First report of fossil dinoflagellates from the west coast of India and some observations

Fossil dinoflagellates are reported for the first time from the west coast of India. These are recovered from two cores collected from the offshore of Mangalore. Spiniferites pachydermus is the dominant Species in both the cores. Spiniferites mirabilis is abundant in the surface samples while Operculodinium centrocarpum is constrained to certain depths of the core only and Lingulodinium machaerophorum is restricted to the near shore core, Spiniferites bentorii, S. ramosus and Tuberculodinium vancampoae are restricted to offshore core.