Handbook on Hard Corals of Gulf of Kachchh

The book is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is meant to give an introduction on coral reefs, in lieu of the fact that majority of us in India, including literates in zoology have meagre knowledge about the paradises (coral reefs) and their associates may be because of their occurrence under a medium which is not easily accessible to us. This chapter deals with subsections on reef definition, composition, occurrence, importance, reef types, coral reefs in India and recorded hard coral diversity. The second chapter is on the hard corals of gulf of Kachchh and their identification. It includes subsections on coral polyp, coral skeleton and hard corals of Kachchh. This chapter includes technical information related to identification including difficulties and hints for identification, symbiosis, reproduction and destruction to coral reefs also. At the end of the chapter, taxonomic account and checklist of hard corals of Kachchh are given. Distribution of all the species described was given in the form of maps depicting their spread in Indian reefs and other reefs in the Indian Ocean region. The maps were prepared with a combination of personal observations and published literature hits, following the pattern adopted by Dr. J.E.N. Veron (2000) in his valuable volumes on 'Corals of the World'. The third chapter is exclusively created for introducing the beautiful and varied members of coral reefs, the coral associates (primarily crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms). Only a glimpse of the representatives of coral reefs is given since dealing each and every one of them is a voluminous affair. Since, the ultimate objective of this book is to sustainably conserve the fragile coral reef ecosystems through creation of interest and awareness by providing necessary information, some list of references suggested for reading, related web site addresses available online were given the fourth chapter. The concluding section is a glossary of technical terms used in the book. In a nutshell, this book is primarily meant for budding zoologists and for those with a naturalist's heart. Unlike other handbooks which target specific group, this handbook is a cookies gift pack with different varieties of cookies for people with different tastes. Proud owners of this book will certainly taste the chapters according to their preference and it is sure that ultimately none of the chapters will be left unturned.