Marine Biodiversity in the Caribbean: Regional Estimates and Distribution Patterns

This paper provides an analysis of the distribution patterns of marine biodiversity and summarizes the major activities of the Census of Marine Life program in the Caribbean region. The coastal Caribbean region is a large marine ecosystem (LME) characterized by coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, but including other environments, such as sandy beaches and rocky shores. These tropical ecosystems incorporate a high diversity of associated flora and fauna, and the nations that border the Caribbean collectively encompass a major global marine biodiversity hot spot. We analyze the state of knowledge of marine biodiversity based on the geographic distribution of georeferenced species records and regional taxonomic lists. A total of 12,046 marine species are reported in this paper for the Caribbean region. These include representatives from 31 animal phyla, two plant phyla, one group of Chromista, and three groups of Protoctista. Sampling effort has been greatest in shallow, nearshore waters, where there is relatively good coverage of species records; offshore and deep environments have been less studied. Additionally, we found that the currently accepted classification of marine ecoregions of the Caribbean did not apply for the benthic distributions of five relatively well known taxonomic groups. Coastal species richness tends to concentrate along the Antillean arc (Cuba to the southernmost Antilles) and the northern coast of South America (Venezuela – Colombia), while no pattern can be observed in the deep sea with the available data. Several factors make it impossible to determine the extent to which these distribution patterns accurately reflect the true situation for marine biodiversity in general: (1) highly localized concentrations of collecting effort and a lack of collecting in many areas and ecosystems, (2) high variability among collecting methods, (3) limited taxonomic expertise for many groups, and (4) differing levels of activity in the study of different taxa

Reassessment of Indigofera pratensis var. coriacea Domin and var. angustifoliola Domin (Fabaceae: Faboideae) with the recognition of a new species

The two varieties of Indigofera pratensis described by Karel Domin are reassessed. Indigofera pratensis var. coriacea is distinct from the widespread Indigofera pratensis sens. str. in a number of reproductive and vegetative characters and is here raised to specific rank as Indigofera scabrella. Indigofera pratensis var. angustifoliola is judged to be an environmental or rare geographic variant of Indigofera pratensis sens. str. and not worthy of continued recognition. Lectotypes are designated for both names

Identification Of Compounds Of Allelopathic Extracts From Two Species Of Metapeyssonnelia (Rhodophyta) Growing On The Hydrocoral, Millepora Complanata, In Puerto Rico

Two Puerto Rican species of the encrusting red alga Metapeyssonnelia are known to overgrow and kill the hydrocoral Millepora complanata. The overgrowth is accompanied by bleaching or tissue lightening regions surrounding the growing margin of the algae on the coral tissue. Lipophilic and hydrophilic extracts from Metapeyssonnelia corallepida and M. milleporoides were obtained and analyzed by GC-MS. The following compounds were identified from M. corallepida: squalene and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-(dimethoxymethyl)-furan3-methoxycarbonyl-1,1-diethyl-2-buten-4-olide and from M. milleporoides: 2,4-dit-butyl phenol, 2(3H)-furanone and dihydro-4,4-dimethyl-(CAS), terpenes, furanones and phenol. Aliquots of crude extracts of both Metapeyssonnelia species applied to coral fragments resulted in visible changes to the coral tissue as well as unexpected change in numbers of zooxanthellae. The highest concentration of M. corallepida lipophilic extracts assayed generated bleaching halos, death of coral tissue and a reduction of the zooxanthellae number while the two lower concentrations of lipophilic extracts of M. milleporoides resulted in obvious tissue lightening, but without decline in zooxanthellae number