On a Collection of Shallow-Water Echinoderms of Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, Southern India

Echinoderms are exclusively marine and are widely distributed in benthic habitats from the intertidal zone to the deep sea. They are fascinating and enigmatic marine creatures and they include spiny skinned animals like starfishes, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They live among corals and occur from supra-littoral to the hadal zone. They inhabit the rocky, sandy, muddy and mangrove areas. About 6000 living species of echinoderms have been described, of which more than 1000 have been listed for the Indo-West Pacific (Guille et al., 1986).