Abstract
A total of 298 species of polychaetes have been recorded from Colombia. However, only the family Protodrilidae has been reported from the marine interstitial realm. We here aim at identifying the interstitial annelids inhabiting the sandy beaches in Santa Marta region to the most accurate taxonomic level based on light microscopy examinations. Our samples, collected from the intertidal zone at three touristic beaches in the department of Magdalena (Santa Marta Bay, Rodadero Bay, and Taganga Bay), yielded a total of 83 specimens, which we assigned to five families, ten genera and nine species. From those, two families, eight genera, and the species Hesionides gohari, Neogyptis mediterranea, Neopetitia amphophthalma, Westheidesyllis gesae, and Syllis beneliahuae represent new records for the Colombian fauna. This survey should be considered as a first step towards a complete knowledge of the Colombian diversity of interstitial annelids, and our results significantly contribute to fill the gap of our current knowledge, suggesting a high diversity of species comparable to this in better-known areas of the Caribbean and the Atlantic coasts of Brazil. A brief diagnosis, comments on distribution and ecology, and remarks are provided for each record, in order to facilitate the re-identification of the species. Rev. Biol. Trop. 66(2): 658-673. Epub 2018 June 01.
Highlights
& Santodomingo, 2007), sipunculan annelids (Gómez, Ardila, & Sanjuan-Muñoz, 2013), and nemerteans (González-Cueto, Quiroga, & Norenburg, 2014)
Santa Marta belongs to the Tayrona Ecoregion (Díaz & Gómez, 2000), which is listed among the ten coastal areas with the greatest diversity of marine species in the Caribbean Sea (Miloslavich et al, 2010)
There are about 144 species of polychaetes reported in this ecoregion (Báez & Ardila, 2003), which represents about the 50% of the species recorded in the Caribbean coasts of Colombia and about the 12%
Summary
& Santodomingo, 2007), sipunculan annelids (Gómez, Ardila, & Sanjuan-Muñoz, 2013), and nemerteans (González-Cueto, Quiroga, & Norenburg, 2014). The main goal of this survey was to identify the species of interstitial annelids inhabiting the coastal zone of the Santa Marta Region, using morphological characters visible through light microscopy Due to their small size and the high similarity between closely related meiofaunal species, optical microscopic techniques are sometimes insufficient for an accurate species identification This report should be considered as a first attempt to assess the diversity of interstitial annelids in the Caribbean coasts of Colombia, demanding further research with additional morphological techniques, such as electron and confocal laser scanning microscopy, combined with methods of DNA taxonomy These methods have helped solving several species complexes, their geographic distribution, and phylogenetic relationships (Di Domenico, Martínez, Lana, & Worsaae, 2013; Martínez et al, 2013; Worsaae et al, 2015). In order to warrant the re-identification of the reported species, each of our records is supported by a short description of the main light microscopy characters based on direct examination of our specimens
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