Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, California Academy of
Sciences Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of
Natural History, The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Benthic Invertebrate
Collection), France (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle), Germany (Museum
für Naturkunde) and Denmark (Zoologisk Museum-Staten Naturistorike Museum).
However the Coleccción Nacional de Equinodermos Ma. Elena Caso Muñoz at the
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma of
Mexico, holds one of the largest collection of Latin American specimens with
more than 81,000.
During the last three decades each country has set its own path, being specialized in one or two areas. The common line of research is basic ecology
(distribution, population sizes, and diversity) and taxonomy. However some
countries stand out in particular lines of research: physiology (Puerto Rico and
Argentina), larval development (Venezuela and Mexico), aquaculture (Venezuela,
Mexico, Brazil), fisheries (Mexico), evolution (Panama), biogeography (Panama,
Mexico), paleontology (Mexico, Uruguay), reproduction (Panama, Mexico,
Brazil) and secondary metabolites (Argentina). Most of the research has focused
on the Echinoidea and Asteroidea, with very few works on Crinoidea. This last
class needs an increased research effort. Regular echinoids have taken much of the
attention. Among them is the genus Diadema, due to the massive die-offs of
D. antillarum in the Caribbean, the barrens grounds produce by over populations
of this species on the Canary Islands, and the predominance along the coral reefs
of the Eastern Tropical Pacific of D. mexicanum with differential bioerosives
impacts depending on its abundance. There is a need to increase the research on
echinoderms in Uruguay, Central America, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and
Peru. It is also necessary to develop taxonomical, ecological (i.e. behavior,
predation), physiological and development studies. It is essential to improve
research in the Ophiuroidea and Holothuroidea.
On the other hand, most of the threats to echinoderms and their needs are
shared. The most common threats are bad coastal planning, sedimentation, coastal
pollution, illegal extraction, inefficient fisheries management, overfishing of
predators, lack of protection, lack of baselines studies before the establishment of a
sea cucumber fishery, lack of resources and lack of taxonomists. It is extremely
urgent to support fishery practices with basic ecological studies, to understand the
biology and ecology of each species before the establishment of an extraction
activity or quota.
A great part of the research that has been done in LA can be found in BSc.,
‘‘Licenciatura’’, MSc. and PhD thesis. Some are regional and national reports or
abstracts of projects that have not had international distribution. The majority of
those publications are in Spanish, and published in regional journals like Acta
Científica Venezolana, Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Ciencias
Marinas, Gayana Zoológica, Hidrobiológica, Océanides, Revista de Biología
Marina y Oceanografía, Revista de Biología Tropical and Revista Ciencia y Mar.
Many publications are in journals of museums or research centers (e.g. Revista del
Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘‘Bernardino Rivadavia, Anales del
6
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín
Sciences Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of
Natural History, The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Benthic Invertebrate
Collection), France (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle), Germany (Museum
für Naturkunde) and Denmark (Zoologisk Museum-Staten Naturistorike Museum).
However the Coleccción Nacional de Equinodermos Ma. Elena Caso Muñoz at the
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma of
Mexico, holds one of the largest collection of Latin American specimens with
more than 81,000.
During the last three decades each country has set its own path, being specialized in one or two areas. The common line of research is basic ecology
(distribution, population sizes, and diversity) and taxonomy. However some
countries stand out in particular lines of research: physiology (Puerto Rico and
Argentina), larval development (Venezuela and Mexico), aquaculture (Venezuela,
Mexico, Brazil), fisheries (Mexico), evolution (Panama), biogeography (Panama,
Mexico), paleontology (Mexico, Uruguay), reproduction (Panama, Mexico,
Brazil) and secondary metabolites (Argentina). Most of the research has focused
on the Echinoidea and Asteroidea, with very few works on Crinoidea. This last
class needs an increased research effort. Regular echinoids have taken much of the
attention. Among them is the genus Diadema, due to the massive die-offs of
D. antillarum in the Caribbean, the barrens grounds produce by over populations
of this species on the Canary Islands, and the predominance along the coral reefs
of the Eastern Tropical Pacific of D. mexicanum with differential bioerosives
impacts depending on its abundance. There is a need to increase the research on
echinoderms in Uruguay, Central America, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and
Peru. It is also necessary to develop taxonomical, ecological (i.e. behavior,
predation), physiological and development studies. It is essential to improve
research in the Ophiuroidea and Holothuroidea.
On the other hand, most of the threats to echinoderms and their needs are
shared. The most common threats are bad coastal planning, sedimentation, coastal
pollution, illegal extraction, inefficient fisheries management, overfishing of
predators, lack of protection, lack of baselines studies before the establishment of a
sea cucumber fishery, lack of resources and lack of taxonomists. It is extremely
urgent to support fishery practices with basic ecological studies, to understand the
biology and ecology of each species before the establishment of an extraction
activity or quota.
A great part of the research that has been done in LA can be found in BSc.,
‘‘Licenciatura’’, MSc. and PhD thesis. Some are regional and national reports or
abstracts of projects that have not had international distribution. The majority of
those publications are in Spanish, and published in regional journals like Acta
Científica Venezolana, Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Ciencias
Marinas, Gayana Zoológica, Hidrobiológica, Océanides, Revista de Biología
Marina y Oceanografía, Revista de Biología Tropical and Revista Ciencia y Mar.
Many publications are in journals of museums or research centers (e.g. Revista del
Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘‘Bernardino Rivadavia, Anales del
6
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín