Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the gastropod diversity is high, due to the majority of shores are rocky. The wet rocky shore promotes algal growth, which is ultimate for feeding ground for gastropod growth and development leading to more diversity. The global warming, anthropogenic activities, industrial and domestic pollution, etc., have accelerated the loss of coastal and marine biodiversity components over the last few decades which has been of great concern. However, except global warming, the other factors were of least concern with reference to Andaman and Nicobar Islands biodiversity due to a pristine environment. Therefore, exploration of biodiversity in these islands is essential to create a baseline data for record and future research. Four locations of south to north Andaman Islands which represented Carbyns Cove from south Andaman, Rangat and Mayabunder from the Middle Andaman and Diglipur from the North Andaman were selected for this study. Gastropoda species were collected for a period of one year in three prevailing seasons of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They are South West Monsoon (SW monsoon), North East Monsoon (NE Monsoon) and Non Rainy Seasons (NR Seasons). The present study of gastropods distribution in the South, Middle and North Andaman groups of Islands suggested that there are 71 species belonging to 52 genus and 33 families. At any one of the time and any one of the locations, only one occurrence was noticed for 38 species and remaining 33 species were overlapping with respect to stations and seasons. Evaluation of the cluster suggested that Cluster A (NR season in Carbyns Cove) and Cluster B (NE and SW Monsoon in Mayabunder) as a separate entity among the 12 combinations of stations and seasons due to their species representation. It How to cite this paper:

Kinorhyncha is exclusively marine, holobenthic, free-living, meiofaunal species found in all marine habitats in the world. However, information on geographical distribution and taxonomical distributional status of Kinorhyncha are needed further understanding. This research article presents a compiled, up-to-date checklist of the Phylum Kinorhyncha based on bibliographical survey and revision of taxon names. Present checklist of this phylum comprises 271 species belonging to 30 genera and 13 families. The families are distributed under three orders, Echinorhagata Sørensen et al. 2015, Kentrorhagata Sørensen et al. 2015, Xenosomata Zelinka, 1907. Among the 271 valid species, in the last five years 82 new species emerged, two new orders and three families were described. It also includes nine new genera. This checklist could serve as a valuable tool to encourage comparison of inter and intra-regional research on Kinorhyncha as well as it can be used as baseline data for future taxonomical revision.

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