Corals of St Martin's Island are mainly scattered
among the boulders on the beach and on the land in the
interior of the island. Some isolated blocks are also
found on the sandy beach. The majority of the coral
boulders are small in size. However, some massive blocks
of corals are noted at some places. A total of 21
species of fossil corals have been identified from the
island. They are: Porites labota, P. lutea, P. solida,
Platygyrn sp, Goniopora stokesi, G. columna, Favia favus,
Favites chinesis, F. helicora, Goniastrea retiformes, G.
aspera, G. pendulus, Cyphastrea seralila, Cyphastrea sp,
Favites sp, Galaxea astrea, Acropora aculeus, A.
glaucarudis and Montipora informis. However, many of
them do not represent the real reef forming species.
Similarly, 39 species of living corals have also been
identified. Among them the species of Porifies, Favites,
Goniopora, Cyphastrea and Goniastrea are most abundant.
The corals are represented by 7 families. A number of soft
corals and Zoanthids have also been recorded. But these
living corals will soon become dead as a result of
neotectonic activity on the island (the island is now
uplifting approximately at a rate of 19 mm/year).
The local people collect corals from mid-October to
April, during which period the sea is calm, water is clear
and the tide level is also favourable for collection.
Corals are normally collected during the full moon and new
moon periods. Mainly four kinds of corals are collected.
They are locally called pataphul (Acropora sp), gacch phul
(Acrora sp), Shaibal (Favia sp) and mog (Goniastrea sp).
Among them Acropora is the most sought after. Corals are
mostly used as decorative pieces and also for making
jewellery.
Reef Builders
Scleractinian reef- building corals (order Scleractinia)
of Narikel Jinjira (St. Martin’s Island) (tentative list)
Relative abundance categories based on visual observations
during snorkelling A- abundant, C- conmon, and R- rare,
indicates need for taxonomic verification.
......Click to view the table
Maps of St.
Martin's
Source: http://www.stmartinsbd.org
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