title: Knowledge of Brazilian benthic marine fauna throughout time.
abstract: The ecosystems of Brazil's continental shelf and oceanic islands comprise a variety of environments that display unique geomorphological and geophysical features and biotic components. The quest to attain knowledge of Brazilian marine fauna is hampered by coastline length, biodiversity, a high rate of endemism, and a shortage of specialized researchers. Based on a systematic bibliographic review, the article offers an overview of the history, current knowledge, and outlook for the field of marine biodiversity in Brazil. Our findings show that government initiatives have afforded greater knowledge of Brazilian marine fauna species and opened new perspectives, including reliance on complex tools to describe benthic marine habitats in terms of their geological, geophysical, and biotic composition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Macroalgas Marinhas, Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro.
authors.forename: Leila de Lourdes
authors.initials: Lde L
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Macroalgas Marinhas, IPJBRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Gilberto Menezes
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Amado Filho
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D001938:Brazil; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000266:history*; D012106:Research