Marine Invertebrate Neoextinctions: An Update and Call for Inventories of Globally Missing Species

Abstract

The register of global extinctions of marine invertebrates in historical time is updated. Three gastropod and one insect species are removed from the list of extinct marine species, while two gastropods, one echinoderm, and three parasites (a nematode, an amphipod, and a louse) are added. The nine extinct marine invertebrates now recognized likely represent a minute fraction of the actual number of invertebrates that have gone extinct. Urgently needed for evaluation are inventories of globally missing marine invertebrates across a wide range of phyla. Many such species are likely known to systematists, but are either rarely flagged, or if mentioned, are not presented as potentially extinct taxa.

Marine Nearshore Biodiversity: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Both topics confront the difficulty of observing (or not) organisms that are "hidden" beneath the ocean waves, so what makes the study of marine extinctions so different? Carlton [20] answers the hidden complexity of this otherwise simple question by providing reasons for the resistance to declare marine invertebrate species extinct. His call for inventories of globally missing marine invertebrates provides practical guidelines to sway the current state of affairs largely driven by global authority definitions of extinction and absence of evidence.…”