. The endemic subspecies include the Andaman Flowerpecker Dicaeum concolor virescens, Large Andaman Parakeet Psittacula eupatria magnirostris, Andaman Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis tytleri, Nicobar Ground Thrush Zoothera 14
citrina albogularis, Andaman Teal Anas gibberifrons albogularis. The other important species, are Nicobar Pigeon, Andaman Koel, Redbreasted Parakeet, Andaman Hill Myna, Andaman Wood-Pigeon, Andaman Green Imperial Pigeon, Andaman Cuckoo Dove, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Andaman Black Wood-pecker etc. There is also an extraordinary diversity of corals and reef-associated invertebrates. The genera like Acropora, Procillopora, Seriatopora, Stylophora, etc. are abundant. The reefs harbour a rich diversity of sponges, coelenterates, worms, molluscs, echinoderms. Some are known to possess antibiotic, anti-coagulant and anti-leukaemic properties and they have an enormous potential value in the pharmaceutical industry. Important molluscs include the 'top' and 'turbo' shells, five species of pearl oysters, giant clam Tridacna sp., the beautiful pearly nautilus Nautilus sp. etc., which are used to make ornaments. Sea cucumbers such as Holothuria spp., Stichopus spp., Actinopyga spp. and Synapta spp. are found in the shallow lagoons and have become extremely rare. 15
Page 1: Fauna of Protected Areas of Andaman
Page 4 and 5: CITATION Sivaperuman, C. and Raghun
Page 6 and 7: Saddle Peak in North Andaman and 64
Page 8 and 9: identifiable groups. Of these, only
Page 10 and 11: million) km2 (Saldanha, 1989). The
Page 12 and 13: Dermochelys coriacea, Reticulated P
Page 14 and 15: 36. Jungle Island Wildlife Sanctuar
Page 16 and 17: Fauna of Andaman and Nicobar Island
Page 20 and 21: Some important animals in the prote
Page 22 and 23: Dugong Dugong dugon: The Dugong dug
Page 24 and 25: Andaman Wood Pigeon Columba palumbo
Page 26 and 27: Nicobar Scops-Owl Otus alius: The N
Page 28 and 29: Studies conducted by Zoological Sur
Page 30: Biodiversity Conservation Prioritie

Andaman booklet aw.FH10 - Zoological Survey of India

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