Endemic Fauna of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Bay of Bengal

Habitat : Deep sea bottom.
Distribution : India : Andaman Islands.
Status : Information deficient.
Habitat : Marine areas.
Distribution : India : Andaman Islands.
Status : Information deficient.
Insects
Class : Pycnogonida
Order : Pentapoda
Family : NYMPHONIDAE
1. Nymphon andamanensis Calman
The long isolation of Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the Indian sub-continent
has resulted in high endemism particularly in terrestrial faunal elements. Due to the sea
barrier, the distribution of fauna in these islands varies from island to island. Some species
are restricted to certain areas in Andaman’s, some to Nicobar, while others are common to
both the group of islands. Sometimes, a species is even confined to a particular island. These
islands with 0.25% of the geographical area of India harbor about 4.2% of all known species
of insects in the country. Presently, 2506 species of 1552 genera under 20 orders of insects
have been recorded, of which 604 species/subspecies (24%) are endemic to these islands
(Table.2). At species level endemism is being recorded highest, in Trichoptera (70.8 %) and
least in Blattaria (6.6%) percent, while in sub-species level, more than 70% endemism is
recorded among the butterflies. Out of the 604 endemics, 68% restricted to Andman group,
26% to Nicobar group and only 6% common to both the island groups. The study indicates
that the endemism may be more if the species are studied up to subspecies level with the
molecular techniques.
145