Chapter 13
Recent Echinoderms from Hispaniola
Alejandro Herrera-Moreno and Liliana Betancourt
13.1 Introduction
The Island of Hispaniola is the second largest in the Archipelago of the Greater
Antilles. It is located between 17°36
0 15
00 N and 19°57
0 09
00 N, and 68°19
0 22
00 W and
74°41
0 33
00 W. Its geographical boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the
Caribbean Sea to the south, the Mona Channel to the East, which separates it from
Puerto Rico, and in the West, the Windward Passage and the Jamaica Channel,
which separate it from Cuba and Jamaica, respectively. The 76,480 km
2 of its
territory is divided politically into two countries: Dominican Republic to the east
and the Republic of Haiti in the west, separated by a land border of 360 km.
The Republic of Haiti has a total area of 27,750 km
2 , which includes the
mainland territory plus several islands and islets such as Gonave (743 km
2 ),
Tortue (180 km
2 ), Vache (52 km
2 ), Cayemites (45 km
2 ) and Navassa (5.2 km
2 ).
The Dominican Republic has an area of 48,442 km
2 of mainland in addition to
several islands and islets such as Saona (117 km
2 ), Beata (27 km
2 ) and Catalina
(9.6 km
2 ). Two oceanic banks: Christmas and Silver Banks, with areas of 70 and
150 km
2 respectively, are located to the north of Samana in the Atlantic Ocean.
The coastline of Hispaniola extends for about 3,059 km (1,288 km belong to 16
Dominican coastal provinces and 1,771 km to nine Haitian coastal provinces)
containing ecosystems such as sandy beaches, rocky shores, cliffs, estuaries,
coastal lagoons and mangrove forests. On the Haitian coast important mangroves
areas are reported along the north and northeast coast in the Bays of Fort Liberté,
l’Acul, Caracol, the Artibonite estuary and the Islands Les Cayes, Vache, Gonave
and Cayemite (Ehrlich et al. 1987). Along the Dominican coast the largest areas of
mangroves are found in the Bay of Samaná and Montecristi.
A. Herrera-Moreno (&) Á L. Betancourt
Programa EcoMar, Inc., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
e-mail: ongprogramaecomar@yahoo.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_13,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
425
Recent Echinoderms from Hispaniola
Alejandro Herrera-Moreno and Liliana Betancourt
13.1 Introduction
The Island of Hispaniola is the second largest in the Archipelago of the Greater
Antilles. It is located between 17°36
0 15
00 N and 19°57
0 09
00 N, and 68°19
0 22
00 W and
74°41
0 33
00 W. Its geographical boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the
Caribbean Sea to the south, the Mona Channel to the East, which separates it from
Puerto Rico, and in the West, the Windward Passage and the Jamaica Channel,
which separate it from Cuba and Jamaica, respectively. The 76,480 km
2 of its
territory is divided politically into two countries: Dominican Republic to the east
and the Republic of Haiti in the west, separated by a land border of 360 km.
The Republic of Haiti has a total area of 27,750 km
2 , which includes the
mainland territory plus several islands and islets such as Gonave (743 km
2 ),
Tortue (180 km
2 ), Vache (52 km
2 ), Cayemites (45 km
2 ) and Navassa (5.2 km
2 ).
The Dominican Republic has an area of 48,442 km
2 of mainland in addition to
several islands and islets such as Saona (117 km
2 ), Beata (27 km
2 ) and Catalina
(9.6 km
2 ). Two oceanic banks: Christmas and Silver Banks, with areas of 70 and
150 km
2 respectively, are located to the north of Samana in the Atlantic Ocean.
The coastline of Hispaniola extends for about 3,059 km (1,288 km belong to 16
Dominican coastal provinces and 1,771 km to nine Haitian coastal provinces)
containing ecosystems such as sandy beaches, rocky shores, cliffs, estuaries,
coastal lagoons and mangrove forests. On the Haitian coast important mangroves
areas are reported along the north and northeast coast in the Bays of Fort Liberté,
l’Acul, Caracol, the Artibonite estuary and the Islands Les Cayes, Vache, Gonave
and Cayemite (Ehrlich et al. 1987). Along the Dominican coast the largest areas of
mangroves are found in the Bay of Samaná and Montecristi.
A. Herrera-Moreno (&) Á L. Betancourt
Programa EcoMar, Inc., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
e-mail: ongprogramaecomar@yahoo.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_13,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
425