chapterone introductionandreviewofliterature...

Chapter One : Introduction and Review of Literature 1

Introduction

Biodiversity is the wide spectrum of living organisms including plants, animals and microbes

inhabiting the terrestrial, aquatic and other habitats. Biodiversityprovides thebasis of life on earth. It

has been estimated that more than 50 million species ofplants, animals and micro organisms exist on

earth. Out of this, two million organisms have been identified so far. This implies that the fullspectrum

ofglobaldiversityhas not beenaccounted in taxonomic descriptioncontained in flora and fauna. With

the explosivegrowthofhumanpopulation, the life supporting systemofearth is becoming increasingly

threatened as the rate of global change accelerates. India is not an exception to such an extent of

biodiversitydepletionmainlydue to man-madeendeavour. Onecannot imagine asituation, ifPenicillium

had been eliminated fromearth before mankind made use of it as an antibiotic or if Cinchona become

extinct before quinine was discovered as a cure for malaria. It is, therefore, in our responsibility to

conserveourplant as also animaland micro-organismwealth. There is agrowingrealization throughout

theworld about theurgent need to conserve the biologicaldiversity. UNEPdefinesbiologicaldiversity

as the varietyand variabilityof all animals, plants and micro-organisms and the ecological complexes

of which they are a part.

Algae comprise photoautotrophic organisms of simple structure, which possess unicellular

reproductive organs not enclosed within a cellular wall. Algal classes are usually distinguished on

the basis of their pigmentation, nature of food reserves, fine structure of plastids, chemical nature

of the cell wall and the number, position and fine structural details of flagella in the motile stages

(Krishnamurthy, 2000). Algae occur in a variety of environmental conditions and can be found in

fresh as well as marine waters, many often occur in brackish water. They range from minute

CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTIONAND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Chapter One : Introduction and Review of Literature2

unicellular, solitary or colonial organisms represented by some of the common pond scums which

may or may not be motile and are entirely invisible as individuals to the naked eye, to large diffuse

and comparatively complex plants, such as sea weeds, usually growing submerged in water or in

moist situations. Agood number of algae are terrestrial, being found in moist soil as an important

part of the soil flora essential in soil productivity, and on bark of trees (Krishnamurthy, 2000).

Algae are very important as a source of food and serve as an early step in the food chain

of larger aquatic animals, especially fish. They are also of great use to human beings being the

source of food especially rich in vitaminsAand E. Many are important sources of iodine, potassium

and other minerals. The blue-green algae play a great role in enriching the soil fertility by fixing

atmospheric nitrogen. In short, except for the chemosynthetic bacteria, all organisms are directly

or indirectly benefited from algae (Krishnamurthy, 2000). The present investigation is a systematic

study on the algal flora of Idukki District, which is an unexplored virgin land enriched with great

many a species of algae.

Objectives

� To identify, enlist and map the algal resources of Idukkidistrict.

� To understand the impact of climate on algaldistribution.

� To compare the distribution of algae in three climatic zonesof the district.

� To study the factors affecting the distributionof freshwater algae.


Review of Literature

Monographing the algal flora of India was started as early as 1959. However, so far no

systematic study has been conducted on the algal flora of fresh waters of Kerala. This is clear

from Rao and Gupta (1997). According them, it is estimated that the Indian algae is represented

by 6500 species inhabiting both fresh water and marine environment.Aperusal of the accounts of

publications on Indian Algae, especially of Kerala, shows that the systematic study of the algal

flora is still far from complete. The Kerala State, situated in the southern part of the Western Ghats,

a biodiversityhotspot, is rich in flora and fauna including several endemics.Among them, the algae is

one of the least known and less documented groups of lower plants (Easa, 2004).

It was in 1754 when Linnaeus gave the name algae to a group ofplants and De Jussieu was

the first to delimit the algae as known to us today. The 19th centurysaw a great spurt in algal studies

: Link (1820-1833) studied the algal flora of Germany and Agardh (1817-1824) of Scandinavia.

Especially significant during these years were theworks ofKuetzing (1843-1849) who authored more

genera than any other phycologists, described many species, and reassigned others so that more

acceptable generic constituents took form(Kant and Gupta, 1998).

In Europe, Borge (1894-1936) carried out extensive researches on the freshwater algae of

Sweden and examined the collections ofalgae sent to himby expeditions and private collectors from

Australia, South Patagonia,Argentina, Bolivia, Iceland and China. Lagerheim(1883-1902) studied

the algal flora ofSweden and also examined collections fromEucador,Abyssinia, and India. Pettkoff

(1904-1935) described a number of forms fromBulgaria. Lemmerman (1891-1910) worked on the

algae ofGermany as well as on the collections received fromChina and Paraguay. Nordstedt (1873-

1897) described somenew species fromArgentina, Patagonia, Cameroons, NewZealand andAustralia.

Borzi (1878-1894), De Toni (1888-1905) and Gomont (1893) carried out extensive studies on

Cyanophyta (Kant and Gupta, 1998).


Fromamongst the British workers, the studies ofG.S.West (1899-1916) andW. West (1889-

1909) are classical. Theynot onlymade an exhaustive studyof freshwater algaediscovering a number

ofnewspeciesbut also examinedspecimens sent to thembyprivate collectors and leadersofexpeditions

to countries like Tanganyika, Victoria, Egypt, South-WestAfrica, CentralAfrica, Madagascar, West-

Indies, Ceylon, Burma, Bengal and Madras. Fritsch & Rich (1907-1937) studied the freshwater

algae of South-Africa, particularly from Natal, Trasvall, Cape Colony and Rhodesia. Strom (1920-

1926) described some new forms from Caucasus, Turkey, Norway and Iceland (Kant and Gupta,

1998).

In the 20th century, the work of Czurda (1922-1939) on the morphology, physiology and

cytology of Zygnemaceae is particularly significant. Skuja (1924-1949) described a number of

interesting algae fromLatvia, Ceylon and Burma; Skvortzow (1925-1937) fromManchuria and China

and Strom(1920-1926) fromTurkistan, Iceland and Norway (Kant and Gupta, 1998).

INDIAN WORKS

The progress of algological studies in Indian subcontinent and theneighbouringAfghanistan

and Singapore maybe convenientlyand broadlydivided into two periods : (i) theperiod of pioneers

(1806-1907) and professionalbotanists, mostly Englishmen working in the BotanicalSurvey of India

or in the Universities in England, and (ii) from 1919 onwards, the period ofIndian research workers,

mostly teachersofBotany in the IndianUniversities and colleges, employees of the BotanicalSurveyof

India, or amateurs (Kant and Gupta, 1998).

THE PERIOD OF PIONEERS

The earliest work on algae inNorth India is that ofRoyle (1839). Martens (1871-1873) gave

an account of a number of algae from Bengal and Burma. Zeller (1873) recorded as many as 155


species ofalgae fromArracan and the British Burma. Dickie (1882) described a few interesting algae

from the Himalaya. Theobald (1883) gave a list of the Burmese desmids and Lagerheim (1888)

described 52 forms fromBengal. Turner (1892-1893) published amemoir of the East Indian freshwater

algae incorporating 22 species of Myxophyceae, 542 of desmids and 60 of some green algae. West &

West (1897) described 45 species ofdesmids from Singapore. In 1902, they described 7 species of

Rhodophyceae, 49 species ofdiatoms, 33 species of Myxophyceae, 246 species of desmids, and 84

species of Chlorophyceae from Ceylon. In 1907 theyfurther recorded 58 species of Diatoms and

148 species ofdesmids as well as 53 species of some green algae from Burma and Madras. Fritsch

(1903-1907) studied freshwater and terrestrial algae of Ceylon (Kant and Gupta, 1998).

FROM 1919 ONWARDS

The earlier contributions were those ofGhose (1919-1932) on the blue-green algae of Burma

and Punjab, Iyengar (1920-1963) on freshwater andmarine algaeofSouth India, apart fromdescribing

a number of new species and genera, his important contribution was the discovery of Fritschiella

tuberosa.

Bruhl and Biswas� (1922-1926) pioneer investigations into the algae of Eastern India and

Biswas� (1922-1950) work on the algal flora of Bengal and Assam are of particular importance.

Bhardwaja�s (1928-1963) notable contribution was on the blue-green algae ofUtter Pradesh. Singh

(1938-1968) published a series ofpapers onblue-greenalgae aswellas Zygnemaceae, Oedogoniaceae

and Chaetophorales of Utter Pradesh. Singh (1941) described some species of green algae from

Chamba and Utter Pradesh. Rao (1935-1938) reported a number of species of the Myxophyceae

and Zygnemaceae of Utter Pradesh and Madras and Randhawa (1932-1959) on Zygnemaceae,

Oedogoniales and Vaucheriaceae from Punjab and Utter Pradesh (Kant and Gupta, 1998).


