First report of four species of azooxanthellate scleractinian corals in Indian waters from Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Abstract

Azooxanthellate corals are the ecological group with around 48% of total number of stony corals of the world’s ocean. Four species of azooxanthellate corals were newly recorded from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. These are <i>Balanophyllia galapagensis</i> Vaughan, 1918 and <i>Cladopsammia eguchii</i> Wells, 1982 (Dendrophylliidae), <i>Desmophyllum dianthus </i> (Esper, 1794) (Caryophylliidae) and <i>Truncatoflabellum spheniscus</i> (Dana, 1846) (Flabelliidae). Records of the three genera <i>Cladopsammia</i>, <i>Desmophyllum </i> and <i> Truncatoflabellum </i> are new for Indian waters. This paper deals with the new distribution range of the four aforementioned coral species and their morphological attributes.