Abstract
The Molluscan species of the northern littoral of Chile have been sparsely studied. This work reviews for the first time the diversity of polyplacophoran molluscs around the port of Caldera, in the Region of Atacama (26°45’49”S; 70°45’17”W to 27°20’23”S; 70°56’46”W), northern Chile. Eleven species were found in this study: Acanthopleura echinata (Barnes, 1824); Callistochiton pulchellus (Gray, 1828); Calloplax vivipara (Plate, 1899), Chaetopleura peruviana (Lamarck, 1819); Chiton cumingsii Frembly, 1827; Chiton granosus Frembly, 1827; Chiton magnificus Deshayes, 1827; Enoplochiton niger (Barnes, 1824), Radsia barnesii (Gray, 1828), Tonicia atrata (G. B. Sowerby II, 1840) and Tonicia chilensis (Frembly, 1827). All of the species occurring in the area have distributions in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, from Ecuador to central Chile, and three of them are species endemic to the Chilean coasts (Calloplax vivipara, Radsia barnesii, and Tonicia atrata). This diversity of species is comparable to that of better surveyed faunas of central and southern Chile or Patagonia. Of the eleven species recorded, the geographic distribution records for Callistochiton pulchellus, Radsia barnesii and Tonicia atrata are extended, and Calloplax vivipara is found alive again after 40 years, filling a gap in its known distribution. Illustrations of living specimens in their habitat, distribution records and a taxonomic key for all the studied taxa are also provided.
Highlights
Research on marine molluscs of northern Chile began with the descriptions of some species by Sowerby (1832), d’Orbigny (1847), Hupé (1854) and Philippi (1860) in the late 19th century
Further works include the studies done by Dall (1909), mostly in deep water areas along the Chilean and Peruvian coasts; Gigoux (1934), which listed the species found in the Region of Atacama, Marincovich (1973), describing the intertidal molluscs of Iquique; Acuña (1977), Bretos (1980), Bretos et al (1983) and McLean (1984) dealing with fissurellid limpets and, more recently, the works of Guzmán et al (1998) which studied the molluscan fauna of Antofagasta; Véliz and Vásquez (2000) reviewing the Trochidae species from northern Chile, and a few works, among others, describing new Calyptraeidae (Brown and Olivares 1996, Véliz et al 2012), Limidae (Campusano et al 2012) or Buccinidae species (Araya 2013)
All of the species occurring in the area have distributions in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, from Peru to southern Chile, with Calloplax vivipara, Radsia barnesii and Tonicia atrata as the only species endemic to the Chilean coast
Summary
Research on marine molluscs of northern Chile began with the descriptions of some species by Sowerby (1832), d’Orbigny (1847), Hupé (1854) and Philippi (1860) in the late 19th century. Further recent works including species from the Region of Atacama or northern Chile in particular only include the Kaas and Van Belle monograph series (Kaas and Van Belle 1985a, 1985b, 1987, 1990, 1994) which studied the worldwide chitons and, among them, Chilean species. The coast of the Region of Atacama consists of rocky formations of volcanic origin with a few sandy beaches. Rocky coast with tidal pools, large phaeophyta algae (Lessonia sp). Rocky coast with tidal pools and rock intrusions in sandy beach. Chaetopleura peruviana, Callistochiton 27°01’22”S; 70°48’30”W pulchellus, Chiton cumingsii, Enoplochiton niger. Rock formation among sandy beaches, Ulva lactuca and red algae. Rocky coast with small pebble beach, Ulva lactuca and red algae. Chaetopleura 27°05’15”S; 70°51’27”W peruviana, Chiton cumingsii, Radsia barnesii. The aim of this preliminary paper is to contribute on the knowledge of the molluscan fauna, in particular of northern Chile
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