Fauna of Andhra Pradesh, Part VII. Marine Molluscs

Contents: 1. Marine Molluscs : Polyplacophora and Gastropoda/Ramakrishna, A. Dey, S. Barua and A. Mukhopadhya. 2. Marine Molluscs : Bivalvia, Scaphopoda and Cephalopoda/A. Dey and Ramakrishna.

"The Coast line stretches on the Eastern Side of Andhra Pradesh to about 960 kms covering 9 districts endowed with a number varied habitat like sandy stretches, rocky coast, mud flats, mangrove areas, creeks and backwaters giving a diversified ecosystems for molluscs. Marine fauna is rich and varied on the coast line encompasses almost all type of intertidal habitat from hyper saline and brackish lagoons, estuaries and coastal marsh and mud flats to sandy and rocky shores with every degrees of exposure and widely ranging profile. Sub tidal habits are equally diverse.

The Molluscan fauna of Andhra Pradesh are dealt in three parts. The first part included the entire land and freshwater molluscs so far known from the state. The marine and estuarine molluscs are dealt in two parts, the Part I includes the marine and estuarine forms belonging to Class Polyplacophora and Gastropoda, the Part II deals with remaining three classes Cephalopoda, Bivalvia and Scaphopoda."