Diversity of deep-sea echinoderms from Costa Rica

Echinoderms are a highly diverse group and one of the most conspicuous in the deep sea, playing ecological key roles. We present a review about the history of expeditions and studies on deep-sea echinoderms in Costa Rica, including an updated list of species. We used literature and information gathered from the databases of the California Academy of Sciences, the Benthic Invertebrate Collection of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the National Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Museo de Zoología from the Universidad de Costa Rica. A total of 124 taxa (76 confirmed species) have been collected from the Costa Rican deep sea, 112 found in the Pacific Ocean, 13 in the Caribbean Sea, and one species shared between the two basins. We report 22 new records for the Eastern Tropical Pacific, 46 for Central American waters, and 58 for Costa Rica. The most specious group was Ophiuroidea with 37 taxa, followed by Holothuroidea (34 taxa), Asteroidea (23 taxa), Echinoidea (17 taxa), and Crinoidea (11 taxa). The highest number of species (64) was found between 800 m and 1200 m depth. Only two species were found deeper than 3200 m. Further efforts on identification will be required for a better comprehension of the diversity of deep-sea echinoderms. Limited research has been done regarding the biology and ecology of deep-sea echinoderms in Costa Rica, so additional approaches will be necessary to understand their ecological functions.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ecología Tropical (CIBET)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

El arrecife coralino de Punta Cocles, costa Caribe de Costa Rica

This paper describes the Punta Cocles reef (Limón, Costa Rica). Data were obtained by sampling nine transects along the coast and observations done by skin diving between September and November of 2002.This reef consist of 10.5 hectares, where 13 species of corals, 39 of macroalgae, two of seagrasses, two of zoantids, one anemone, one corallimorpharian, and one sponge were identified. Life coral coverage (16%), was higher than in other years (5% for 1985, and 13.2% for 1995), and death coral coverage was very low (0.2%). Macroalgae have the highest coverage (59%), particularly brown algae with a patchy distribution of Sargassum and Padina. Laurencia brongniartii (Rhodophyta) is added to the list of marine flora of Costa Rica. The Punta Cocles reef works as a refuge for organisms, because there are no towns or river mouths nearby, and because of the coast formation. The refuge character is enhanced by the environmental conscience of the people that live close to the reef and help to protect the environment.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Sistema de Estudios de Posgrado::Ciencias Básicas::Maestría Académica en Biologí

Coordinated hunting behaviors of mixed-species groups of piscivores and associated species at Isla del Coco National Park (Eastern Tropical Pacific)

Studies of mixed-species groups of animals can reveal emergent complexities of collective behaviors. In this study we collected data on mixed-species hunting groups composed primarily of piscivorous fishes (species composition, abundance, behavioral interactions) and used both multivariate and network analyses to quantify pair-wise and guild level behavioral relationships. Our results indicate that such collective behaviors exhibit consistent patterns of associations (33 species with 282 pair-wise links within the observed network) with 10 dominant species accounting for 60% of pair-wise interactions. Species richness within groups varied (mean = 2.4, range 2-6 species) as did group size (mean = 8.1 individuals, range 2-80). Mixed-species groups, in general, were composed of species representing morphologically diverse forms that appeared to enhance access to shelter sites and implement diverse strategies for prey capture. It is noteworthy that the composition of groups did not reflect the relative abundances of their component species within the overall community of fishes, suggesting that group membership was an elective choice. The identification of these patterns, assuming they are persistent features of these communities, can be used as a foundation for studies to assess dynamics of mixed-species relationships, rates of predator success based on group membership, demographic consequences, and responses to variations in habitat attributes and associated prey resources. Such information could be used to interpret the nature of multispecies interactions within predator communities and potentially aid in conservation and management.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de BiologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

New record of the starfish Ophidiaster ludwigi (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Pacific of Mexico and Costa Rica

