Expeditions visiting the archipelago at the end of the 19th century and the first half
of the 20th include the Challenger, Travaillerur and Talisman, Princesse Alice,
Michael Sars, The Java-Sud Africa Expedition. As an example, Barrois (1888)
studied the echinoderm faunas of Azores and Madeira and made comparisons with
faunas from Canary Islands and Cabo Verde. Mortensen (1943) provided one of
the first references on echinoderms of the Canaries where he refers to the presence
of long-spined black sea urchins during his visit to Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) at
the beginning of 1930s. Reports from other foreign naturalists also emphasized,
several decades ago, large densities of this sea urchin in the shallow rocky subtidal
of the Canaries (Johnston 1969). This sea urchin (misidentified as Centrostephanus
longispinus) was even pointed out as ‘‘guilty’’ of the lack of algae in the rocky
subtidal through overgrazing (Johnston 1969).
15.2.2 1980s and 1990s-Establishing the Taxonomic Baselines
and the First Bionomical, Biogeographical and Ethological
Approaches
The first studies carried out by researchers from institutions on the Canary Islands
to describe the species composition of the echinoderm fauna are from the early
1980s. A team from the University of La Laguna, led by J.J. Bacallado, implemented the research projects Bentos I and Bentos II (Bacallado et al. 1982). These
works focused on the collection, identification and taxonomic description of the
main animal groups of the marine bottoms of the Canary Islands, including
echinoderms (Bacallado et al. 1984, 1985). As a result of these projects the original checklist was improved (Bacallado et al. 1988).
The Bentos project was the base for studies on holothurians (Pérez-Ruzafa
1984, 1984a, b; Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1985a, b, 1992a, b; Pérez-Ruzafa and Marcos
1987), including their spatial distribution (Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1984a), biogeographical relationships (Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1984b; Pérez-Ruzafa and Marcos
1987) and behavior (Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1987). A morphological description of
spines for eight common species of echinoids was published by Moreno-Batet
et al. (1980). Of particular relevance for echinoids, was the publication of a
monograph on the main biological characteristics of Diadema africana (Bacallado
et al. 1987). This work reinforced previous observations of this research group
(Brito et al. 1984) on the important role this sea urchin seemed to play in the
structure and organization of shallow rocky bottoms of the archipelago. Importantly, this environmental issue took on a social dimension with the publication of
the book by Aguilera et al. (1994) about environmental sustainability of the
Canaries. These documents constituted the baseline on which subsequent works
were carried out, including taxonomic revisions and additions to all classes of
echinoderms.
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J. C. Hernández et al.
of the 20th include the Challenger, Travaillerur and Talisman, Princesse Alice,
Michael Sars, The Java-Sud Africa Expedition. As an example, Barrois (1888)
studied the echinoderm faunas of Azores and Madeira and made comparisons with
faunas from Canary Islands and Cabo Verde. Mortensen (1943) provided one of
the first references on echinoderms of the Canaries where he refers to the presence
of long-spined black sea urchins during his visit to Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) at
the beginning of 1930s. Reports from other foreign naturalists also emphasized,
several decades ago, large densities of this sea urchin in the shallow rocky subtidal
of the Canaries (Johnston 1969). This sea urchin (misidentified as Centrostephanus
longispinus) was even pointed out as ‘‘guilty’’ of the lack of algae in the rocky
subtidal through overgrazing (Johnston 1969).
15.2.2 1980s and 1990s-Establishing the Taxonomic Baselines
and the First Bionomical, Biogeographical and Ethological
Approaches
The first studies carried out by researchers from institutions on the Canary Islands
to describe the species composition of the echinoderm fauna are from the early
1980s. A team from the University of La Laguna, led by J.J. Bacallado, implemented the research projects Bentos I and Bentos II (Bacallado et al. 1982). These
works focused on the collection, identification and taxonomic description of the
main animal groups of the marine bottoms of the Canary Islands, including
echinoderms (Bacallado et al. 1984, 1985). As a result of these projects the original checklist was improved (Bacallado et al. 1988).
The Bentos project was the base for studies on holothurians (Pérez-Ruzafa
1984, 1984a, b; Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1985a, b, 1992a, b; Pérez-Ruzafa and Marcos
1987), including their spatial distribution (Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1984a), biogeographical relationships (Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1984b; Pérez-Ruzafa and Marcos
1987) and behavior (Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1987). A morphological description of
spines for eight common species of echinoids was published by Moreno-Batet
et al. (1980). Of particular relevance for echinoids, was the publication of a
monograph on the main biological characteristics of Diadema africana (Bacallado
et al. 1987). This work reinforced previous observations of this research group
(Brito et al. 1984) on the important role this sea urchin seemed to play in the
structure and organization of shallow rocky bottoms of the archipelago. Importantly, this environmental issue took on a social dimension with the publication of
the book by Aguilera et al. (1994) about environmental sustainability of the
Canaries. These documents constituted the baseline on which subsequent works
were carried out, including taxonomic revisions and additions to all classes of
echinoderms.
480
J. C. Hernández et al.