1940 - 1980

During the last 30 years, interesting contributions on morphology and taxonomy of various

algalgroups are credited to Desikachary (1958-onwards), Singh(1942-1970), Venkataraman (1953-

onwards), Bharati (1963-onwards) Ganesan (1962-onwards), Gonzalves (1946-onwards), Kamat

(1962-onwards), Philipose (1953-onwards), Prasad (1958-onwards), Ramanathan (1964-onwards),

Sundaralingam (1946-1965) and Kant (1971-onwards) (Kant and Gupta, 1998).

Prasad (1952)described new forms inNostocaceae, fromriver Barna(Varanasi) and described

one new species and three new forms viz: Cylindrospermum sphaerica; Cylindrospermum stagnale

(Kuetz.) Born et Flah. fa. cariabilis; Wollea bharadwajae and Anabaena vaginicola Fr. and Rich

fa. fertillissima. In 1961 he recorded the occurrence of Glaucocystis nostochinearum (Itzings)

Rabenhorst fromAlleppey in South India and described its morphological and reproductive features.

Later he enlisted 67 species in 28 different genera fromriver Varuna in Varanasidistrict and reported

one new species and three new varieties, while as five species were new records for India (1964).

Krishnamurthy (1954) for the first time discussed the freshwater diatomflora ofsome parts of

South India and reported a number of new forms. In 1961 he confirmed the occurrence of

Compsopogon coeruleus Mont. fromthe reddish canalnear Manchester, England and described it to

be different from C. leptoclados Mont. from the same region. The genus Compsopogon is mainly

tropical and subtropical in distribution and its occurrence in temperate water was, therefore, of some

interest. He reported the formation of �microaplanospores� in Compsopogon coeruleus (Balbis)

Montagne, after studying thevariousmaterials sent to himfromdifferent sources(1962a). Krishnamurthy

(1962b) further described the morphology and taxonomy of Compsopogon aeruginosus (J. Ag.)

Kuetzing, Compsopogon coeruleus (Balbis) Mont., Compsopogon hookeri Mont., Compsopogon

corinaldii (Meneghini) Kuetzing, Compsopogon halybeus Kuetzing and Compsopogon iyengarii.

He presented an interesting account of themorphologyofRoschera glomerulata (C.Agardh) Webber

Van Bosse of familyRhodomelaceae under the Ceramiales (1962c).


Sundaralingam (1954) worked on the developmental morphology of Chara zeylanica Willd

and morphology of Chara gymnopitys and Chara hydropitys, collected from a lake at Vandalur

near Madras (1966).

Gandhi (1959) presented an illustrated systematic account of diatoms collected from Sagar.

He also studied the diatom-flora of temporaryponds of India, particularlyofAhmedabad, and gave an

illustrated taxonomical account of the new taxa and new records for India (1960). Kachroo (1959)

reported a new variety of Zygnema indica Misra var. domodari from Bokaro, a reservoir, located

in Bihar. Vasishta (1960) worked on the ecology and systematics of25 species in 10 genera of blue-

green algae of Hoshiarpur district. Two new species and one new variety were also described.

Anabaena vaginicola Fritsch et Rich was reported for the first time from India.

Talpasayi (1962), Vaidya et al. (1965) and Patel (1966) described Johannesbeptistia

pellucida (Dickie) Tayloret Drouet and reported its occurrence fromAndhra Pradesh, Mount-Abu

and Gujarat, respectively.

Prasad and Godward (1963) experimented on the vegetative materialofZygnema cruciatum

(Vaucher)Agardh, by inducing conjugation in the laboratory, which could be ofgreat advantage in

determination of species. Prasad and Srivastava (1963) described Heterothrix ulotrichoidesPascher

and reported it for the first time in India and also (1964a) described Botrydiopsis arrhiza Borzi as a

first report fromIndia in the course of their studies on freshwater algae ofNorth India. They further,

described and reported the occurrence of Camptylonema godwardii sp. nov. (1964b), and Uronema

gigasVischer (1964c) for the first time in India and recorded the biflagellate swarmers in this species

for the first time. They described Calothrix sphaerospora sp. nov., from Lucknow (1965a), and

Coleochaete nitellarum Jost fromdistrict Unnao (Utter Pradesh) for the first time in India (1965b).

They further studied the algal flora of4 thermal springs at altitudes between 6,000 ft. and 10,500ft. in

theHimalaya(1965c). Inall, 24 taxabelonging to theCyanophyceaehad beensystematicallyenumerated

and out of these, one variety Oscillatoria jasorvensis var. thermalis was reported new. While


working on the algal floraofCentralHimalayan regions, they reported some interesting morphological

features regarding pseudo-branching in 2 species of Tolypothrix - T. limbata thuret and T. magna

Bharadwaja (1965d). The latter was reported for the first time in India while T. limbata was recorded

new to North India.

Vaidya (1963) worked on the systematic position of Charophytes and later on Vaidya and

Gonzalves (1963) presenteda systematic enumerationofthe CharophytesofWestern India inparticular.

Vaidya (1968) described and reported theoccurrence ofCompsopogon coeruleus Mont. fromGujarat

State. The material was collected froma pool near a river at Lunawada (Panchmahal District).

Goyal andVenkataraman (1964) described culturalvariations in the morphologicalstages of

Anabaena cycadeae Reinke, an endophytic alga associated with Cycas roots and suggested some

modificationofthenomenclaturalprinciple for suchendophyticblue-greenalgae.Singh(1964) described

morphology, development and reproduction of a form of Compsopogon hookeri Mont. collected

froma smallfreshwater channel that leads into the IndianAgriculturalResearchInstitute grounds, New

Delhi, India.

Patel (1965) reported Compsopogon iyengarii KrishnamurthyfromGujarat for the first time.

He found the plant was similar in general appearance, branching etc. to C. iyengarii described by

Krishnamurthy from Madras but Gujarat alga was observed as more robust, with larger basal-disc,

thicker filaments and larger cell dimensions.

Chandhyok(1966) gaveadetailed account ofmorphologyalong with theoriginand development

of akinetes and heterocysts of a new species of Anabaenopsis (Anabaenopsis venkataramanii) for

the first time in India. Kodhari (1967) studied the structure and conjugation of Sirocladium

vandalurense Randhawa.


Ramanathan (1968) described Askenasyella randhawai sp. nov., fromMadras and discussed

its systematic position. Vaidya and Upadhyaya (1968) reported 15 forms ofCyanophyceae, and one

member each of Chlorophyceae and Xanthophyceae and few unidentified diatoms from terrestrial

habits aroundAhmedabad.

Prasad and Dutta (1970a & b), during extensive collection of Conjugalean forms in course of

cytotaxonomic studies of Zygnemateles, reported 2 new species and 2 new varieties of Spirogyra

viz., S. varifovaeolata, S. bichromatophora (Randhawa) Transeau. var. multichromatophora, S.

varshaii, S. chakiense Kolkwitz & Krieger. var. lucknowense, from India.

Prasad and Mehrotra (1970) described Tribonema vulgare Pascher & Tribonema

ulotrichoides from the material collected from Kashmir and Kulu respectively. T. vulgare was

alreadyknown to occur in India where as the latter was unknown. They reported Nostoc citrisporum

sp. nov. and Calothrix lucknowense sp. novo., while studying the algal flora of crop-fieldsofNorthern

India (1976a & b). They also reported a new species of Aphanocapsa, namely, A. gigantea isolated

fromenrichment culturesof soils fromCicer arietinum (gram) field (1977a). Again they recorded the

occurrence ofgenus Quadrigula for the first time in India (1977b) and studied it in detailand showed

its close resemblance with Quadrigula lacustris (Chodat) G.M. Smith except in slightly longer sells,

without pyrenoids. They also described Phormidium gyralis sp. nov., and P. cincinnatum Itz. var.

capitatum var. nov. from paddyfields ofUtter Pradesh (1977c). In the same year they also described

77 taxa ofDesmids, out ofwhich 11 belonged to the genus Closterium, 4 to thegenus Pleurotaenium,

1 to the genus Micrasterias, 7 to the genus Euastrum, 41 to the genus Cosmarium and 13 to the

genus Staurastrum. 3 new species, 4 new varieties, 6 new forms and 11 variant forms had been

assigned new names (1977d). The distribution of all the taxa in India had also been recorded and 3

taxa were being described for the first time fromIndia. Again they described 24 taxa ofDesmidiaceae

for the first time fromIndia including 2 variant forms, themainspecies ofwhich had also been recorded

from this country (1977e). Out of the taxa recorded one belonged to the genus Closterium, five to


Euastrum, seventeen to Cosmarium and one to Staurastrum. The same authors have reported 16

new members of Cyanophycae from different types of crop fields of Uttar Pradesh (1978), out of

which 4 species of Nostoc, 2 each of Oscillatoria and Phormidium, 1 species each of Gloeocapsa,

Xenococcus, Symploca, Anabaena, Fortiea, Rivularia and Hapalosiphon and 1 varietyof Lyngbya.