Ophidiaster ludwigi had been reported only from Panama and Peru. Here we add record of the genus and species for Mexico and Costa Rica; and, first time its bathymetric distribution (0-156 m)New record of the starfish Ophidiaster ludwigi(Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Pacific of Mexico and Costa Rica. Ophidiaster ludwigi ha sido registrado solo para Panama y Perú. Aquí nosotros adicionamos registros del género y la especie para México y Costa Rica; y, por la primera vez, distribución batimétrica (0-156 m).UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

Echinoderm diversity of a tropical estuary in the largest river basin of the Costa Rican Pacific, Eastern Tropical Pacific

Echinoderms within the Eastern Tropical Pacific have mainly been studied in association with coral reefs. Investigations on echinoderms associated with soft-bottoms and estuaries are still scarce. The present study reports on the echinoderm species inhabiting the soft-bottom sediments of shallow-brackish waters adjacent to the largest river basin along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Térraba-Sierpe wetland. Nine species were recorded, three of them new records for Costa Rica: Luidia columbia, L. latiradiata, and L. superba. The most common species were L. columbia, Astropecten armatus, A. regalis, and L. latiradiata. This contributes towards current knowledge on the biodiversity of Térraba-Sierpe wetland and should be considered as a baseline upon which to monitor the effects of future impacts on this important mangrove area.Universidad de Costa Rica/[808-B2-524]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[808-B2-540]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de BiologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

Echinoderms from the Museum of Zoology from the Universidad de Costa Rica

El Museo de Zoología de la Universidad de Costa Rica (MZUCR) se funda en 1966 y alberga la colección de organismos vertebrados e invertebrados más completa de Costa Rica. El MZUCR cuenta actualmente con 24 colec-ciones que contienen más de cinco millones de especíme-nes, y más de 13 000 especies identificadas. Las primeras colecciones datan 1960 e incluyen peces, reptiles, anfibios, poliquetos, crustáceos y equinodermos. Para este último grupo, el MZUCR posee un total de 157 especies, en 1 173 lotes y 4 316 ejemplares. Estas 157 especies representan el 54% del total de especies de equinodermos que posee Costa Rica (293 especies). El resto de especies están repar-tidas en las siguientes instituciones: Academia de la Cien-cias de California (CAS) (4.8%), Instituto Oceanográfico Scripps (SIO) (5.2%), en la Colección Nacional de equino-dermos “Dra. Ma. Elena Caso” de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICML-UNAM) (12.7%), Museo de Zoología Comparada de Harvard (MZC) (19.2%), y en el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Instituto Smithso-niano (USNM) (35.1%). Es posible que haya material de Costa Rica en el Museo de Historia Natural de Dinamarca (NCD) y en el Museo de Historia Natural de los Ángeles (LACM), sin embargo, no hubo acceso a dichas coleccio-nes. A su vez hay 9.6% de especies que no aparecen en ningún museo, pero están reportadas en la literatura. Con base en esta revisión de colecciones se actualizó el listado taxonómico de equinodermos para Costa Rica que consta de 293 especies, 152 géneros, 75 familias, 30 órdenes y cinco clases. La costa Pacífica de Costa Rica posee 153 especies, seguida por la isla del Coco con 134 y la costa Caribe con 65. Holothuria resultó ser el género más rico con 25 especies.The Museum of Zoology, Universidad de Costa Rica (MZUCR) was founded in 1966 and houses the most complete collection of vertebrates and invertebrates in Costa Rica. The MZUCR currently has 24 collections containing more than five million specimens, and more than 13 000 species. The earliest collections date back to 1960 and include fishes, reptiles, amphibians, polychaetes, crustaceans and echinoderms. For the latter group, the MZUCR has a total of 157 species, in 1 173 lots and 4 316 specimens. These 157 species represent 54% of the total species of echino-derms from Costa Rica. The remaining species are distributed in the following institutions: California Academy of Sciences (CAS) (4.8%), Scripps Oceanographic Institute (SIO) (5.2%), National Echinoderm Collection “Dr. Ma. Elena Caso” from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (ICML-UNAM) (12.7%), the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute (USNM) (35.1%), and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (19.2%). There may be material from Costa Rica in the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NCD) and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (LACM), however, there was no access to such collections. There are 9.6% that do not appear in museums, but are reported in the literature. Based on this revision, the taxonomic list of echinoderms for Costa Rica is updated to 293 species, 152 genera, 75 families, 30 orders and 5 classes. The Pacific coast of Costa Rica has 153 species, followed by the Isla del Coco with 134 and the Caribbean coast with 65. Holothuria is the most diverse genus with 25 species.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de BiologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Artes y Letras::Museo de la Universidad de Costa Ric

