Checklist of Intertidal Organisms of Dana Pani Beach, Mumbai Suburban, Maharashtra, India

Dana Pani Beach is located in Malad West, Mumbai Suburban, Maharashtra at 19°10'10.88"N Latitude and 72°47'18.20"E Longitude. There is very scanty research data available on this beach location. The study was conducted from March 2022 to June 2023. The beach is a tourist place and fishery activities are also carried out which had a heavy impact on the site due to constant anthropogenic interruption. This is a tentative checklist of intertidal flora and fauna to investigate the diversity vis-à-vis environmental and/or anthropogenic devastation caused to the habitat. The species identification was carried out by referencing through respective field guides The specimens were carried out using DSLR and smartphone camera. and different online repositories based on marine faunal and flora. The Intertidal species with the ability to withstand such vagaries (littering the place with broken glasses of alcohol bottles, immersion of idols, and littering plastic bags) were found in abundance. Two marine algal populations in abundance were observed to be Ulva and Gracillaria. The mangrove community was dominated by Avicennia marina and Sonneratia apetala. Anthozoans and Polychaetes showed the lowest diversity when compared with other groups of organisms. The bird population was most abundant within the habitat. In order of abundance, the animal population was represented by 20% Aves = 17% Malacostraca = 17% Gastropods > 9% Teleostei > 5% Bivalvia > 4% Hydrozoa > 2% Anthozoans = 2% Hexanauplia = 2% Polychaetes > 1% Cephalopoda > 1% Hexapoda From the study, it can be concluded that the rocky shore is quite diverse in terms of gastropods, crabs, and green algae in comparison to the sandy shore and mudflat. In totality, 82 faunal and floral species were observed at the site. This checklist is the promising baseline for future studies on this site for the biodiversity of specific animal groups or intertidal ecology.