They further reported 39 taxaofblue-greenalgae fromvarious crop field environment ofUttar Pradesh

unrecorded hitherto (1979a). Out of thirtynine, two taxa each belonged to the genera Gloeocapsa,

Gloeothece, Aphanocapsa and Phormidium, one taxon each to Microcystis, Dermocarpa,

Arthrospira, Anabaena, Scytonema, Microchaete, Homoeothrix and Hapalosiphon, five taxa each

to Oscillatoria and Nostoc, four taxa to Calothrix and nine taxa to Lyngbya. The authors again

recorded taxa ofblue-green algae fromfieldsof12 different cropsof North India, describing a totalof

two hundred and twelve taxa (1979b).Theyfurther systematicallyenumerated 165 taxaofblue-green

algae, collected exclusively from paddy fields of Uttar Pradesh, of which 91 taxa were �non-

heterocystous� and 74 were �heterocystous forms� (1980). Of these14 taxa are knownto be capable

offixingatmospheric nitrogen.

Vaidya and Patel (1972) described Draparnaldia acuta Kuetz from Ahmedabad as new

record from India. Prasad and Vijayakumari (1973) reported some interesting observations on

Basicladia crassa (Collins) Hoffmanand Tilden and its occurrence in Indian subcontinent for the first

time. They described a new species of the genus Zygnemopsis, Z. vermaii on the basis of the

characters inhaving 3 or 4 hump - like projections with stratification on themature Zygospore (1977).

They reported 2 new species of genus Pithophora viz. P. sumatrana (Wittr) Mart. from Lucknow

and P. mooreana Collins from River Ganga at Varanasi (1978). In 1979, during their extensive

collections of Cladophoralean forms in the course of cytotaxonomic studies on Cladophorales, a

number of taxa new to India were recorded. Cladophora flexuosa (Grif) Harvey, Cladophora

insignis Kuetz., Rhizoclonium crassipehtum West and West and Rhizooclonium pachydernum

Kjeilmann werebeing recorded fromthe first time in the Indian flora.


Sarma (1973) described three terrestrial species ofVaucheria along with their distribution. V.

pachyderma Walz was recorded for the first time with a known locality from New Zealand. V.

hamata (Vauch) DC. was a new record for New Zealand, and V. jaoi Ley was recorded probably for

the first time from Southern Hemisphere. Sarma (1974) critically studied the material collected from

near Lake Ohau, South Island and recorded the genus Sphaeroplea for the first time from New

Zealand. Anew species (V. shapmanii) was described on the basis of light and scanning electron-

microscopic studies (1974). Sarma and Chapman (1975) examined a specimen of Vaucheria

pachyderma Walz. collected fromAuckland, New Zealand. The surface of topographyof thematured

oogonium and oospore was investigated. Scanning electron microscopic study revealed a rugged

(�rugose�) pattern with intricate ridges and furrows for the oogonial wall and finely to coarsely

�verrucose� nature of the oospore wall. This was the first record of the �verrucose� nature of the

oospore wall in this species. Singh (1973) reported frequent occurrence of Pithophora sp. as a weed

along with Hydrodictyon reticulatum in rice fields of CentralRice Research Institute, Cuttack.

Patel and Isabella (1974) reported Dendrocystis raoi Iyengar for the first time from Gujarat.

Prasad andAsthana (1975a) recorded Chaetopeltis Berthold in Indian flora and brieflydescribed the

salient features of the Indian plant. They reported it to be closely resembling with Chaetopeltis

orbicularis f. minor Mobius in thallusorganization, cellstructure, dimensions and behaviour in cultures

and is, therefore, identified as the same. Theyalso reported the genus SpongioplastidiumVischer for

the first time from India (1975b). Astudy of the algae under cultural conditions was made to gain

knowledge on the growth and development pattern. The same authors in 1976 also reported a rare

alga Chlorotylium Kuetzing for the first time in India, growing on banana logs floating in the stagnant

back waters in the river Gomati, inLucknow. It was found growing in untreated sewage and polluted

water also. The authors studied theplant thoroughly and did the chemical analysis ofwater in which

the algae was growing and recorded its tolerance to heavyorganic pollution. In 1978 they reported

Coleochaete pseudosoluta Gautheir-Lievre for the first time as a new addition to the Indian flora.

They also reported a new genus of family Coleochaetaceae (Chlorophyceae) and named it as

Awadhiella (1979).


Chatuvediand Pandey(1976) listed 52 algae belonging to Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae

fromRohilkhand DivisionofUttar Pradesh. Prasad et al. (1976) studiedsomeinteresting morphological

features and developmental patterns in the genus Basicladia Hoffmann and Tilden. Prasad et al.

(1976) recorded Pseudochaete (P. gracilis W& G. S. West) for the first time in India. Prasad et al.

(1976) described three new taxa Lyngbya Ag., out of which 2 were new varieties viz. L. aesturii

Liebm. var. bitrichomata, and L. versicolor (Wartm) Gomont. var. undulata, and one taxon was a

new form L. lagerheimii (Moeb) Gomont. f. lacerata. Prasad et al. (1977a) also described 7 new

taxa belonging to the genus NostocVaucher, found in the course of investigation on algalflora of crop

field of North India. Of these, there was one new species, N. wartisporum, one new variety N.

paludosum var. majus, three new forms, N. calcicola f. variabilis, N. ellipsosporum f. minor and

N. aureum f. variabillis, and new forms variants, N. calcicola forma and N. commune forma. Prasad

et al. (1977b) also studied various stages of a sexual reproduction in Tetraedron Kuetz. During

observations on T. minimum (A. Braun) Hansgrirg. var. scrobisulatul (Lagerheim) De Toni., the

authors observed various stages of a sexual reproduction. Formation of a single autospore and

aplanospores and the persistence of thepyrenoid fromparent cell to the daughter cellwere the features

hitherto unrecorded for the genus Tetraderon. Thematerials studied by themdiffers from. T. minimum

var. scrobicultum in processing a prominent papilla at each angle and a minutely wavy cell wall. In

1978, Prasad et al. reported 4 new taxa of the genus LyngbyaAg. from paddyfields ofUttar Pradesh,

viz. Lyngbya lucknowensis, L. cryptovaginata var. major, L. connectens forma granualata and L.

putelalis f. multigranulata fa. nov. Prasad and Saxena (1977) reported Vaucheria bilateralis Jao,

as a new record from India, and studied it in detail.

Salam (1979) described a new variety of Pediastrum simplex named as P. simplex var.

karnafullum Salam, fromthe KarnafullyEstuaryofChittagong, Bangladesh. Chaturvediet al. (1979)

reported the genus Batrachospermum fromRohilkhand division Uttar Pradesh and established its

close morphological resemblance with B. moniliforme (Roth). Prasad and Misra (1979) studied a

nannandrous species ofOedogonium Linkspossessing branched dwarf male filaments (nannandria), a


feature hitherto unknown in the genus. Theyreported Oedogoniumgallicum Hirn., a new record for

the Indian flora while surveying the algal-flora ofAndamanandNicobar Islands. In1981 theyrecorded

Uronema africanum Borge from Port Blair (South Andaman Islands) and intended to make it an

addition to theIndian flora after describingit briefly. Thesameauthors in1982described 5 teratologically

interesting specimens belonging to 3 genera and 4 desmid taxa, from natural fresh water habitats of

Andaman Islands. They reported 4 taxa of the genus Closterium Nitzsch. viz., C. calosporumWittr.

var. majus W. et G. S. West., C. decorum Breb. var. massartii (Wildem) Krieg. and C. recuroum

Prescott (1984a), while studying the collections ofdesmids made fromdifferent fresh waterhabitats of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Theseplants so far not documented in Indian flora, were recorded for

the first time. They further conducted an exhaustive study on fresh water Chlorophyceae of this

archipilogo and encountered 5 filaments taxa which have not so far been recorded from India viz.

Cladophora glomerata (L) Kuetz. var. crassior Van den Hoek., Cladophora laetevirens (Dillw).