Climate and subsurface sea temperature in Bahía Culebra, Costa Rica

Artículo científico -- Universidad de Costa Rica. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas, 2012Bahía Culebra, Golfo de Papagayo, Costa Rica is a seasonal upwelling area. To determine the relationship of climate and the subsurface temperature variability at Bahía Culebra, we analyzed nine records of sea subsurface temperature from the Bay, continuously recorded from 1998 to 2010. The analysis characterized the annual cycle and explored the influence of different climate variability sources on the subsurface sea temperature and air temperature recorded in Bahía Culebra. Data from an automatic meteorological station in the bay were studied, obtaining the annual and daily cycle for air surface temperature and wind speed. Sea surface temperature (SST) trend from 1854 to 2011 was calculated from reanalysis for the region that coverts 9-11°N, 85-87°W. Because of the positive SST trend identified in this region, results showed that annual and daily cycles in Bahía Culebra should be studied under a warming scenario since 1854, that is coherent with the global warming results and its climate variability is influenced by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Equatorial Pacific and by atmospheric forcing triggered by climate variability with Atlantic Ocean origin, because warm (cold) events in Bahía Culebra tend to occur in concordance with positive & negative (negative & positive) anomalies in Niño 3.4 (NAO) index. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 2): 159-171. Epub 2012 April 01.Bahía Culebra, Golfo de Papagayo, Costa Rica es una región de afloramiento estacional. Para determinar la relación entre el clima y la variabilidad de la temperatura sub-superficial, se analizaron los registros de la temperatura sub-superficial del mar de nueve estaciones localizadas en la Bahía. El análisis permitió caracterizar su ciclo anual y explorar su relación con fuentes de variabilidad climática que influencian el clima regional para el periodo 1998- 2010. Los resultados se contextualizaron usando además los datos de una estación meteorológica automática que funcionó en la bahía junto con el registro de la temperatura superficial del mar para una rejilla que cubre la región de 9-11°N, 85-87°W, para el periodo 1854-2011. Debido a la tendencia positiva encontrada en la región para la temperatura superficial del mar, se concluye que los resultados mostrados asociados a los ciclos anuales y diarios en Bahía Culebra deben ser interpretados bajo un escenario de cambio climático, asociado a un calentamiento ocurrido desde 1854, además coherente con lo observado globalmente, y que su variabilidad climática está influenciada no sólo por aquella ligada a la de El Niño-Oscilación del Sur, en el Pacífico Ecuatorial, sino también por influencias de tipo atmosférico relacionadas con la variabilidad en el Océano Atlántico, debido a que los eventos cálidos (fríos) en Bahía Culebra tienden a ocurrir en concordancia con anomalías positivas y negativas (negativas y positivas) de los índices Niño 3.4 y OAN, respectivamente.Universidad de Costa Rica. El estudio se realizó dentro del marco de los siguientes proyectos de la Vicerrectoría de Investigación de la Universidad de Costa Rica: 808-98-013, 808-B0-092, 805-B0-065, 805-A9- 532, 808-A9-180, 808-A9-070, 805-A8-606, 805-A7-002 y 808-B2-400, y CRN2050-IAI. El apoyo dado por Ecodesarrollo Papagayo ha sido invaluable para mantener este programa de monitoreo por todos estos años. Le agradecemos a todos los asistentes que han colaborado durante los años de este programa de monitoreo. Al Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR) de la Universidad de Costa Rica se le agradece el apoyo logístico, y al Instituto Costarricense de Turismo por el uso de las instalaciones en Playa Panamá, Bahía Culebra. También a Laura Zúñiga, Natalie Mora, Aarón Vega y Elsie Troyo por su apoyo en el procesamiento de la información y la base de datos. A Vilma Castro por el aporte y asistencia de la estación meteorológica automática localizada en Playa Panamá.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigaciones Geofísicas (CIGEFI

