Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.Author Details: DR. G. SUBHADRA DEVI is a Reader at the Carmel College for Women in Goa, India and teaches Zoology. She is interested in marine biodiversity and is currently working on foraminifera in the coral reefs of Lakshdweep archipelago.

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Environmental conditions are known to influence foraminiferal assemblages and their diversity. Seasonal fluctuations however, are not well studied in tropical intertidal habitats. The southern West Coast of India has narrow coastal plains bordered on the east by the Western Ghats, which rise to an average height of 900m above sea level. This generates monsoon precipitation from southwesterly winds that last for about four months beginning in the first week of June. Due to a steep gradient of the Western Ghats numerous swift-flowing rivers course through a highly productive region that includes the coastal plains and they traverse a distance of about 60 km before reaching the sea. They provide large inputs of various micro-and macro-nutrients. The monsoons thus considerably alter the hydrobiologic profile of the Arabian Sea. Thus the West Coast of India provides an interesting region for study of correlation of monsoon and foraminiferal diversity. It is all the more significant as paleomonsoon data are often interpreted from proxy foraminifera.In the present investigation, seasonal variations in diversity and abundance of total foraminiferal populations (TFN) were studied at an estuarine (River Sal) and a non-estuarine site (Utorda) along the coast of Goa, India, between October 2004 to September 2005. The observations were correlated with various parameters such as sediment texture, organic matter, calcium carbonate, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, calcium, silicate and phosphate content. Quantitative analyses of all samples were carried out by following standard methods and biodiversity indices were calculated.At the estuary, lesser diversity of foraminifera represented by 25 species (23 benthic and 2 planktonic species) belonging to 15 genera, 9 families and 2 sub-orders were found. In contrast, 55 foraminiferal species (51 benthic and 4 planktonic species) were recorded at a non-estuarine site. They belong to 25 genera, 11 families and 4 sub-orders. Spiroloculina tricarinata, Quinqueloculina vulgaris Rotallidium annectans, Rotallinoides papillosus, Ammonia beccarii, A.dentata, Elphidium discoidale, Amphistegina radiata, Anuário do Instituto de Geociências -UFRJ