Kuetz., Oedognium figuratum Tiffany., Oedogonium idioandrosporum Nordstedtet Wittr., and

Zygnama Khannae Skuja (1984b). They also described them and reported as new to the Indian

flora. They also described 8 taxa belonging to 5 genera of Chaetophorales from Andaman and

Nicobar Islands. Stigeoclonium fasiculare Kuetz. var. glomeratum (Hazen)Nurul Islamwas reported

as a new record for the Indian flora (1984c). In 1985 they described 9 taxa of the genus Cosmarium

Link viz. C. calcareum Witter., C. lundellii Delp. var. ellipticumW. et G.S. West var. minusPrescott,

C. norombergense Reinsch. var. elongatum (W. et G.S. West) Krieger et Gerloff, C. radiosum

wolle, C. reniforme (Ralfs)Arch. var. elevatumW. &G.S. West, C. sexnotatum Gutw., C. speciosum

Lund. f. nurul Islam, C. speciosum Lund. var. simplex Nordst. f. intermedia Wille and C. turgidum

Breb. var. subrotundatum W. West for the first time from India. All these taxa were collected from

Andaman Islands.

Bongale and Bharati (1980) recorded 377 algae including 244 Cyanophyceae, 80

Chlorophyceae and 53 Bacillariophyceae from144 desiccated cultivated soil samples from16 places

covering 6 districts ofKarnataka State. In all the places of collection, Cyanophyceae predominated


to over two classes, even to the extend of 80% of total algae in some areas. Cyanophyceae included

84 heterocystous algae. Chlorococcum humicola (Naegeli) Rabenhorst was most common, being

recorded from 15 places out of16 under study.

Pandey and Pandey (1980a) undertook a systematic survey of fresh water Euglenineae of

Allahabad (U.P.), from two localities viz., McPherson and Baghla Lakes. 14 species belonging to the

following four genera ofEuglenineae were recorded for the first time from North India. Euglena (7),

Lepocinclis (1), Phacus (4) and Trachelomonas (2). The authors further dealt with the taxonomic

consideration of33 taxaof freshwater diatoms belonging to 15 genera, from Allahabad district ofU.P.

(1980b). Of these 3 taxa belonged to Centrales and the remaining 30 belonged to pennales. The

following genera of the diatoms were represented. (The numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of

taxa of each genus). Melosira (1) Cyclotella (2), Synedra (4), Cocconeis (3), Gyrosigma (2),

Diploneis (1), Caloneis (1), Stauroneis (1), Navicula (6), Gomphonema (3), Cymbella (3),

Rhopalodia (2), Nitzschia (2), Epithemia (1) and Surirella (1). In 1982 the same authors enumerated

41 taxa belonging to 20 generaofCyanophyceae andmade anaddition to theAlgalFloraofAllahabad.

The collections were made from McPherson and Baghla Lakes atAllahabad. 24 taxawere reported

non-heterocystous and rest wereheterocystous. In1983 theyalso dealt witha taxonomic consideration

of13 taxaofDesmidiaceaebelonging to fivegeneradescribed for the first timefromIndiaviz. Euastrum,

Cosmarium, Staurastrum, Sphaerozosma and Desmidium.

Patelet al. (1980) reported 15 genera, 30 species, 11 varieties and 3 forms ofChlorococcales

with their habitats from Gujarat State. Patel et al. (1981) also reported Conococcus elongatus

Carter fromGujarat for the first time.

1981 onwards

Bharate and Tarar (1981) reported 41 algal taxa, out of which 1 belonged to Cyanophyceae,

8 to Chlorophyceae, 32 to Bacillariophyceae, of Tapti River, Bhusawal, Maharashtra. The same


authors recorded 31 taxa of Diatomaceae belonging to 15 genera (1983a) and further enlisted 101

blue-green algal forms, fromKhandesh region ofMaharashtra (1983b) . Species of Oscillatoria and

Lyngbya were found dominant. Special note on Phormidium laminosum Gomond has also been

given. The same authors recorded 31 algal taxa of Chlorophyceae, 4 belonging to Volvocales, 7 to

Chlorococcales, 3 to Ulotrichales, 1 to Chaetophorales, 4 to Oedogoniales and rest 12 to Conjugles

from Khandesh, Maharashtra (1985a). They also presented a first report on Euglenophyceae of

Khandesh region and reported 21 species of this class (1985b). Out of these 10 belonged to genus

Euglena, 7 to Phacus and the rest to Trachelomonas. Again they dealt with diatoms of Khandesh

and found that a number of species of Navicula, Cymbella and Nitzschia were dominant (1985c).

Mukhopadhyay and Chatterjee (1981) reported 57 taxa of blue-green algae belonging to 21

genera from paddy field soil of 24 Parganas and Howarh districts of West Bengal. Of these 7 & 21

taxa had beenrecorded from the rice field soils for the first time in India andWest Bengal respectively.

The dominant genera in these rice field soils were Oscillatoria, Nostoc, Anabaena, Phormidium

and Aphanothece. Patel and Waghodekar (1981) described 23 taxa representing 21 species and 2

varieties of genus Phacus Duj., collected from different localities of Gujarat. 11 taxa viz. P. granwn

Dreze., P. cylindraccus Popova, P. musculus Pochm., P. inflexus (Kisselew) Pochm, P. alatus

Klebs var. lelumermanni Swirenko, P. acuminates Stokes var. americana Pochm., P. peteloti

Leferve, P. ankylonoton Pochm., P. abruptus Korsch., P. incospicuus Deflandare and P. myersi

Skortzov were new additions to Indian Euglenoids. Except P. pleuronectes (Ehr.,) Duja and P.

caudatus Huebner, allwere new to Gujarat.

Prasad and Fatma(1981a &b), whileworking on freshwaterChaetophoraleanalgae, described

Stigeoclonium nudiusculum (Kuetz) Kuetz. and Aphanochaete magna Godward for its

developmental morphology and some reproductive stages. They also reported and described

Chaetosphaeridium pringsheunii Klebhn, collected from a large pond in Telibagh, near Lucknow

(1981c). All these genera were reported as new additions to the Indian flora. The authors (1982)


further described Leptosiropsis torulosa Jao, a rare taxon, as a first record, from a fresh water Indian

habitat. This algae was also collected froma pond situated inTelibagh near Lucknow.

Singh et al. (1981) reported and described 8 interesting algae viz. Acrochaetiumgodwardense

Patel; Dinobryon sertularia Ehr., Mischococcus confervicola Naeg., Botryococcus braunii

Kuetzing, Pseudulvella americana (Snow) Wille, Gloeotaenium loitlesbergerianum Hansgirg,

Oedocladium terrestre (Biswas) Randhawa and Cephaleuros virescens Kunza, fromAllahabad for

the first time. The genus Mischococcus was reported to be new from India. The same authors

described Oedocladiumprescottii Islam, for the first time fromUttar Pradesh. Thespecimenresembled

with the type in most of the essential morphological characters except the occassional presence of

pseudohypogynous antheridia (1983). In 1984, they provided a brief description and characters

including development of dendroid habit and mode of perennation of Mischococcus confervicola

Naeg. collected froma cemented pond of the BotanyDepartment, UniversityofAllahabad, growing

as an epiphyte on the thalli of a fresh water red algae viz. Compsopogon.

Subramanian (1981) recorded 1 new variety and three new forma of Nitella gracilis and 1

new variety of Chara corallina viz. Nitella gracilis var. athanurensis, N. gracilis var. athanurensis

f. delicatual, N. gracilis var. athanurensis f. nana, N. gracilis var. athanurensis f. flexuosa, and

Chara corollina var. portonovansis, from Tamil Nadu. In 1983 also he reported two terrestrial

species of Nitella namely, N. Kanagambigae, and N. Kolanchiappensis, from Tamil Nadu for the

first time. These species were found growing on the moist garden soil and were characterized by the

reticulate oosporemembrane andquadriscutate antheridia. Both these speciesare related to N. terrestris

Iyengar.

Verma (1981) reported Cladophora crystallina (Roth) Kuetz, C. fracta (Dillw) Kuetz., C.

fracta (Dillw) Kuetz. var. flavescens Newton, C. intermedia Foslie., C. crispata (Roth) Kuetz., C.

liniformis Kuetz., C. clavuligera Grun., C. uberriima Lambert. fromBihar. Out of these, only two


species viz. C. clavuligera and C. uberrima have been reported earlier fromTamilNadu and Ranchi

(Bihar), respectively, while the rest were first reports from India.

