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  • Book
  • © 2009

Marine Biodiversity of Costa Rica, Central America

Editors:

  1. Ingo S. Wehrtmann

    1. Unidad Investigación Pesquera y Acuicultura (UNIP) of the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), and Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

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  2. Jorge Cortés

    1. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), and Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

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  • This book provides a compilation and update of species diversity in coastal and marine habitats of Costa Rica in particular and Central America in general.
  • The compilation features species lists, comments on the state of knowledge of almost all taxonomical groups prepared by both national and international specialists.
  • The book contains information about collections and experts for each taxonomic group as well as information gaps and serves as starting point and basic reference for future research.
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Monographiae Biologicae (MOBI, volume 86)

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Table of contents (49 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxxiv
    PDF

    3. Marine Fossils

      • Teresita Aguilar
      Pages 81-94

  3. Taxonomic Groups

    1. Phytoplankton

      • Roxana Víquez, Paul E. Hargraves
      Pages 97-108

    2. Marine Benthic Algae

      • Andrea Bernecker
      Pages 109-117

    3. Seagrasses

      • Jorge Cortés, Eva Salas
      Pages 119-122

    4. Mangroves

      • Ana Margarita Silva-Benavides
      Pages 123-130

    5. Foraminifera

      • Jorge Cortés, Claudia Mora-Baumgartner, Vanessa Nielsen
      Pages 131-135

    6. Sponges

      • Jorge Cortés, Noam Van Der Hal, R. W. M. Van Soest
      Pages 137-142

    7. Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, and Cubozoa (Medusozoa)

      • Karina Rodríguez-Sáenz, Lourdes Segura-Puertas†
      Pages 143-149

    8. Siphonophores

      • Karina Rodríguez-Sáenz, Rebeca Gasca
      Pages 151-156

    10. Octocorals

      • Odalisca Breedy
      Pages 161-167

    11. Stony Corals

      • Jorge Cortés
      Pages 169-173

    12. Sipunculans

      • José A. Vargas, Harlan K. Dean
      Pages 175-180

    13. Polychaetes and Echiurans

      • Harlan K. Dean
      Pages 181-191

    14. Stomatopods

      • Rita Vargas
      Pages 193-197

    15. Euphausiids

      • Iván Castellanos, Eduardo Suárez-Morales, Álvaro Álvaro Morales-Ramírez
      Pages 199-207

    16. Decapod Crustaceans

      • Rita Vargas, Ingo S. Wehrtmann
      Pages 209-228
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About this book

Life began in the sea, and even today most of the deep diversity of the planet is marine. This is often forgotten, especially in tropical countries like Costa Rica, renowned for their rain forests and the multitude of life forms found therein. Thus this book focusing on marine diversity of Costa Rica is particularly welcome. How many marine species are there in Costa Rica? The authors report a total of 6,777 species, or 3. 5% of the world’s total. Yet the vast majority of marine species have yet to be formally described. Recent estimates of the numbers of species on coral reefs range from 1–9 million, so that the true number of marine species in Costa Rica is certainly far higher. In some groups the numbers are likely to be vastly higher because to date they have been so little studied. Only one species of nematode is reported, despite the fact that it has been said that nematodes are the most diverse of all marine groups. In better studied groups such as mollusks and crustaceans, reported numbers are in the thousands, but even in these groups many species remain to be described. Indeed the task of describing marine species is daunting – if there really are about 9 million marine species and Costa Rica has 3. 5% of them, then the total number would be over 300,000. Clearly, so much remains to be done that new approaches are needed. Genetic methods have en- mous promise in this regard.
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Keywords

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Reviews

From the reviews:

"This book … provide a good summary of the marine organisms of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica. … a useful resource for anyone interested in the marine life of Central America, and does a good job of highlighting the areas where research efforts should be concentrated. Summing Up: Recommended. All professional and academic libraries, lower-division undergraduates and above." (G. C. Jensen, Choice, Vol. 46 (11), July, 2009)

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Editors and Affiliations

  • Unidad Investigación Pesquera y Acuicultura (UNIP) of the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), and Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

    Ingo S. Wehrtmann

  • Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), and Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

    Jorge Cortés

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About the editors

Ingo Wehrtmann:

  • more than 50 published articles

  • researcher and lecture at the Universidad de Costa Rica

  • has worked in scientific institutions in Germany, Colombia, Chile, USA, Philippines and Costa Rica

  • more than 20 years of experience in international scientific collaboration

  • principal research area: decapod crustaceans in marine, estuarine and freshwater habitats

    • Jorge Cortés:

    • Premio Nacional de Ciencias, Costa Rica, 1982

    • more than 100 published papers

    • editor of the book "Latin American Coral Reefs", 2003

    • researcher and lecturer at Universidad de Costa Rica

    • more than 25 years of experience in coral reef research

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Bibliographic Information

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Buy it now

eBook USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

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