Marine seaweeds in the coastal water of Bangladesh

The highest diversity of seaweed species is on the southern coast of

Bangladesh. Bordering the Bay of Bengal from Sundarbans in the
west up to St. Martins Island in the south-eastern corner

This region covers an area of about 480 km2. Habitats occupied by

seaweeds in this region include marine and brackish waters

Although the entire southern coast of Bangladesh is exposed to the

Bay of Bengal, the euryhaline ethic algae could be obtained mostly, if
not entirely, from St. Martin’s Island

The brackinshwater algal flora is found to flourish in the Sundarbans

and other mangrove forest areas
 Chakaria
Sundarban

Sundarbans Fatrer Bon

of Greater Kulna Patuakhali

St. Martin’s Island

Map of Bangladesh showing the whole coastal belt, mangrove forest and
the St. Martin’s Island
St. Martin’s Island
- only coral island of Bangladesh, situated north eastern part of Bay of Bengal
between 92°18‘ E and 92°21‘ E and 20°34‘ N and 20°38‘ N
- 8 miles south of Badarmokam, southern-most point of mainland of Bangladesh
euryhaline marine algae present belonging to: Chlorophyta: 38,
Chrysophyta: 5, Phaeophyta: 46, Rhodophyta: 49 and Cyanophyta: 27
having a total of recorded species of 165 under 77 genera (Islam 1976).
In Bangladesh, naturally growing seaweeds are found
in the littoral and sub-littoral zones of coastal areas.
Around 200 species belonging to 77 genera of
seaweeds have so far been recorded from the major
resources of Cox's Bazar coast of Bay of Bengal. These
include
47 species of green seaweeds Division: Chlorophyta
59 species of brown seaweeds Division: Phaeophyta
94 species of red seaweeds Division: Rhodophyta
In most cases, natural growing seaweeds of Cox's
Bazar coast goes to markets of neighbouring country
like Myanmar with some domestic consumption by
local tribal people
Ecology of St. Martin’s Island
The island has a varied physiographic features- rocky platform, sandy beach,
sand dunes, a lagoon, marshes and a tombolo (is a deposition landform in which
an island is attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or
bar) Cheradiya or locally known as Cherradwip, crenelated (alternating opening
and raised) shoreline and coral clusters.

Rocks are mainly argillaceous (substantial amount of clay compounds) lime

stone, calcareous sandstone, fossiliferous conglomerates and Coraline
limestone

Water as a whole turbid, pH may range from 8.0-9.5

Eastern coast is less influenced by strong wave, western coast is open to the
main part of the Bay of Bengal, so it has strong wave
Intertidal zone may be broadly classified into three regions
(i) Upper limit: In this area the vegetation was mostly dominated by the
members of Phaeophyceae, namely, Hydroclathrus, Padina, Colpomenia.
This zone becomes totally exposed during low-tide
(ii) Mid region: Consists of most of the back rock pools, 2-5 feet in depth,
substrates rocky, boulders and corals, main macro-algal species are
Halimeda, Caulerpa, Codium, Gelidium, Dictyota,
Location of the Tombola: Cheradiya Island
(iii) Lower limit: extended little beyond 5 feet depth, rocks here are usually
covered with thick growth of Sargassum, Dictyota, Dictyopteris,
Ceramium, Caulerpa, Hypnea
Sub-littoral: Permanently submerged, extends upto 25 feet, light is weak,
plants collected from this zone Sargassum, Hypnea, Dictyota

Coastal distribution
North coast: sandy shore exposed to surf action, only drifted
macroscopic seaweed may be seen fragments of Sargassum, Dictyota,
Hypnea
Eastern coast: littoral areas contains loosely adhered rocky boulders,
sandy beach is mixed with broken shells, shore slip slanting, wave weak,
Hydroclathrus, Colpomenia, Acetabularia, Padina are common
Southern coast: southwestern corner mudy, sandy, slope is flat, scanty
growth of Enteromorpha and Sargassum are abundant
Western coast: made up of compactly stacked boulders, of various size
and shapes, broken shells quartz sands and variety of algal forms,
Hydroclathrus, Ectocarpus, Padina, Caulerpa, Halimeda, Hypnea,
Dictyota, Gelidium are common
BORI
BORI
BORI
BORI
BORI
BORI
BORI
Bangladesh Oceanography Research Institute (BORI), Marine Drive, Cox’s
Bazar, most recently built modern research institutes to carryout research
in the Bay of Bengal of Bangladesh (colored seaweed slides are from the
courtesy of BORI)
 Seaweed Hypnea cornuta (protein content 13.35% dw, growing naturally
and also cultured in a small coral island of Bangladesh named, St. Martins
Island). ~ harvest 1500-2000 MT fw/year, cost in the international market
~200 US $/MT. Caulerpa racemosa is another seaweed having good
prospect (protein content 10.75% dw; Zafar 2004, Islam 1976)
St. Martin’s Island: Boulders made up of oyster shell deposition
Description of Sundarbans

Deltaic tidal mangrove forest occupying the southern parts of the

district Khulna and Patuakhali of Bangladesh (21º 30’ N and 22º 30’,
89º and 90º E, MSL 5-10 feet

Soil silty clay loam of recent geological origin, no rock

Ecology
1. Drifted detached forms: Enteromorpha, occasionally Rhizoclonium,
Chaetomorpha
2. Benthic forms attached to littoral muddy shores: Boodliopsis,
Vaucheria, Colpomenia, Cladophorella
3. Benthic forms attached to pneumatophores: Catenella, Caloglossa,
Pterosiphonia
Euryhaline benthic marine algae are negligible because of muddy
shoreline and less salinity
Adaptive features of breathing roots or pneumatophores
Algae of the Sundarbans, Catenella nipae, Caloglossa adnata
General comment
To speak about the macroscopic algal communities or seaweeds of the
Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh it could be said that the community
supports a great diversity of more than 200 species particularly in the St.
Martin’s Island and the adjacent areas. The flora was explored more than
40 years back (Islam 1976) but until recently we could not establish the
utility of this resource. Not much progress has been observed in the
exploration of the seaweed community. The hopes now have been
enlightened because of the interests taken by the present government.
Legal occupation on more areas of the Bay of Bengal by Bangladesh and
the establishment of more new university departments for Oceanographic
research and education has opened a new era of marine research.
Establishment of BORI is another gigantic step for the GoB in the
progress of marine research. But to carry out quality research as well as
exploration of the sea resources the need of having an Oceanic Research
Vessel can not be overruled.