New Records and Range Extensions of Some Marine Sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae and Homoscleromorpha) from the Andaman Islands, India; Part of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.

The present study reports seven new records of marine sponges from the Andaman Islands, India. Among them, six species are from the Class Demospongiae and one is from the Class Homoscleromorpha. These seven species were earlier recorded from Australian and South-east Asian regions and islands in the Indian Ocean. The current study documents the range extension of these sponges and highlights the importance of filling the gaps in distributional patterns (Wallacean shortfall). Out of the seven species, four species are reported here, from the Indian waters, for the first time.