CMFRI Aquarium in rameswaram – Get enthralled with the rich diversity of marine life

_{Mandapam Regional Centre of CMFRI}

(Average 4.5 of 3 Ratings)

Looking at the calm, serene, shallow, unpolluted seawater of the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar you would definitely start to wonder about our embracing nature.

This very feeling along with the biological significance of the area was an ideal background for carrying out Research and Development on marine fisheries which also houses an exquisite aquarium to enthral the tourists coming to the town of rameshwaram.

The Mandapam Regional Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute at Mandapam Camp has evolved from this thought .This Regional centre of CMFRI is one of the Premier Institutions for R&D in the field of Marine Fisheries Research and is an centre of its kind among the other establishments under Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. It is located on a serene picturesque ,a elevated sand dune spread over 84 acres near the Palk Bay in the north and Gulf of Mannar in the south.

The institute one of the largest in India is doing a lot of pioneering work in done in this institute to raise Indian fisheries to universal standards. A visit to the marine aquarium which houses a variety of colourful fish and other organisms will sure catch your attention in a moment. Although you would have heard a lot about cage fisheries a practical experience must be a quite mesmerizing. The aquarium houses large tanks of commercial marine fingerlings which are being preserved for breeding .The museum which contains a large variety of preserved marine specimens is truly out of this world. The marine museum of this centre is one of the biggest in Southeast Asia.

It houses an enormous collection of fishes and other fauna and flora of economic and zoological

Importance from the seas around India which includes Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands.

In the museum there are about 1100 species of fishes, 152 sponges,180 corals, 200 tube dwelling worms, 220 crabs and hermit crabs, 125 prawns stomatopods and 370 sea shells that are displayed or exhibited in the museum. This is not it. The Aquarium of the CMFRI institute houses an all glass aquarium with running seawater facility is available to maintain different species of live ornamental fishes, coelenterates, crustaceans and molluscs. Outdoor cement tanks are available In this institute for the maintenance of turtles and other marine animals.

With such rich marine life ,A beautiful Aquarium and excellent R&D facilities the Mandapam Regional Centre of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is all set to emerge as an International centre of excellence in mariculture.

So, if you need to enthral yourself with the richness of marine life the Mandapam CMFRI Aquarium is the perfect destination.

The following endangered special live marine species are available: