The Occurrence and Distribution of Benthic Foraminifera in Tropical Waters Along the Strait of Malacca

Foraminifera are shelled single-celled protists that are found in all marine environments. Benthic foraminifera either live in sediments or attach to surfaces on the seafloor. Understanding the distribution and ecological response of benthic foraminifera is crucial, as they can indicate past and current ocean conditions. However, the benthic foraminifera distribution along the busy Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean (north) to the Java Sea (south), is undersampled. In this study, we collected 24 surface samples from the northern Strait of Malacca to understand the distribution of foraminifera assemblages in shallow tropical waters. A total of 49 species of benthic foraminifera were identified. Calcareous hyaline species dominated the assemblages, with an extremely low occurrence of calcareous porcelaneous species. The common calcareous hyaline taxa were Asterorotalia pulchella, Pseudorotalia schroeteriana, Discorbinella bertheloti, Ammonia tepida, and Heterolepa praecincta. Cluster analysis categorised the foraminiferal assemblages into three major groups. The first cluster (Group A) consisted of a more diverse assemblage of hyaline and agglutinated species that inhabited a mean water depth of 45 m. The second cluster represented a population that inhabited deeper water environments (average water depth of 59 m). Finally, the third cluster (Group C) consisted of a foraminifera assemblage that inhabited shallow coastal environments (average depth of 22 m) with higher organic matter enrichment. The multivariate canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the foraminiferal assemblages reflected the shallow to deep water transition in the Malacca Strait. Water depth, which defines the depositional environment, had a greater influence on foraminifera distribution here than organic matter and salinity.

Multi year changes of Aerosol Optical Depth in the monsoon region of the Indian Ocean since 1986 as seen in the AVHRR and TOMS data

Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data based on AVHRR and TOMS was analyzed to find out the changes in the Indian Ocean from 1981 to 2004. Four regions covering Indian Ocean north of 10° S were studied in detail. The results strongly suggest that the mean value of AOD in these regions decreased from 1986–1990 to 1995–1999. The Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal show increase thereafter whereas in the equatorial part it decreased further, during 2000–2004. The drop in AOD from the first to second period is evident in AVHRR and TOMS in the case of the Arabian Sea (North West Indian Ocean). The decrease in this case is prominent in summer. These results in general agree with the recently reported global decrease in AOD, "global brightening" and also the reversal of trend in some of the anthropogenic emissions.

Grenadiers of the World Oceans: Biology, Stock Assessment, and Fisheries

<em>Abstract.</em>—The abyssal grenadier <em>Coryphaenoides armatus </em>(Hector 1875), family Macrouridae, is a benthopelagic deep-sea species with a depth range of 282–5,180 m, with most observations and captures at depths of 2,500 m and deeper. It is one of the most abundant grenadier species in the world’s oceans but is absent from the Mediterranean Sea, Arctic Ocean, Indian Ocean north of 45°S, and has not yet been recorded from the Southern Ocean south of the Antarctic Polar Front. Typical total lengths range from 20 to 80 cm and the maximum recorded is 102 cm. Dietary items include mesopelagic fishes and cephalopods, and benthic items such as crustaceans and bivalves. The abyssal grenadier is well documented as an opportunistic scavenger and this propensity has been used to attract individuals to bait within view of submersibles and underwater camera systems to make <em>in situ </em>observations of behavior. Baited cameras have been in use to observe deep-sea scavengers since the late 1960s, with the first confirmed observation of the abyssal grenadier in 1971. More recently, baited photographic autonomous landers have been used to gain data on respiration rates, size frequency, and swimming velocity. In addition, models have been developed and refined to estimate local densities and to quantify the number of fish present at a food fall and their staying time at bait. This ultimately means that baited-camera-derived abundance estimates can be produced, and that the numbers of scavenging grenadiers and how long they remain at a small food fall can be linked to the productivity of the overlying surface waters.

XXXV. Extract by the late Smart Lethieullier, Esq. from the Papers of the late Charles Boon, Esq. Governor of Bombay, giving an account of the great Pagoda on the Island of Salset

Salset is an island lying in the great Indian ocean, north of Goa, and separated from Bombay by a narrow channel. It is seventy miles in compass, twenty in length, and fifteen in breadth. The soil is fruitful, and the island intirely under the dominion of the Portuguese. It has in it several villages inhabited by Heathens, Moors and Christians. Within the island, and four miles from any house, and surrounded by thick woods abounding with lions, tigers, monkeys, and other wild and venomous animals, stand four very high hills contiguous to each other, and looking like one intire rock by the surface, which bears strong marks of calcination. On the sides of these hills are many pagodas, caverns, apartments, and other excavations cut out of the rock, called at this day the city of Canorin, from a village of that name adjoining.