Ashtekar (1982) recorded 58 taxa ofEuglenophyceae belonging to 5 generanamelyEuglena,

Lepocinclis, Phacus, Trachelomonas and Eutreptia of Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Bharathi and

Hedge (1982) collected fresh water algae from52 permanent pondsand lakes ofKarnataka state and

Union territoryofGoa and described 47 desmid taxa belonging to Mesotaeniaceae, Gonatozygaceae

and Desmidiaceae. In 1983 theyalso reported 35 desmid taxa belonging to the genus EuastrumEhr.

and MicrasteriasAg. collected from Karnataka State & Goa region.

Chaturvedi and Bhatnagar (1982) reported Compsopogon coeruleus (Balbis) Mont. from

Rohilkhand division (U.P) India. The specimens were collected fromthe two rivers, Banand Gangan

in Moradabad district ofRohilkhand division.

Das and Sandra (1982) identified 15 planktonic pinnate diatoms ofSenchal lake, Darjeeling,

West Bengal. Asha and Pandey (1982) studied the distribution of algae on the walls of buildings.

Goyal (1982) collected 17 taxa fromSilent Valleysituated in Nilgiri ranges ofWestern Ghats, out of

which 13 taxa belonged to Cyanophyceae and 4 belonged to Chlorophyceae, thus, showing the

preponderance of blue-greenalgae in the region.

Mann(1982) investigated themorphologyandanatomyof thevegetativecells ofRhoicosphenia

curvata (Kuetz) Grun. byusing light and electronmicroscopy, inorder to clarifythesystematic position

of the genus. In 1984 he described and confirmed on the basis of studies from vegetative cell and

auxospore formation that Rhoicosphenia shouldbe separated into anew family, theRhoicospheniaceae

and genusRhoicosphenia is less closelyrelated to themonoraphid genera thanto thegomphocymbelloid

genera.


Mohanty (1982) reported 36 species belonging to 6 genera ofCyanophyceae fromthe cityof

Bhubaneswar and its surroundings for the first time. Pandey (1982a) presented the systematic

enumeration of fresh water diatoms ofShajananpur and reported 14 taxa of diatoms belonging to 10

genera. Of these, all the fourteen belong to Pennales. He also made similar studies on 46 taxa

belonging to 19 genera ofblue-green fromRohilkhand division, U.P. and reported that out of46 taxa,

27 were non-heterocystous and the rest were heterocystous forms (1982b). The author further dealt

with a systematic survey of Euglenineae of sewage waters of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, from different

localities of the district and reported 14 species belonging to Euglena (7), Lepocinclis (1), Phacus

(4), and Trachelomonas (2) for the first time from this part of the country (1985).

Patel and George (1982) reported a new variety of Pediastrum integrum from a pond at

Khad Brahma viz. P. integrum Naegeli var. undulatum. The same authors collected 7 new varieties

of the genus Scenedesmus Meyen. fromdifferent localities of Gujarat and described them as new to

science viz. S. bijugatus (Turpin) Kuetz. var. curvatus, S. platydiscus (G.M. Smith) Chodat var.

apiculatum, S. apiculatus (W. et G.S. West) Chodat var. seriatus, S. brasiliensis var. perforatus,

var. altermans, and S. tropicus Crow var. indicus (1984a). They further reported a new species of

the genus Sorastrum Kuetz. from Gujarat, namely, S. sphericum Patel et Isabella, collected from

Rajpipla forest (1984b).

Patel and Patel (1982) studied 3 varieties ofAchnantheshauckiana Grun. viz. var. hauckiana,

var. elliptica Schulz. and var. rostrata Schulz., collected fromWest coast of Gujarat. The last two

were reported for the first time from Gujarat.

Prasad and Srivastava (1982), for the first time from India, described Mastogloia dansei

Thwaits, a species which had not been documented in Indian diatomflora. Thematerialwas collected

fromAndamanand Nicobar Islands, during their investigation on freshwater Bacillariophycean algae

of that region. In 1983 the authors further reported two taxa of the genus Synedra Ehr. viz. S. ulna


(Nitz.) Ehr. var. contracta Str., and S. socia Wallace var. socia for the first time from India. The

materialwas found growing along with other algae in freshwater ponds ofBedonabad andAstinabad

(Port Blair). The authors during the course of systematic studies in the freshwater diatom flora of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, described 6 taxa of diatoms viz. Nitzschia capitellata Hust., N.

fasciculate Grun., N. ignorata Krasske., N. irresoluta Hust., N. tryblionella Hantz., and Surirella

angusticostata Hust (1984a). The same authors also described an interesting blue-green alga

Scytonema ocellatum Lyngbye ex born et Flah. var. capitatum Ghose, as a first report in the Indian

flora ofAndaman Islands, byshowing its abnormalities at certainplaces (1984b). The authors further

described 10 taxa of the genus Scytonema Ag. inhabiting the freshwaters ofAndaman and Nicobar

Islands, along with its distribution in the archipelago as well as on the Indian mainland (1984c). All the

10 taxa constituted new record for that area while 2 taxa viz. Scytonema arcangelii Born. et. Flah.,

and Scytonema leptomema Ghose as new for India. In 1985 the same authors described 20 taxa of

freshwater diatomscollected from various geographic locations of theAndaman and Nicobar Islands

belonging to genera Melosira (1), Fragilaria (1), Synedra (2), Eunotia (2), Achnanthes (2), Navicula

(1), Stauroneis (2), Pinnularia (4), Gyrosigma (1), Gomphonema (1), Amphora (1), and Cymbella

(2). The authors (1986) also dealt with taxonomic enumeration and geographic distribution of7 taxa

of blue-green algae collected from the freshwaters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands; all the taxa

described were new records for the archipelago.

Senger and Sharma (1982) reported 22 formsbelonging to 11 generaoforder Chlorococcales

from river Yamuna at Agra. Of these Elakotothrix viridis (Snow) Printz., Pediastrum tetras var.

apiculatum Fritsch., Actinastrum hantzschuii Lagerheim and Tetrastrum heterocanthum

(Nordstedt.) Chodat., were reported for the first time from North India.

Singh and Saha (1982) described 16 species belonging to 8 genera of Bacillariophyceae, for

the first time from Bihar. The materials were collected from ponds at Bhagalpur. Singh et al. (1982)

described 4 teretologically interesting forms found in nature, viz., Synedra ulna (Nitz.,) Ehr. var. ulna,


Gomphonema montanum Schumann var. ulna, Gomphonema montanum Schumann var.

subclavatum Grun., Cymbella turgida (Greg.) CI., and Gomphonema gracile Ehr. The forms

were collected fromfreshwater habitats situated at Batrapur and Bedonabad in the suburbs of Port

Blair (Andaman Islands). Trivedi (1982) reported algal flora of three water bodies situated in the

vicinity of Jaipur. In all 62 algal forms comprising of 34 Chlorophyceae, 15 Cyanophyceae and 13

Bacillariophyceae had been recorded.

Balakrishnan and Deore (1983) reported Planktosphaeria gelatinosa G.M. Smith, from

Poona, occurring along with severalother phytoplankters like, species ofMicractinium, Crucigenia,

Oocystis, Trachelomonas, Euglena and Lepocinclis inKirkee pond, outside PoonaUniversity. Some

morphological and reproductive studies have also beenmade. Bordoloi (1983) described three species

of abnormaland asymmetric desmids fromAssam. Of these, one was abnormal due to incomplete

cytokinesis. Gurudeva et al. (1983) gave a systematic account of 72 desmid taxa from seasonal

ponds and pools of Savandurga, Karnataka. 8 forms had beenrecorded for the first time from India.

Hegde and Bharati (1983a) presented a report of zygospore formation in 24 desmid taxa

collected fromsmallpond fromNorth KanaraDistrict ofKarnataka State. They further listed 61 taxa

of freshwater algae collected from Bijapur district of Karnataka state, belonging to 26 genera of

Chroococcales, Hormogoniales, Chlorococcales, Oedogoniales, Desmidiales and Euglenales

(1983b). In 1985 the same authors described 2 new taxa of genus Staurastrum Meyen. collected

from Shimoga district ofKarnataka State, viz. S. agumbeyense Hegde and Bharati, and S. biwaensis

Hirano var. sorabanum Hegde and Bharati.

Hosmani and Bharati (1983) gave an account of 42 species of Euglenineae collected from

various locations in Dharwar and Shivamoga districts and from Madgoan, a place in the former

Portuguese territory. Jha and Kaushal(1983) reported 6 interesting algae fromGobindsagar reservoir,

Himachal Pradesh, viz. Colacium arbuscula Stein, Hormotilopsis gelatinosa Trainier and Bold.,


Characiochloris characioides Pascher, Pachycladon umbrinas var. gobindsagarensis, Debarya

hardyi West and Dichotomosiphon tuberosus Ernst. The first five forms were new records from

India, while the sixth one was new to the region ofcollection.

Mehrotra and Jaitly (1983) described Tribonema elegans Pascher collected from Darjeeling

(W. Bengal). The alga was reported for the first from the country. Prasad (1983) described a blue-

green freshwater Cryptophycean flagellate Chroomonas norstedtii f. minor Nygaard from Madras,

for the first time. Sarma et al. (1983) described 26 taxa of Chlorococcales which constituted new

records for Punjab region. Anew variety of Characium nasutum i.e. C. nasutum Robenhorst var.

minutissimus and Scenedesmus bijugatus i.e. S. bijugatus (Turpin) Kuetz. var. linearis had also

been described. Sarode and Kamat (1983) recorded 45 taxa belonging to the genera Pinnularia,

Amphora, Cymbella and Gomphonema, for the first time from Marathwada region of Maharashtra

State. Out of these 7 taxa were reported new for India and 14 taxa were an addition to the diatom-

flora ofMaharashtra.

Somashekar (1983a) provided an enumeration of104 blue-green, 35 chlorococcales and 50

species of desmids, collected form river Cauvery. Species of Oscillatoria among blue-greens,

Scenedesmus among chlorococcales and Cosmarium among desmids were encountered in large

number. He also provided the taxonomicaldescription for 46 species ofdiatoms, collected from river

Cauvery (1983b). Of the 17 genera encountered, species of Gyrosigma, Navicula, Cymbella,

Gomphonema and Nitzschiaconstituted thedominant formsofthearea. Theauthor gave a taxonomical

enumeration of 110 species of blue-green algae, 43 belonging to chlorococcales and 82 desmids

collected from 15km stretch of river Kapila (1984a). Amongst Cyanophyceae, Gloeocapsa,

Chroococcus, Merismopedia, Oscillatoria, Lyngbya, Phormidium and Anabaena and amongst

Chlorophyceae, species of Pediastrum, Scendesmus, Closterium, Euastrum, Cosmarium,

Staurastrum and Spirogyra were encountered in large numbers. The polluted stations of the river

were mostly dominated by members of Cyanophyceae. Somashekar (1984b) also provided the

taxonomical enumeration of 72 taxa ofdiatoms collected from 15kms stretch of river Kapila. Of the


19 genera isolated, species of Cymbella, Synedra, Gomphonema, Navicula, Nitzschia, Achmanthes,

Gyrosigma and Fragilaria constituted the dominant forms of the area.

Barathan and Sundaralingam (1984), based oncertain morphological evidences and results of

experimental work on infertility tests together with known karyological differences, reached to a

conclusion that Chara vandalurensis Sund. is taxonomically distinct. Chaporkar and Gangawane

(1984) studied the blue-green algal flora of some cultivated soils of Marathwada region and isolated

33 forms of Cyanophyceae from various crop field soils, out of which Microcystis elegans, Nostoc

hatei, Anabaena ballygunglii, and Tolypothrix fragilis were reported for the first time from this

region.

Goyalet al. (1984) found that rice field soilsamples from Jammu division harbour more blue-

green algae than those from Srinagar division and they reported that Nostoc and Anabaena were

widelydistributed in both thedivisions followed byOscillatoria, Calothrix and Hapalosiphon whereas

some forms like Anabaena ambigua, Oscillatoria amoena and Rivularia gloviceps showed restricted

distribution, and a crop growth cycle dependent variation in the algal flora of rice field.

Sankaran (1984) reported anew species ofBatrachospermum, viz. B. desikacharyi, collected

from a hill stream near a water fall inValparai (TamilNadu) at an altitudeof 3,000 ft.

Sinha and Mukherjee (1984a) recorded 40 formsofblue-green algae belonging to 20 genera

from the paddy fields of Bankura district (W. Bengal). They also described and illustrated a new

variety of Lyngbya zeylanica Will. viz., L. zeylanica var. bankurensis, obtained frompaddy fields of

Bankura district ofW. Bengal (1984b).

Srivastava (1984), on the basis of certain morphological features, reported a new species of

the genus Spirogyra viz. Spirogyra sinhaensis. Subramanian (1984) described Desikacharyella

indica, fromHare Island, Tuticorin, fromthe Southern East Coast of India.Yadava and Pandey(1984)


described Draparnaldia nizamii, from Allahabad. The new species had been compared with D.

simplex. The new taxon had also been compared with a rare genus Cloniophora.

Bongale (1985) gave a systematic account of 47 taxa of diatoms belonging to the genera

Fragilaria, Synedra, Eunotia, Cocconeis, Achnanthes, Pleurosigma, Navicula, Pinnularia,

Stauroneis, Cymbella, Hantzschia, Nitzschia and Surirella collected fromcultivated soils of6 districts

of Karnataka State. The author reported 3 new varieties of Cosmarium spinuliferiumWest et West

viz. var. major, var. rectangulare and var. subcirculare collected from a paddy field at Belgaum

(1986). The same author also worked on the distribution of algal flora in the acidic paddyfield soils

of North Kanara district, Karnataka State and found 21 genera and 63 species of Cyanophyceae, 13

genera and 17 species of Chlorophyceae and 10 genera and 26 species of Bacillariophyceae and 3

Flagellates (1987a). Bongale (1987b) further reported 7 new taxa belonging to Chroococcaceae,

out of which 4 belonged to the genus Gloeocapsa Kuetz. (G. kuetzingiana var. major, G. nigrescens

var. maxima, G. rupestris var. hyalina, and G. sanguinea f. grandis and one each to Chroococcus

Naegeli, Aphanocapsa Naegeli, Aphanothece Naegeli, (C. gomontii var. maxima, A.

dharwadensis, and A. stagina var. minor respectively). The same author (1988) further described

4 new taxa belonging to Cosmarium bimamillatum Krieg., (var. pseudoreniforme Bongale, var.

rectanguliforme Bongale), C. decachondrum Roy et Biss (var. ornatum G.S. West f. belgaumiana

Bongale) and C. lundellii Delp. (var. triqueirum Bongale) from Karnataka state.

Chaturvedi (1985) reported diatom flora of Bareilly for the first time. Fifty two species of

diatoms collected fromdifferent localities were described. Of the 22 genera encountered, species of

Navicula, Cymbella and Gomphonema constituted the dominant forms of the area.

Fatma (1985) reported 22 forms belonging to 8 genera of order Chaetophorales. Out of

these, 12 were additions to Indian flora. Genera Epibolium and Leptosiropsis were recorded for the

first time from India. Two forms which were not identified even at generic level, designated as


Chaetophorales 1 and 2. George and Patel (1985) described 17 taxa ofChlorococcales representing

5 genera, 13 species and 4 varieties of which 2 species and 1 varietywere new to India, besides one

new varietyof Micractinium Fresen, M. pusillumvar. brevisetum. Jawale and Patel (1985) described

the morphological and cytological features of Nitella polycarpa Pal and reported a new forma

gujaratensis, from India.

Jha et al. (1985) studied the chlorococcacean floraofGobindsagar (H.P.) and enumerated 61

species of 28 genera including 6 species reported for the first time from Indian waters. Kant and

Pandey (1985) described Nitellopsis obtusa (Desv. in Lois) J. Groves (Order Charales Division

Charophyta) and reported it for the second time in India after a lapse of more than half a century,

collected fromTons river inAllahabad.

Khan (1985) described73 freshwater algal taxa related to 40 generabelonging to Cyanophyta,

Rhodophyta, Xanthophyta, Chlorophyta, Charophyta and Euglenophyta. Maityand Santra (1985)

reported 46 speciesofblue-green algae, belonging to 25 genera. fromdifferent localities and habitats

of24 Parganas (West Bengal). The varied environmental factors and habitat conditions of this district,

affecting growth of algae had been outlined. Gloeocapsa, Aphanocapsa, Schizothrix, Lyngbya,

Aulosira and Gloeotrichia were found to be dominant in the rice fields.

Manohar and Patel (1985) dealt with 3 colonialVolvocales viz. Pandorina unicocca Rayborn

et Starr., Eudorina cylindrica korschikov and Eudorina unicocca G.M. Smith and reported them as

new additions to Indian algal flora.

