BACTERIA IN THE INSHORE ENVIRONMENT AT MANDAPAM

Abstract

INVESTIGATIONS by marine bacteriologists during the course of the last seventy
years in different parts of the world have shown the existence of a biochemically
versatile bacterial flora autochthonous to the marine environment.
Marine bacteriological studies have been carried out mostly with
the view to understanding the role of bacteria in the economy and ecology
of the sea, though considerable data on bacteria from marine sources have
also been published as a result of studies relating to marine fish spoilage.
The extensive literature on marine bacteria, however, contains few records
of observations made over any considerable period in any one area of the
ocean. Changes occurring in the magnitude and nature of the bacterial
population of the sea in relation to the seasons and to other factors such
as the abundance and composition of the planktonic organisms present, can
be evaluated only through observations over a long duration.