A note on the occurrence and feeding habits of noctiluca and their effects on the plankton community and fisheries

Noctiluca miliaris (Suriray) are widely distributed in the tropical and temperate seas and under favourable conditions they rapidly reproduce by binary fission resulting in the production of great masses of individuals particularly in the inshore waters. The countless numbers thus produced, by their accumulation, impart a reddish, pinkish or greenish (if the Noctiluca have the green flagellates in them) colour to the surface waters. There are several reports of such swarming from various parts of the world but except in a few instances the mere swarming of these does not seem to have caused any widespread mortality of the marine fauna