Pal and Santra (1985) reported 40 species of blue-green algae of Midnapore (W. Bengal),

out of which 12 species were new for the flora of W. Bengal, viz. Aphanocapsa grevillei (Hass)

Rabenh., Lyngbya magnifica Gardner., Oscillatoria annae Van Goor., O. decolorata West, G.S.,

O. irrigua (Kuetz.) Gomont, O. mougeotii Kuetz., Spirulina labyrinthiformis (Menegh.) Gomont.,

Sp. laxissima f. major Desikachary., Anabaena oryzae Fritsch, Aulosira pseudoramosa Bharadwaja,


Scytonenia coactile Montagneex Born. et Flah., and Calothrix ghosei Bharadwaja. In 1987 also

the same authors described 12 members of Cyanophyceae and 12 members of Chlorophyceae for

the first time from W. Bengal. The taxa Arthrospira jenneri, Stizenbex Gomont., Bulbochaete

reticullostratum Isl., Ulothrix flacca (Dillwyn) Thuret and U. moniformis Kuetz. were reported for

the first time fromIndia.

Patel andJawale (1985) described themorphologicaland cytologicalfeaturesofLycnothamnus

barbatus (Meyen) Leonh. and determined a new formnamelyL.barbatus (Meyen)Leonh. f. gigantea,

from Gujarat. Prasad and Jaitly (1985) presented a systematic analysis of thematerial collected from

a smallspring at Puga in Ladakh (J & KState) and revealed 12 taxa of diatoms belonging to 8 genera,

namely, Fragilaria, Synedra, Navicula, Neidium, Pinnularia, Gomphonema, Cymbella and

Nitzchia.

Roy and Sen (1985) gave an account of73 formsof freshwater algae, collected from 2 ponds

in Bilaspur ofChattisgarh area. Sharma et al. (1985) described Pediastrum triplex, and P.

janaktalensis, during the limnological studies ona perennial tank, Janaktal (Gwaliar, M.P.).

Subramanian (1985) described two varieties of Nitella pseudoflabellata namely var.

corymbosa and var. gelatinosa, and three varieties of N. hyalina namely var. chelliammai, and var.

athanurensis, and var. pudechattirensis as new to science and had been collected fromsouthAcrot

and Tanjore districts ofTamil Nadu. Yadava et al. (1985) while working on the microflora of the river

Ganges at Bhagalpur (Bihar), reported Dimorphococcus fritschii Crow. for the first time in India.

Bhoge and Ragothaman(1986a) gave taxonomic enumeration of63 taxa, 24 ofChlorococcales, one

of Pleurocapsales 32 of Oscillatoriales and 6 of Nostocales, collected fromYawal and Raver taluks

of Maharashtra State.

Hegde (1986a) described 5 new taxa of Desmids (Chlorophyceae), collected fromShimoga

district ofKarnataka state. These belonged to the genus Cosmarium Corda. Hegde (1986b) further


recorded a totalof 24 new Desmid taxa from freshwater habitats ofShimoga district. 2 taxa already

reported, were againdescribed because of certainvariations in them. Again the same author made an

extensive collectionof freshwater algae fromvarious ponds and lakesof same district and recorded 30

Desmid taxa, belonging to thegenusCosmarium Corda, for the first time fromKarnataka state (1986c).

Isaacs and Hegde (1986) gave a systematic account of 42 taxa of freshwater algae collected

from 5 tanks of Mundagod Taluk, Uttara Karnadaka District ofKarnataka State. Theybelonged to

genera Pediastrum, Oocystis, Ankistrodesmus, Gonatozygon, Closterium, Pleurotaenium,

Euastrum, Cosmarium, Staurastrum, Desmidium and Euglena. In 1989 the same authors made

72 collections of freshwater algae from permanent ponds and lakes of Uttara Kannada District of

Karnataka State and reported 18 taxa as a first record to that State. The taxa belonged to

Cyanophyceae (2), Chlorophyceae (9) and Euglenophyceae (7).

Jha et al. (1986) recorded 60 Cyanobacterial forms belonging to 21 genera fromrice fields of

Pusa and its adjoining areas in North Bihar. Out of these 45 of were heterocystous. Aphanothece

pallida, A. Naegeli, Nostoc hatei, Anabaena sphaerica, A. volzii, Cylindrospermum stagnale,

Aulosira fertilissima, Gloeotrichia pisum and Oscillatoria limosa were found to be very widely

distributed. Pandey and Gangwar (1986) reported 30 planktonic taxa of Chlorococcales from

Bareillydistrict. Prasad and Chowdhary (1986) described 2 new euglenoids viz. Trachelomonas

godwardii, and Lepocinclis sarmii, from U.P. (India), which are new to science.

Prasad et al. (1986) inthe courseofsystematicstudieson theCyanophyceanfloraofPachmarhi

(M.P.), collected large number of taxa fromvarious environments of different locations, 22 taxa of

blue-green algae belonging to 11 genera were recorded. Of these, 2 taxa belonged to the genus

Microcystis Kuetz., 4 taxa to the genus Lyngbya Ag., 3 taxa to the genus Anabaena Bory., 7 taxa to

the genus Oscillatoria Vaucher and 1 taxon each to the genera Gloecapsa Kuetz., Aphanocapsa

Naeg., ChamaesiphonA. Br. et Grum., Spirulina Turpin et Gardner, Phormidium Kuetz., Aulosira

Kirchner and Scytonema Ag.


Saha (1986) recorded 280 algal taxa from different ponds of Bhagalpur, India. Singh and

Pandey (1986) described a new form of Compsopogan aeruginosus (J.Ag.) Kuetz. collected from

Nakatia river near Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh. The algae was found to be distinct from its

previous forms in having branched spines. In 1988 theyreported Acrochaetium godwardensePatel,

collected fromKhannaut river in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh, for the first time from Rohilkhand

division of Uttar Pradesh. The occurrenceof rhizoids in the thallus showed a new featureboth for the

species as well as for the genus. The same authors in 1989 further described certain unrecorded

features of Acrochaetium indica Raikwar. The secondary and tertiary sporangia and gemmules are

features of special interest. This alga is a new report from Rohilkhand division of Uttar Pradesh and

exhibits in situ germinationof sporangia.

Srivastava et al. (1986) described Characiopsis grandis Pascher., collected from Ranchi

district in Bihar State, so far not reported fromIndia. Srivastava et al. (1986) reported and described

Tribonema regulare Pascher., a plant not known from India, during their course of study of

XanthophyceanmaterialfromKerala and showed its resemblancewith the typebut withaslight variation

in length and breadth. Srivastava et al. (1987a) reported the occurrence ofTribonema subtilissimum

Pascher for the first time in India, collected froma temporarypond at Sultanpur inAurangabad district.

The same authors reported a new record of Xanthophyte, Characiopsis minor Pascher, from India

(1987b). The material was collected from a domestic polluted man made seasonalpond ofAurma in

Aurangabad district, and theydescribed its morphological features. They further recorded the genus

Bumilleriopsis from India for the first time, collected from East India, and presented some pertinent

details regarding description and ecology of B. clasteriodesPascher (1987c).

Pandey and Habib (1987) worked on the taxonomy of32 taxa ofDesmidiaceaebelonging to

8 genera, of which 3 taxa were reported for the first time from India viz. Cosmarium conspersum

Ralfs. var. scottii Croasdale, C. cucurbitium (Biss.), Luethem. var. subpolymorphum Nordst. and

C. subcrenatum Hantz., f. minor; other taxa reported were Closterium, Pleurotaenium, Euastrum,

Cosmarium, Staurastrum, Hyalotheca, Spondylosium and Desmidium.


Prasad and Khanna (1987) recorded 24 blue-green algae belonging to Oscillatoriaceae from

Sikkim region. Of these 14 species belonged to Oscillatoria, two to Phormidium, six to Lyngbya

and one each to genera Spirulina and Microcoleus.

Sengar and Pandey (1988) studied the morphology and reproduction of Myxosarcina

concinna Printz. collected from freshwater habitat ofAllahabad. Its successive stagesofgrowth and

life historywere investigated in culture under laboratory conditions. Shukla et al. (1988) reported 2

new taxa of genus BulbochaeteAgardh viz. B. lagoensis f. lagoensis Hirn and B. rectangularis var.

tropica Gautheir-Lievere, for the first time from India. The collections were made fromMauri Lake,

Pratapgarh.

Pandey et al. (1988) from the view point of taxonomic consideration described 41 taxa of

Desmidiaceae belonging to five genera ofwhicheight were recorded for the first time fromIndia. The

genera reported were Cosmarium (24), Closterium (9), Euastrum (2), Staurastrum (4) and

Pleurotaenium (2).

Rawla and Rattan (1989) gave a regional floristic account of 22 taxa of Scenedesmus from

Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh and found 14 taxa as new regional records while S.

incrassatulus Bohlin and S. denticulatus Lagerheim var. linearis Hansgirg as new Indian records.

