Qualifications: Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Oceanography, Annamalai University, 2020

Email: titus@dakshin.org

Profile: Titus grew up on the outskirts of Chennai, spending much of his childhood having a fascination for observing animals and their behaviour. His fascination with marine life grew stronger while pursuing his Master’s degree in the Andaman Islands, where he was first introduced to coral reefs. Since then, he has worked extensively in the coral reef habitats of both the Andaman and Lakshadweep Islands, focusing on biodiversity documentation and reef health monitoring.

For his doctoral research, Titus studied the diversity of sponges in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, documenting several new locational records. His work has focused on reef ecology, particularly on understanding connectivity patterns among coral reef systems in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands through oceanographic and hydrodynamic modelling. He is also interested in exploring competitive interactions between corals and sponges, and their implications for reef health and resilience.

Titus previously taught Zoology at Madras Christian College, Chennai, an experience that strongly reinforced his love for teaching. His current role at Dakshin allows him to bring together his passion for research, fieldwork, and mentoring young and aspiring marine biologists.

Journal articles:

• Das, R. R., Immanuel, T., Lakra, R. K., Baath, K., & Thiruchitrambalam, G. (2022). First report of marine sponge Chelonaplysilla delicata (Demospongiae: Darwinellidae) from the Andaman Sea/Indian Ocean with baseline information of epifauna on a mesophotic shipwreck. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 14(10), 21961–21967.
• Muthiyan, R., Mahanta, N., Nambikkairaj, B., Immanuel, T., & De, A. K. (2018). Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of a methanol extract from the marine sponge Hyrtios erectus. Pharmacognosy Magazine, 14, 534–540.
• Muthiyan, R., Nambikkairaj, B., Mahanta, N., Immanuel, T., Mandal, R. S., Kumaran, K., &De, A. K. (2017). Antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities of marine sponge Hyrtios erectus extract on breast carcinoma cell line (MCF-7). Pharmacognosy Magazine, 13(Suppl.1), S41–S47. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1296.203983

Please reach out to Titus to find more of his publications.