Studies on the taxonomy of interstitial Fauna of some prominent beaches of Kerala

The oceans in their expanse cover, seven - tenths of the Earth surface. Despite being restricted in size, the littoral zone or the intertidal zone (beach) has the greatest variation in environment factors of any marine area .Stemming from this variation ,a treamendous diversity of life, which may be great as or greater than that found in the more extensive sub tidal habits exist in this realm. the study beaches harbour diverse and abundant assemblage of marine organisms. Besides macro funna, microscopic organisms belonging to the lower and higher invertebrate taxa profusely inhabit these beaches. The ecological realm where these animals exist is known as the interstitial environment, which in principle includes the pore spaces in between the sand grains containing copious supply of nutrient rich oxygenated seawater. An astonishing diversity of taxa could be found within the interstitial fauna.

Studies on the littoral processes in relation to stability of beaches around Cchin

The coastal and nearshore areas have played vital role in the trade and economic development of coastal nations since ancient times. In recent years, the demands for utilization of these areas have increased for purposes of navigation, setting up of offshore structures for oil industry, exploitation of the available fishery and mineral resources, and to provide recreational facilities along the coast as a part of the coastal zone management. It is in this context the studies on nearshore processes receive greater priorities. Stability of beaches is controlled by the interaction of various physical parameters such as winds, waves, currents, tides and the nature and constituents of the beaches. The results of studies carried out by the author on the dynamical effects of these environmental parameters on the shoreline processes along the beaches around Cochin are presented in this thesis. The section of the coast investigated is about 57 km of shore from Azhikode to Anthakaranazhi situated on the central Kerala coast. Four regions namely Narakkal, Malipuram, Fort Cochin and Anthakaranazhi were chosen for detailed study

Studies On Sediment Transport In The Surf Zone Along Certain Beaches Of Kerala

Sediment transport in the nearshore areas is an important process in deciding the coastline stability. The design and effective maintenance of navigable waterways, harbours and marine structures depend on the stability of the sediment substrate and the nature of sedimentation in the nearshore zone. The nearshore zone is a complex environment and the exact relationships existing between water motions and the resulting sediment transports are not well understood. During the rough weather season, when the sediment movement is considerable, processes occurring in the nearshore area are much less understood. Moreover, there is a general lack of field measurements, especially during the time of severe storm conditions. The increasing pressures and the concern on the preservation of the valuable coastal environment have led to the development of shore protection programmes. Conservation not only demands knowledge of what needs to be done, but also requires the basic processes to be fully understood. Considering the fragile nature of barrier beaches and intense occupancy of these areas by man, these coastal features have long been a subject of study by coastal oceanographers, geomorphologists and engineers. The present study is an attempt to understand the sediment movement in relation to beach dynamics, especially in the surf zone, along some part of Kerala coast and the response of the beaches to various forcing functions over different seasons

Antibiotic resistance pattern of motile aeromonads from farm raised fresh water fish

Motile aeromonads isolated from the intestines of farm-raised freshwater fish such as Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Ctenopharyngodon idella have been characterized to species level. Morphological and physiological grouping revealed 61% Aeromonas hydrophila, 30% Aeromonas caviae, 7% Aeromonas sobria and 2% which remained unidentified. Hemolytic activity was detected mostly in A. hydrophila, while only half of the A. sobria and A. caviae showed this activity. Antibiotic resistance patterns of the strains revealed that they had acquired a relatively higher resistance to oxytetracycline, amoxycillin, ampicillin, novobiocin and polymixin-B, implicating possible use of these antibiotics in the aquaculture systems.

Bacteriological quality of individually quick-frozen (IQF) raw and cooked readyto- eat shrimp produced from farm raised black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon

One thousand, two hundred and sixty four samples of individually quick-frozen (IQF) peeled and deveined raw and 914 samples of cooked ready to eat shrimp samples produced from farm raised black tiger (Penaeus monodon) obtained from a seafood unit working under HACCP concept were analysed for total aerobic plate count (APC), coliform count, Escherichia coli, coagulase positive Staphylococci and Salmonella. The overall bacteriological quality of the product was found to be good. Of the frozen raw shrimp, 96% of samples showed APC below 105 while 99% of the frozen cooked ready-to-eat samples showed APC less than 104. The APC ranged from 1·0´102 to 4·2´106 cfu/gm in frozen raw shrimp and from 1·0´102 to 6·4´104 cfu/gm in the frozen cooked shrimp. Prevalences of coliforms in raw shrimp and cooked shrimp samples were 14·4% and 2·9% respectively. The coliform count in raw products ranged from 1·0´101 to 2·5´103 cfu/gm and in the cooked products, from 1·0 ´101 to 1·8´102 cfu/gm. Although all the cooked shrimp samples were free of coagulase positive staphylococci, E. coli and Salmonella, 1·0, 2·0 and 0·1% of the frozen raw shrimp samples tested positive for coagulase positive Staphylococci, E. coli and Salmonella respectively. The Salmonella strain was identified as Salmonella typhimurium. The results of the present study highlight the importance of implementation of HACCP system in the seafood industry to ensure consistent quality of frozen seafood