Srivastava and Tiwari (1989) during their course of a studyon the freshwater Ulotrichalesof

certain parts ofBihar, described 3 new taxa belonging to the familiesUlotrichaceae as Heterothricopsis

viridis Iyengar et Kanthamman var. mucilagina, Raphidonema tetrae (Kol.)Vischer var. planctonica,

and Microsporaceae viz., Microspora tumidula Hazen var. dumkaensis.

Bharati ( 1990), in an investigationon the Charophytes fromS. India, concluded that 2 taxa of

Chara fibros.Ag. ex Bruz. em RDW., one collected from a shallow pond at Hyderabad and another


collected from a big tank at Nuggikeri Dharwad, showed widely differing morphological and

cytotaxonomical characters. The2 taxa were C. fibrosaAg. ex Bruz. emRDWsp. benthami Zanev.,

C. fibrosa Ag. ex Bruz., em RDWsp. benthami Zanev. var. octoploidii.

Das and Sahu (1990), during the course of their surveyof algal forms ofChotanagpur, found

20 members of Oedogoniales. One taxon of Oedocladium with variation in morphological features

of the known species of this genus had also been found. They also reported a new species viz.

O. oominilateralis from Ranchi.

Habib and Pandey(1990a) described 4 taxa of the genus Cosmarium Corda viz. C. askenayi

Schimdle f. latum Scott et Prescott, C. capense De Toni var. nyassae Schmidle, C. connspersum

Ralfs var. scottii Croasdale et Scott, C. denticalutum Borge var. rotundatum Borge, and recorded

these for the first time from India, collected from River Nakatia, Bareilly (U.P. State). The same

authors also dealt with taxonomic considerations of29 taxa ofEuglenineae belonging to 2 genera, of

which 11 taxa had been reported for the first time fromIndia (1990b). Taxa included were Euglena

(19) and Phacus (10), collected from Nakatia river at Barielly (U.P.).

Nirmala et al. (1990) made an extensive study on the specimens of Stigeocloniumoccurring

in Madras with an interest to review its species concept and as a first step towards assigning the

number of species to the genus. David (1991) made an investigation on the Chroomonas and other

blue-green Cryptomonads. David and Wetherbee (1988) reported the structure and taxonomy of

the new genus Rhinomonas pauca (Cryptophyceae).

Balakrishnan and Chaugule (1980a) have made a detailed study of the cytology and life

history of Batrachospermum mahabaleshwarensis, from Maharashtra. They have also made an

investigation into the morphologyand life historyof Batrachospermum kylinii (1980b). Suseela and

Dwivedi (2001) recorded 42 taxa ofclass Chlorophyceae and Xanthophyceae from Mahoba district


of Bundelkhand region ofUttar Pradesh. Verma et al. (1996, 2000) worked on lotic algae of river

Gomati, Lucknow. Anand (1998) made an exstensive studyon the Indian freshwater microalgae.

Misra et al. (2002a) made a morpho-taxonomic surveyof 14 taxa belonging to Ulotrichales

and Cladophorales fromNorth-EasternUttarPradesh. Theyalso madean investigationonthe freshwater

planktonic algae from Basti, Uttar Pradesh and reported 34 species of 12 genera belonging to

Chlorophyceae and Cyanophyceae (2002b).

Yadava (1989) described a new species of Draparnaldia desikacharii fromAllahabad. Two

new taxa of the genus Bulbochaete fromWest Bengalwas reported byKargupta (1996).Algaeof the

Anamalai hill ranges of the Western Ghats were studied bySankaran (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006). He

studied some dendroid colonial taxa (Ecballocystis and Ecballocystopsis) and members of

Zygnematales and Oedogoniales, blue green algae, 5 taxa ofChaetophorales, 6 taxa of Ulotrichales

and 1 taxon of Ulvales from the same region. Cyanobacterial biodiversity of the tributaries of river

Kaveriwas extensivelystudied bySankaran (2006)and he reported 16 speciesofcoccoid cyanobacteria

and 29 species of nonheterocystous forms.

Pawan and Pushpa (2002) has recorded for the first time from India the occurrence of the

genus Radiococcus (Chlorophyceae). Algal flora ofChilika Lake, Orissa, was studied by Rath and

Adhikary (2005). Adhikary et al. (2006) reported 78 taxa of Bacillariophyceae fromOrissa state

and neighbouring regions. Jena, et al. (2006) studied the algaldiversityofSimilipalbiosphere reserve,

Orissa and recorded twentyeight taxabelonging to 8 speciesofCyanophyceae, 17 of Chlorophyceae,

2 of Euglenophyceae and 1 of Bacillariophyceae.


Algological Studies from Kerala

According to Easa (2004), there are 834 algal taxa including freshwater and marine forms

reported from Kerala. Anand and Hopper (1987) made a study on the blue-green algae from rice

fields in Kerala. A new species of Temnogametum was reported by Panikkar and Ampili (1988).

They also reported a number of other forms, mainly Chlorophyceae (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992a,

1992b, 1993a). Species of Trentepohlia Martius was reported for the first time from Kerala by

Panikkar and Sindhu(1993). Panikkar et al. (1997) reported a new speciesof the genus Zygnemopsis.

Panikkar et al. (1989) have made some observations on Cephaleuros virescens Kunze from Kerala.

The ecology and taxonomy of the Charophytes of Kerala was studied by Prasad (1997). Shaji and

Patel studied several taxa belonging to Desmids (1988, 1989) and Euglenophytes (1991). Shaji and

Panikkar studied the Cyanophyceae ofKerala (1994, 1996) and they also reported a new species of

Audouinella fromKerala (1996a). The same authors have madean enumeration on some little known

epiphytic algae fromKerala (1995). Twentyeight taxa belonging to Euglenophytes were studied by

Shaji et al. (1995). Sindhu and Panikkar surveyed the Quilon district and reported anumber of taxa;

the Oedogoniales of Kerala (1993), 21 species of the genus Closterium (1994a), 26 species of

Cosmarium (1994b), 2 taxa belonging to Chaetophorales (1994c), 2 species of Coleochaete, 12

species of Pleurotaenium (1994e), 7 species of Netrium (1994f), and 22 taxa of Staurastrum

(1995a). They have also reported the occurrence of Chara gymnoptys from Kerala (1991) and two

other species of the same genus (1992). Sindhu and Panikkar (1995b) have reported 38 new taxa of

desmids collected frompaddy fields of Kerala belonging to 13 genera.

Ushadeviand Panikkar have extensivelystudied the genus spirogyra and reported 104 species

from Kerala (1994b). They also studied Zygogonium (1992), Mougeotia (1993a), Sirogonium

(1994a), and Zygnema (1995a) from Kerala. The same authors studied the stages of zygospore

formation in Desmidium fromKerala (1993b).


Panikkar and Sreeja (2005) have studied zygospore formation indesmids fromKollamdistrict.

Theyhave studied tentaxaof thegenus Closterium. The sameauthorshavemade a studyof zygospore

formation of four rare desmids from Kerala (2006).

Jose and Patel (1988) reported Actinastrum hantzschii Lagerheim var. intermediumTeiling

for the first time from India. Ecballocystis fritschii Iyengar was reported from Kerala by Jose and

Patel (1989a). Theyalso furnished a critical account on the first occurrence ofCoelastrumcompositum

fromIndia (1989b). The sameauthors have reported theoccurrence ofCaloglossa ogasawaraensis

(Rhodophyta) fromfresh waters in India for the first time (1990a). Theyhave collected the alga from

Athirapilly water falls of Sholayar river in Kerala state. Ecballocystis ramosa f. minorwas reported

for the first time from India by Jose and Patel (1990b). The same authors have made a systematic

account of Chlorococcales new to Kerala (1992).

Madhusoodanan and Dominic (1996) studied the epiphytic cyanobacteria on mosses from

Western Ghats ofKerala. Dominic (1997) made an attempt on the isolation and characterization of

the non-symbiotic cyanobacteria of the paddy fields of Kerala. Dominic et al., (1997) have made a

study on the biodiversityofnitrogen fixing cyanobacteria from different agroclimatic regions of the

state.

Subramoni (2006) has studied the algal diversityofVamanapuram river of south Kerala and

reported 107 species belonging to 58 genera and 24 families.

Jose and Francis (2007) havemadeanextensive investigation on the algalflora ofThodupuzha

thaluk, Kerala and have reported 67 taxa fromthe region. Radhika and Devi (2007) have investigated

the phytoplankton diversity in the Vellayani lake, Thiruvananthapuram and theyhave observed 36

species representing Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Dinophyceae.

chapterone introductionandreviewofliterature...

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