title: Marine biodiversity in the Caribbean: regional estimates and distribution patterns.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela. pmilos@usb.ve
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miloslavich
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gobin
authors.forename: Elva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Escobar-Briones
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cruz-Motta
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weil
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cortés
authors.forename: Ana Carolina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Bastidas
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zapata
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Aniuska
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kazandjian
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortiz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002965:Classification; D056727:Endangered Species / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009792:Oceans and Seas