Abstract
Changes during one year in the fauna of two beaches in south India are described in relation to the nutrient content of the water and sand, and the physical changes brought about by the south-west monsoon. At both beaches, the most stable conditions were reached in the pre-monsoon months when the greatest number of species occurred and when there was marked zonation. During the monsoon, erosion took place and only actively migrating species remained to form a permanent element of the beach fauna. Data on population density and biomass indicate markedly seasonal recruitment and rapid growth of individual species, most of which are suspension feeders.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Alagarswami, K.: Studies on some aspects of the biology of the wedge shell Donax faba Gmelin from Mandapam coast in the Gulf of Mannar. J. mar. biol. Ass. India 8, 56–75 (1966).
Alcock, A.: A naturalist in Indian seas, 328 pp. London: Dutton & Co. 1902.
Ansell, A. D.: Escape responses of three Indian molluscs. Veliger 12, 157–159 (1970).
— and A. Trevallion: Behavioural adaptations of intertidal molluscs from a tropical sandy beach. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 4, 9–35 (1969a).
—: Brood protection in the stenoglossan gastropod Bullia melanoides (Deshayes). J. nat. Hist., Lond. 4, 369–374 (1969b).
Barnes, N. B. and A. M. Wenner: Seasonal variation in the sand crab Emerita analoga (Decapoda, Hippidae) in the Santa Barbara area of California. Limnol. Oceanogr. 13, 465–475 (1968).
Brown, A. C.: Physiological-ecological studies on two sandybeach gastropoda from South Africa: Bullia digitalis Meuschen and Bullia laevissima (Gmelin). Z. Morph. Tiere 49, 629–657 (1961a).
—: Chemoreception in the sandy-beach snail, Bullia. S. Afr. J. lab. clin. Med. 7, 160–161 (1961b).
—: Food relationships on the intertidal sandy beaches of the Cape Peninsular. S. Afr. J. Sci. 60, 35–41 (1964).
—: The ecology of the sandy beaches of the Cape Peninsular, South Africa. Part 2. The mode of life of Bullia (Gastropoda, Prosobranchiata). Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr. 34, 281–320 (1971).
— and R. G. Noble: Function of the osphradium in Bullia (Gastropoda). Nature, Lond. 188, p. 1045 (1960).
Cott, H. B.: The Zoological Society's expedition to the Zambesi, 1927. Observations on the natural history of the racing-crab Ocypoda ceratophthalma, from Beira. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 99, 755–765 (1929).
Crane, J.: On the growth and ecology of brachyuran crabs of the genus Ocypode. Zoologica, N.Y. 26, 297–310 (1941).
Crichton, M. D.: Marine shells of Madras. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc 42, 323–341 (1942a).
—: Some notes on the Madras Bullia. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 25, 143–146 (1942b).
Dahl, E.: Some aspects of the ecology and zonation of the fauna on sandy beaches. Oikos 4, 1–27 (1952).
Darbyshire, M.: The surface waters off the coast of Kerala, south-west India. Deep Sea Res. 14, 295–320 (1967).
Efford, I. E.: Aggregation in the sand crab, Emerita analoga (Stimpson). J. Anim. Ecol. 54, 63–75 (1965).
—: Feeding in the sand crab, Emerita analoga (Stimpson). (Decapoda, Anomura). Crustaceana 10, 167–182 (1966).
Gauld, D. T. and J. B. Buchanan: The fauna of sandy beaches in the Gold Coast. Oikos 7, 293–301 (1956).
Goodbody, I.: Mass mortality of a marine fauna following tropical rains. Ecology 42, 150–155 (1961).
Govindankutty, A. G. and N. B. Nair: Preliminary observations on the interstitial fauna of the south-west coast of India. Hydrobiologia 28, 101–122 (1966).
Jones, D. A.: The functional morphology of the digestive system in the carnivorous intertidal isopod Eurydice. J. Zool. London 156, 363–376 (1968).
Koepke, H. W. y M. Koepke: Sobre el proceso de transformacion de la materia organica en las playas arenosas del Peru. Revta Fac. Cienc. Univ. nac., Lima. 54, 5–29 (1952).
Loesch, H. C.: Studies of the ecology of two species of Donax on Mustang Island, Texas. Publs Inst. mar. Sci. Univ. Tex. 4, 201–227 (1957).
Mangum, C. P., S. L. Santos and W. R. Rhodes Jr.: Distribution and feeding in the onuphid polychaete, Diopatra cuprea (Bosc). Mar. Biol. 2, 33–40 (1968).
McIntyre, A. D.: The meiofauna and macrofauna of some tropical beaches. J. Zool. London 156, 377–392 (1968).
—: The range of biomass in intertidal sand, with special reference to the bivalve Tellina tenuis. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 50, 561–575 (1970).
MacNae, W. and M. Kalk: The fauna and flora of sand flats at Inhaca Island, Mozambique. J. Anim. Ecol. 31, 93–128 (1962).
Nayar, K. N.: Studies on the growth of the wedge clam, Donax (Latona) cuneatus Linnaeus. Indian J. Fish. 2, 325–348 (1954).
Pichon, M.: Contribution à l'étude des peuplements de la zone intertidale sur sables fin at sables vaseux non fixes dans la région de Tulear. Recl Trav. Stn mar. Endoume (fasc., hors série supplément) 7, 57–100 (1967).
Steele, J. H. and I. E. Baird: The chlorophyll-a content of particulate organic matter in the northern North Sea. Limnol. Oceanogr. 10, 261–267 (1965).
—: Production ecology of a sandy beach. Limnol. Oceanogr. 13, 14–25 (1968).
Strickland, J. D. H. and T. R. Parsons: A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 167, 1–311 (1968).
Takahasi, S.: Ecological notes on the ocypodian crabs (Ocypodidae) in Formosa, Japan. Annotnes zool. jap. 15, 78–87 (1935).
Trevallion, A., A. D. Ansell, P. Sivadas and B. Narayanan: A preliminary account of two sandy beaches in South-West India. Mar. Biol. 6, 268–279 (1970).
Wade, B. A.: Notes on the ecology of Donax denticulatus (Linne). Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. 17, 36–44 (1964).
—: Studies on the biology of the West Indian beach clam, Donax denticulatus Linne. 1, Ecology. Bull. mar. Sci. 17, 149–174 (1967).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. H. S. Blaxter, Oban
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ansell, A.D., Sivadas, P., Narayanan, B. et al. The ecology of two sandy beaches in south west India. I. Seasonal changes in physical and chemical factors, and in the macrofauna. Marine Biology 17, 38–62 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346953
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346953