Diversity and occurrence of seaweeds from the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to prepare a checklist of the seaweeds along with the diversity and distribution pattern in the south-eastern Bangladesh coast. The study was performed in the northern Bay of Bengal during October 2015 to April 2018. From the findings of the present study, it was observed that seaweeds did not occur permanently. Some species were observed only for short periods while other species were recorded for 5-7 months. A total of 117 species were recorded, amongst these 62 species belong to the Rhodophyta group, 31 species belong to the Phaeophyta and 24 species belong to the Chlorophyta group. The species occurrence varied both spatially and temporally. Highest diversity (102 species) of species recorded in Saint Martin Island while the lowest diversity (09 species) was found in Bakkhali, Cox's Bazar coast. This study provides a complete species list to fill up information lacking regarding the ecology of seaweeds in the northern Bay of Bengal coast.