Scientists have recorded four species of azooxanthellate corals for the first time from Indian waters. These new corals were found from the waters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of plankton. These groups of corals are deep-sea representatives, with the majority of species reporting from between 200 m to 1000 m. Their occurrences are also reported from shallow coastal waters.
Zooxanthellate corals, meanwhile, are restricted to shallow waters.
The details of the new records have been published in Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences in a paper titled Zoogeographic Range Extension of Four Species of Flabellid Corals Under the Genus Truncatoflabellum (Scleractinian: Flabellidae) From Indian Waters.
