Diatoms are unicellular photosynthetic algae which constitute the most important and dominant fraction of marine phytoplankton. They are primary producers forming the basic link in the marine pelagic food chain. They also help mitigate the global warming effect through sequestering the green house gases. The planktonic diatoms of the N. Arabian Sea bordering Pakistan, which is characterized by very high primary productivity due to monsoonal upwelling, has long been neglected by marine biologists. The present study deals with taxonomy and ecology of centric diatoms of the area. As many as 79...