21,069,501 km
2 , and according to the Sea around Us project. It possesses
17,010,693 km
2 of exclusive economic zones and 2,706,433 km
2 of shelf area
(www.seaaroundus.org). LA is a megadiverse region, including six of the 17
megadiverse countries around the world: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru
and Venezuela (Michán and Llorente-Bousquets 2010). However, scientific production in terms of science and engineering is considerably lower (3.2 %) in 2000
than in the United States and Canada (36.7 %) (Hermes-Lima et al. 2007).
This book presents a change in the research paradigm of echinoderms in this
region. It gives an exhaustive review of all studies that has been done. All chapters
have been written by local scientists. It compiles reports, thesis, and papers in
regional and international journals. John Pearse (personal communication) noted
that the common opinion that the echinoderms knowledge in LA was ‘‘scarce with
information often fragmented, but quite the contrary, showing that there is an
impressive amount of work’’. Until today the greatest regional reviews about
echinoderms were the compilation by Linda Yvonne Maluf (1988) on composition
and distribution along the Eastern Pacific and the masterpiece presented by Clark
and Downey (1992) about taxonomy and distribution of the starfishes of the
Atlantic. The contribution by Hendler et al. (1995) about the echinoderms in the
Caribbean Sea not only compiled taxonomic and distribution information, but also
provided ecological data and high quality pictures of the species and their identifiable features.
This book is divided in 16 chapters (including this one) and two taxonomic lists
(Appendix) (one from the Pacific Ocean and one from the Caribbean Sea and
Atlantic Ocean including the Canary Islands) with information about presence/
absence, bathymetric range and the type of habitat or substrate where the species
have been found. These taxonomic lists were built following the criteria of Clark
(1931, 1947) for Crinoidea; Clark (1989, 1993, 1996), Clark and Downey (1992),
Clark and Mah (1999) for Asteroidea; Matsumoto (1915), Stöhr and O’Hara
(2007) for Ophiuroidea; Smith (1984) for Echinoidea and Panning (1929, 1934a,b,
1935), Pawson and Fell (1965) for Holothuroidea. The World Register of Marine
Species (Appeltans et al. 2011) was also consulted for all species. From those
taxonomic lists we present only the species that are fully identified, avoiding the
presence of ‘‘sp.’’ reports. However, in each chapter the authors included ‘‘sp.’’
reports in their species numbers. Fourteen chapters deal with studies done in
countries, regions or islands (Fig. 1.1): Mexico, Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) and Panama, Colombia,
Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, Hispaniola Island
(Haiti and Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands. The final
chapter has a biogeographical and diversity analysis of the two taxonomic lists.
Unfortunately a chapter about Chilean Echinoderms could not be included in this
book, but the Pacific taxonomic list includes all the species present in that country
plus Easter Island.
Each country chapter contains six sections. 1. An introduction with a brief
description of: the marine environments, length of the coast, continental shelf area
and oceanographic conditions. 2. A historic account of the investigations that have
2
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín
2 , and according to the Sea around Us project. It possesses
17,010,693 km
2 of exclusive economic zones and 2,706,433 km
2 of shelf area
(www.seaaroundus.org). LA is a megadiverse region, including six of the 17
megadiverse countries around the world: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru
and Venezuela (Michán and Llorente-Bousquets 2010). However, scientific production in terms of science and engineering is considerably lower (3.2 %) in 2000
than in the United States and Canada (36.7 %) (Hermes-Lima et al. 2007).
This book presents a change in the research paradigm of echinoderms in this
region. It gives an exhaustive review of all studies that has been done. All chapters
have been written by local scientists. It compiles reports, thesis, and papers in
regional and international journals. John Pearse (personal communication) noted
that the common opinion that the echinoderms knowledge in LA was ‘‘scarce with
information often fragmented, but quite the contrary, showing that there is an
impressive amount of work’’. Until today the greatest regional reviews about
echinoderms were the compilation by Linda Yvonne Maluf (1988) on composition
and distribution along the Eastern Pacific and the masterpiece presented by Clark
and Downey (1992) about taxonomy and distribution of the starfishes of the
Atlantic. The contribution by Hendler et al. (1995) about the echinoderms in the
Caribbean Sea not only compiled taxonomic and distribution information, but also
provided ecological data and high quality pictures of the species and their identifiable features.
This book is divided in 16 chapters (including this one) and two taxonomic lists
(Appendix) (one from the Pacific Ocean and one from the Caribbean Sea and
Atlantic Ocean including the Canary Islands) with information about presence/
absence, bathymetric range and the type of habitat or substrate where the species
have been found. These taxonomic lists were built following the criteria of Clark
(1931, 1947) for Crinoidea; Clark (1989, 1993, 1996), Clark and Downey (1992),
Clark and Mah (1999) for Asteroidea; Matsumoto (1915), Stöhr and O’Hara
(2007) for Ophiuroidea; Smith (1984) for Echinoidea and Panning (1929, 1934a,b,
1935), Pawson and Fell (1965) for Holothuroidea. The World Register of Marine
Species (Appeltans et al. 2011) was also consulted for all species. From those
taxonomic lists we present only the species that are fully identified, avoiding the
presence of ‘‘sp.’’ reports. However, in each chapter the authors included ‘‘sp.’’
reports in their species numbers. Fourteen chapters deal with studies done in
countries, regions or islands (Fig. 1.1): Mexico, Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) and Panama, Colombia,
Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, Hispaniola Island
(Haiti and Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands. The final
chapter has a biogeographical and diversity analysis of the two taxonomic lists.
Unfortunately a chapter about Chilean Echinoderms could not be included in this
book, but the Pacific taxonomic list includes all the species present in that country
plus Easter Island.
Each country chapter contains six sections. 1. An introduction with a brief
description of: the marine environments, length of the coast, continental shelf area
and oceanographic conditions. 2. A historic account of the investigations that have
2
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín