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Skythrenchelys zabra (Castle and McCosker, 1999) a species belonging to the family Ophichthidae is reported for the first time from the east coast of India on the basis of 11 specimens collected from various fishing harbours along the West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts. The species was first described from south-west coast of India in the Arabian Sea. The present report extends the range of distribution of the species to the Bay of Bengal along the east coast of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to characterize the concentrations of selected dissolved trace metals in the coastal waters (500 m from shore) of Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India. The order of dissolved concentration of these metals was found to be as follows: Co (cobalt) < Cd (cadmium) < Cr (chromium) < Mn (manganese) < Cu (copper) < Ni (nickel) < Pb (lead) < Zn (zinc). The levels of these trace metals were found to be relatively low as compared to the reported values for other Indian coastal waters, which indicates negligible pollution at this location. Cadmium was the only metal found to increase its concentration during the monsoon period, suggesting its allochthonous input. Factor analysis indicated that chromium, nickel, zinc, cobalt, copper, manganese, and lead were of common origin, and external inputs through land runoff had nominal or little impact, typifying in-situ regeneration and remineralization linkage with their temporal variation. However, levels of zinc, cobalt, and copper remained relatively high during the summer period, and abrupt increases in their concentration during December (monsoon season) may be due to their dual (autochthonous as well as allochthonous) input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beaches near Gopalpur (19°18'N; 84°58'E) along the east coast of India were relatively undisturbed environments until 1987. An open-coast port was constructed by excavating the basin of the backshore and a number of development activities are now in various stages of progress. In view of the dearth of beach dynamics information for the area, the wave and breaker characteristics, sediment budget and beach profiles were studied along an 11 km stretch on both sides of the port. The wave climate is influenced by two contrasting monsoon wind regimes - a high energy southwest (SW) monsoon (April-September) and a comparatively low energy northeast (NE) monsoon (November-February). High breakers (Hb= 3m) with low period (