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leaving little trace of their existence". Explosives are also used for catching fish in some areas.PILLAI (op cif) also reported large scale destruction of corals at Mandapam in the Gulf of Mannar dueto siltation.Laccadive ArchipelagoThis archipelago is composed of 14 atolls with two sand cays, Cherbaniani Reef andBeleapani Reef (12'18'N, 71'54'E) to the north and Minicoy Atoll (8'30'N, 73'11'E) to the south.Our knowledge of the corals and coral reefs of Laccadives is extremely limited. The reefs were firststudied by OLDMAM (1895) and GARDINER (1903, 1904, 1905). More recently, PILLAI (1971a)worked on a collection of corals from Minicoy Atoll and Chetlat Island (72"40'E, 11°41'N), and theproductivity of the reef in Minicoy Atoll was measured by NAIR and PILLAI (1972).A total of 69 species of hermatypic corals belonging to 26 genera have been recorded from theLaccadives, all of which are known to occur in Minicoy Atoll. Twelve hermatypic corals belonging to10 genera were reported from Chetlat Island; this list, however, is incomplete since no intensivecollections have been made. PILLAI (1971a) suggested that the huge colonies of Diploastrea, whichare fairly common at present but was considered to be rare by GARDINER (1904), have grown in thelast 70 years.Andaman and Nicobar IslandsLittle is known about the corals and distribution of coral communities of the Andaman andNicobar Islands. Only fringing and patch reefs are known to occur in these islands, but very littleinformation is available on the community structure and quality of the reefs. Whatever knowledge wehave comes from the early work of ALCOCK (1893, 1898) on the deep sea corals around theseislands, SEWELL's (1935) work during the John Murray Expedition (1933-1934), SCHEER's(1971) work on the Nicobars during the second 'Xarifa' Expedition (1957-1958), and MATTAI's(1924) and PILLAI's (1972) studies of corals from the Andaman Island.Fifty-seven species of hermatypic corals from 23 genera and 11 species of ahermatypic coralsbelonging to 8 genera have been reported from the Andaman Island. SCHEER (197 1) listed a total of40 genera of hard corals for the Nicobar Islands. ROSEN (1971) reported that 41 genera ofhermatypic and one genus of ahermatypic corals probably occur in the Nicobar Islands.SRI LANKAAlthough fringing coral reefs dominate much of the coastline of Sri Lanka, the better knownones occur along the northeastern coast near Trincomalee, and the southwestern coast near DondraHead and Hikkaduwa. Information on the Sri Lankan corals and coral communities are almostnon-existant except for the early work by RIDLEY (1883), ORTMANN (1889) and BOURNE (1905)who made extensive collections of corals from Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). RecentlyMERGNER and SCHEER (1974) studied the zonations and ecological conditions of some fringingreefs at Hikkaduwa, on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. Seventy species of hermatypic coralsbelonging to 27 genera and 20 ahermatypic corals belonging to 12 genera have been recorded for SriLanka (PILLAI, 1972).Many workers (DE BRUIN, 1972; DE SILVA, 198 1) have reported on the destruction causedto several coral reef areas in Sri L-anka due to the use of explosives to catch fish, mining of coral formaking lime, catching colourful reef fishes for export, and the feeding activities of the 'Crown ofThorns' starfish (Acanthasterplanci), a notorious predator of corals. Although no quantitativeestimates are available, most known coral reef areas around Sri Lanka have deteriorated rapidly duringthe past two decades. Increasing tourism also is taking its toll on some reef areas such as Hikkaduwa.Existing legislation (the Crown Lands Act, the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, and theFisheries Ordinance) could prevent the degradation of coral resources, but enforcement and politicalconsiderations have been largely ineffective.158