Determinants of reef fish assemblages in tropical Oceanic islands

Diversity patterns are determined by biogeographic, energetic, and anthropogenic factors, yet few studies have combined them into a large‐scale framework in order to decouple and compare their relative effects on fish faunas. Using an empirical dataset derived from 1527 underwater visual censuses (UVC) at 18 oceanic islands (five different marine provinces), we determined the relative influence of such factors on reef fish species richness, functional dispersion, density and biomass estimated from each UVC unit. Species richness presented low variation but was high at large island sites. High functional dispersion, density, and biomass were found at islands with large local species pool and distance from nearest reef. Primary productivity positively affected fish richness, density and biomass confirming that more productive areas support larger populations, and higher biomass and richness on oceanic islands. Islands densely populated by humans had lower fish species richness and biomass reflecting anthropogenic effects. Species richness, functional dispersion, and biomass were positively related to distance from the mainland. Overall, species richness and fish density were mainly influenced by biogeographical and energetic factors, whereas functional dispersion and biomass were strongly influenced by anthropogenic factors. Our results extend previous hypotheses for different assemblage metrics estimated from empirical data and confirm the negative impact of humans on fish assemblages, highlighting the need for conservation of oceanic islands.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

A task force for diagnosis and treatment of people with Alzheimer’s disease in Latin America

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents a substantial burden to patients, their caregivers, health systems, and society in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This impact is exacerbated by limited access to diagnosis, specialized care, and therapies for AD within and among nations. The region has varied geographic, ethnic, cultural, and economic conditions, which create unique challenges to AD diagnosis and management. To address these issues, the Americas Health Foundation convened a panel of eight neurologists, geriatricians, and psychiatrists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru who are experts in AD for a three-day virtual meeting to discuss best practices for AD diagnosis and treatment in LAC and create a manuscript offering recommendations to address identified barriers. In LAC, several barriers hamper diagnosing and treating people with dementia. These barriers include access to healthcare, fragmented healthcare systems, limited research funding, unstandardized diagnosis and treatment, genetic heterogeneity, and varying social determinants of health. Additional training for physicians and other healthcare workers at the primary care level, region-specific or adequately adapted cognitive tests, increased public healthcare insurance coverage of testing and treatment, and dedicated search strategies to detect populations with gene variants associated with AD are among the recommendations to improve the landscape of AD

Envejecimiento de la población

•Actividades básicas de la vida diaria en personas mayores y factores asociados •Asociación entre depresión y posesión de mascotas en personas mayores •Calidad de vida en adultos mayores de Santiago aplicando el instrumento WHOQOL-BREF •Calidad de vida en usuarios con enfermedad de Parkinson, demencia y sus cuidadores, comuna de Vitacura •Caracterización de egresos hospitalarios de adultos mayores en Puerto Natales (2007-2009) •Comportamiento de las patologías incluidas como GES para el adulto mayor atendido en un Cesfam •Contribución de vitaminas y minerales a las ingestas recomendadas diarias en ancianos institucionalizados de Madrid •Estado de salud oral del paciente inscrito en el Programa de Visita Domiciliaria •Evaluación del programa de discapacidad severa en Casablanca con la matriz de marco lógico •Factores asociados a satisfacción vital en una cohorte de adultos mayores de Santiago, Chile •Pauta instrumental para la identificación de riesgos para el adulto mayor autovalente, en su vivienda •Perfil farmacológico del paciente geriátrico institucionalizado y posibles consecuencias en el deterioro cognitivo •Programa de cuidados paliativos y alivio del dolor en Puerto Natales •Rehabilitación mandibular implantoprotésica: efecto en calidad de vida relacionada con salud bucal en adultos mayores •Salud bucodental en adultos mayores autovalentes de la Región de Valparaíso •Transición epidemiológica y el estudio de carga de enfermedad en Brasi