Chapter 5
Echinoderms of Colombia
Milena Benavides-Serrato, Giomar Helena Borrero-Pérez,
Jaime R. Cantera K, Mishal Cohen-Rengifo and Raúl Neira
5.1 Introduction
Colombia, together with Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico, shares a privileged
position at the top of the list of countries with the highest species richness in the
world, the so called megadiverse countries (IAvH 1998a, b). However, this reputation is based upon the relatively well documented diversity of terrestrial biota
such as orchids, amphibians, birds, mammals, and butterflies (Andrade et al.
1992). Biodiversity in Colombia is related to the high diversity of habitats that
occur on the mainland. Close to half of the country is covered by the Amazon
River system and the Orinoco savannas. The Andes Mountains are separated into
three ranges, and drainage from the Magdalena and Cauca River basins forms the
wetlands of the Caribbean and feeds the tropical dry forest ecosystems.
M. Benavides-Serrato (&) Á G. H. Borrero-Pérez
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras—INVEMAR, A.A 1016,
Santa Marta, Colombia
e-mail: milena_benavides@invemar.org.co
G. H. Borrero-Pérez
e-mail: giomar_borrero@invemar.org.co
J. R. Cantera K Á R. Neira
Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, A.A. 25360, Cali, Colombia
e-mail: jaime.cantera@correounivalle.edu.co
R. Neira
e-mail: rneira56@yahoo.com
M. Cohen-Rengifo
Centre d’Oceanologie de Marseille, Université de la Méditerranée,
Marseille Cedex, France
e-mail: ablocsberg@gmail.com
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín (eds.), Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_5,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
145
Echinoderms of Colombia
Milena Benavides-Serrato, Giomar Helena Borrero-Pérez,
Jaime R. Cantera K, Mishal Cohen-Rengifo and Raúl Neira
5.1 Introduction
Colombia, together with Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico, shares a privileged
position at the top of the list of countries with the highest species richness in the
world, the so called megadiverse countries (IAvH 1998a, b). However, this reputation is based upon the relatively well documented diversity of terrestrial biota
such as orchids, amphibians, birds, mammals, and butterflies (Andrade et al.
1992). Biodiversity in Colombia is related to the high diversity of habitats that
occur on the mainland. Close to half of the country is covered by the Amazon
River system and the Orinoco savannas. The Andes Mountains are separated into
three ranges, and drainage from the Magdalena and Cauca River basins forms the
wetlands of the Caribbean and feeds the tropical dry forest ecosystems.
M. Benavides-Serrato (&) Á G. H. Borrero-Pérez
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras—INVEMAR, A.A 1016,
Santa Marta, Colombia
e-mail: milena_benavides@invemar.org.co
G. H. Borrero-Pérez
e-mail: giomar_borrero@invemar.org.co
J. R. Cantera K Á R. Neira
Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, A.A. 25360, Cali, Colombia
e-mail: jaime.cantera@correounivalle.edu.co
R. Neira
e-mail: rneira56@yahoo.com
M. Cohen-Rengifo
Centre d’Oceanologie de Marseille, Université de la Méditerranée,
Marseille Cedex, France
e-mail: ablocsberg@gmail.com
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín (eds.), Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_5,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
145