Marine sediment _Tardigrade Metagenomic assembly. Marine sediment _SE coast TN

The scientific exploration of marine meiofaunal organisms with special emphasis to phylum Tardigrada was performed. Among the diversified meiofauna, tardigrades are poorly studied phylum in India. Several species of marine interstitial tardigrades have been described in recent years from different parts of the world, but records of tardigrades from Indian habitat are limited with only six studies primarily from the eastern part of the Indian Ocean. Thus, the metagenomic approach towards meiofaunal diversity study was carried out in order to facilitate and promote studies on Indian marine tardigrades.