Echinoderms from the Gulf of Venezuela, north-western coast of Venezuela

Abstract

Echinoderms are a major group of marine invertebrates that often play integral roles within the marine ecosystem. Studies about their occurrence, abundance, and distribution in Venezuela are focused in the central-eastern coasts; hence the aim of this study is to describe the echinoderm community in the north-western coast of the Gulf of Venezuela. Samples were collected from three sites in the Venezuelan Guajira Peninsula (Castilletes, Porshoure, and Kazuzain) where patchy coral reefs and seagrass meadows are abundant. According to the substrate, two methods were performed using quantitative (1 m² quadrates), and qualitative free-diving observations. All organisms were counted and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level; finally, diversity (Shannon diversity index), richness (number of species), and dominance in the different sampled substrates were recorded. The updated list of echinoderms of the Gulf of Venezuela reported in this research, includes 20 genera, 15 families, 10 orders, four classes, and 28 species. The richest class was Ophiuroidea, with 18 species, followed by Asteroidea, Echinoidea and Holothuroidea, with three species each. Castilletes was the sampling site with the higher number of species (18 species), followed by Porshoure (15 species), and lastly Kazuzain (12 species). Our observations indicate that the number of species and abundance were higher when found in coral reefs (21 species, 80.69% of the total collected individuals) in contrast to the species found in seagrass beds (16 species, 19.31% of the total of individuals collected). This updated list of echinoderms represents 11.54% of the total diversity of the phylum in the marine areas from the coast of Venezuela; it is suggested that this percentage is greatly influenced by the differences of habitats and substrates alongside the north-western coast in the Gulf of Venezuela.

Discovery of habitat preferences and community structure of Echinoderms in Kri, Raja Ampat, Indonesia

“…In contrast, station 2, which is dominated by coral reefs and a small portion of jetty wood, is habitat to a greater number of echinoderms belonging to various classes and species than station 1. One of these reasons is that coral reefs provide the species with exceptional protection and a plentiful supply of nutrients (James 1982;Espinoza-Rodríguez et al 2021). More than half of the echinoderms in this research were collected from this habitat, which contained 3 classes, 15 species, and 123 individuals.…”

“…Echinodermata are a particular kind of animal that can be found in Kri, Mansuar. In general, Echinodermata is one of the largest phyla in the group of invertebrates that includes starfish (Asteroidea), sea lilies (Crinoidea), brittle stars, sea urchins, basket stars (Ophiuroidea), sand dollars (Echinoidea), and sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) (Espinoza-Rodríguez et al 2021). The Echinoderm (in Greek, echino means hedgehog inhabiting them, and derma means skin) diversity comprises animals with a thorny skeleton and radial and pentameral symmetry (Arnone et al 2015).…”

“…Echinoderms populations appear regionally distinct, and there is evidence that economic activities induced declines in several isolated subpopulations (Rahman et al 2014). The presence of habitat preferences is inextricably linked to the morphological form of each species in a given ecosystem (Espinoza-Rodríguez et al 2021). The relationship is regarded as a type of adaptive response that is possessed to maintain its existence, with distinctions in morphological features indicating different habitat selections (Blake 1990).…”

Diversity of Echinoderms in the Subtidal Zone of Sintok Island, Karimunjawa National Park, Jepara, Indonesia

“…Most animals in this class have a radially symmetrical body and a calcareous endoskeleton with spines. The main group of Echinoderms consists of five classes: Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea, Crinoidea, and Holothuroidea [4].…”