Species groups among pelagic tunicates in the western part of the Bay of Bengal

Abstract

The tunicate species which frequently form part of each other's environment were assorted into groups by the use of an index derived from the corrected geometric mean of joint occurrence of pairs of species following Fager (1957) and Fager and McGowan (1963). The relationships shown in the temperature-salinity-plankton (TSP) diagrams between species and water properties are also used as a basis for classifying the species. Similar relationships have enabled species to be grouped together and consistent differences between one group and another set them apart.