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

Reef environments of Murciélago Islands and Santa Elena peninsula, Guanacaste conservation area, Costa Rican pacific

The ecology of the marine environments of the Murciélago Islands and the Santa Elena Peninsula have been studied little despite their high biodiversity. This area is influenced by a coastal upwelling. In 2014, 2016 and 2018, the region was visited to assess the composi-tion and diversity of its reef environments. Bottom coverage, macroinvertebrate diversity and abundance, and reef fish biomass were quantified. The substrate was dominated by turf and crustose calcareous algae. Live coral coverage has decreased compared to previous reports for the area. Sea urchins were the macroinvertebrates with the highest densities, while species of commercial interest presented low densities, this may suggest some degree of fishing pressure. 84 reef fish species were identified, making the islands area with the greatest diversity of reef fish in the North Pacific of Costa Rica. Coral biotopes in this region are key to the conservation of connectivity between reef areas due to their high diversity.Las Islas Murciélago y la península de Santa Elena han sido ambientes marinos poco estudiados a pesar de la alta biodiversidad de sus ecosistemas. Esta zona está influenciada por un afloramiento costero. En el 2014, 2016 y 2018 se visitó la región para evaluar la composición y diversidad de sus ambientes arrecifales. Se cuantificó la cobertura del fon-do, la diversidad y abundancia de macroinvertebrados y la biomasa de peces arrecifales. El sustrato estuvo dominado por tapetes algales (turf) y algas calcáreas costrosas. La cobertura de coral vivo se ha reducido con lo previamente reportado para la zona. Los erizos de mar tuvieron las densidades más altas entre los macroinvertebrados, mientras que especies de interés comercial presentaron bajas densidades, lo que sugiere cierta presión pesquera. Se observaron 84 especies de peces arrecifales, lo que hace de esta área una de las mayores diversidades del Pacífico norte de Costa Rica, esto puede atribuirse a la presencia de áreas marinas protegidas. Los biotopos coralinos de esta región son claves para la conservación de la conectividad entre zonas arrecifales, debido a su alta diversidad

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

Unearthing 20th-century treasures: new records of deep-sea crustaceans from the Costa Rican Pacific

We report on 13 species collected during the 1973 expedition onboard the MY “Velero IV”: seven Euphausiidae (krill), two Benthesicymidae shrimp, two Sergestidae shrimp, one Acanthephyridae shrimp, and one Portunidae crab. Four species are new records for Costa Rica: Bentheogennema burkenroadi, Gennadas scutatus, Neosergestes consobrinus, and Phorcosergia filictaEn este estudio reportamos 13 especies recolectadas durante la expedición de 1973 a bordo del MY “Velero IV”, siete krill Euphausiidae, dos camarones Benthesicymidae, dos camarones Sergestidae, un camarón Acanthephyridae, y un cangrejo Portunidae. Cuatro especies son nuevos reportes para Costa Rica: Bentheogennema burkenroadi, Gennadas scutatus, Neosergestes consobrinus, y Phorcosergia filicta.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ecología Tropical (CIBET)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

First record of an adult Galapagos slipper lobster, Scyllarides astori, (Decapoda, Scyllaridae) from Isla del Coco, Eastern Tropical Pacific

The Galapagos Slipper lobster, Scyllarides astori, has been reported from rocky reefs along the Eastern Tropical Pacific: the Gulf of California, the Galapagos Archipelago and mainland Ecuador. Although larval stage S. astori has been found in other localities throughout this range, there are no records of adults inhabiting waters between these three locations. Here we present the first record of an adult S. astori from Isla del Coco and Costa Rican Pacific waters. The single specimen, a male, was hand-collected within a coral reef in Pájara islet. This finding increases the reported lobster species richness of Costa Rican Pacific waters to six species and expands the adult geographic range of S. astori to Isla del Coco

Species richness and density of seabirds in Isla del Coco bays, Costa Rica, related to the occurrence of breeding colonies

Isla del Coco is one of the five oceanic islands situated on the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and represents an important nesting and roosting site for seabirds. Despite several factors that can potentially impact its seabird fauna, knowledge about species density and distribution as well as of the size of its breeding colony is limited, currently consisting of bird checklists only. The objective of this study is to compare seabird species richness and density at four bays at Isla del Coco as a function of proximity to breeding colonies. In terms of richness, no pattern was identified. However, we found that the two sites situated near main breeding colonies had higher seabird densities (> 5 individuals ha-1) than the two sites without major breeding colonies. The difference in the densities could be explained by food availability and the presence of nesting habitat. It is possible that the seabirds are foraging near the colonies rather than venturing into long offshore trips.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

Reproductive biology of the sea anemone shrimp Periclimenes rathbunae (Caridea, Palaemonidae, Pontoniinae), from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica

Caridean shrimps are a highly diverse group and many species form symbiotic relationships with different marine invertebrates. Periclimenes rathbunae is a brightly colored shrimp that lives predominantly in association with sea anemones. Information about the reproductive ecology of the species is scarce. Therefore, we collected 70 ovigerous females inhabiting the sun sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus in coral reefs from the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Females produced on average 289 ± 120 embryos. The volume of recently-produced embryos was on average 0.038 mm3, and embryo volume increased by 192% during the incubation period. The average embryo mortality during embryogenesis was 24%. The reproductive output was 0.24 ± 0.094, considerably higher than in many other pontoniine shrimps. Females carrying embryos close to hatching showed fully developed ovaries, suggesting consecutive spawning. We assume that the sheltered habitat, living on sea anemones, allows P. rathbunae to allocate more energy in embryo production than most other free-living caridean shrimps. This is the first record of P. rathbunae for Costa Rica