Brazilian coral reefs form structures significantly different from the well-known reef models, as follows: (i) they have a growth form of mushroomshaped coral pinnacles called "chapeirões", (ii) they are built by a low diversity coral fauna rich in endemic species, most of them relic forms dating back to the Tertiary, and (iii) the nearshore bank reefs are surrounded by siliciclastic sediments. The reefs are distributed in the following four major sectors along the Brazilian coast: the northern, the northeastern and the eastern regions, and the oceanic islands, but certain isolated coral species can be found in warmer waters in embayments of the southern region. There are different types of bank reefs, fringing reefs, isolated "chapeirões" and an atoll present along the Brazilian coast. Corals, milleporids and coralline algae build the rigid frame of the reefs. The areas in which the major coral reefs occur correspond to regions in which nearby urban centers are experiencing accelerated growth, and tourism development is rapidly increasing. The major human effects on the reef ecosystem are mostly associated with the increased sedimentation due to the removal of the Atlantic rainforest and the discharge of industrial and urban effluents. The effects of the warming of oceanic waters that had previously affected several reef areas with high intensity coral bleaching had not shown, by the time of the 2010 event, any episodes of mass coral mortality on Brazilian reefs. AbstrActDescriptors: Coral reefs, Global changes, Coral bleaching, Endemic fauna.Os recifes de coral do Brasil formam estruturas significativamente diferentes dos modelos conhecidos: (i) possuem uma forma de crescimento de pináculos coralíneos em forma de cogumelo, chamados "chapeirões", (ii) são construídos por uma fauna coralínea com baixa diversidade e rica em espécies endêmicas, sendo grande parte destas formas relíquias do período Terciário e (iii) os recifes costeiros estão num ambiente dominado por sedimentos siliciclásticos. Os recifes estão distribuídos em quatro áreas ao longo da costa brasileira: regiões norte, nordeste, leste, e nas ilhas oceânicas, mas espécies isoladas de coral podem ser encontradas em águas mais quentes nas enseadas da região sul. Diferentes tipos de banco recifais, recifes em franja, "chapeirões" isolados e um atol estão presentes ao longo da costa brasileira. Corais, milleporídeos e algas coralinas incrustantes constroem a estrutura rígida dos recifes. As áreas em que ocorrem os maiores recifes de coral correspondem às regiões nas proximidades de centros urbanos que estão experimentando crescimento acelerado e rápido desenvolvimento do turismo. Os principais efeitos antropogênicos sobre o ecossistema recifal estão associados, essencialmente ao aumento da sedimentação devido à remoção da mata atlântica e as descargas de efluentes industriais e urbanos. Os efeitos do aquecimento das águas oceânicas que vem afetando várias áreas de recifes, com alta intensidade de branqueamento de coral, não causaram mortalidade em massa ...

A rocky shores working group (WG) integrated with ReBentos (Monitoring Network for Coastal Benthic Habitats; Rede de Monitoramento de Habitats Bentônicos Costeiros) was created and linked to the Coastal Zones Sub Network of the Climate Network (MCT; Sub-Rede Zonas Costeiras da Rede Clima) and to the National Institute of Science and Technology for Climate Change (INCT-MC; Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Mudanças Climáticas), to study the vulnerability of benthic communities on rocky shores and the effects of environmental changes on biomes in such environments along the Brazilian coast. The synthesis presented here was one of the products of this GT, and aimed to collect and review existing knowledge on benthic communities present on rocky shores of the Brazilian coast, their associated biodiversity, and the potential of future studies to accurately predict/measure the effects of climate change on such environments and their biota.

Collections and inventories provide important and essential information for understanding the composition and distribution of biodiversity. This contribution presents an inventory of the species held in the Echinodermata collection in the Setor de Comunidades Bentônicas (LABMAR/ICBS), Universidade Federal de Alagoas. The collections were made over a period of more than 20 years, at several localities of coastal Alagoas. This collection now includes 16,201 catalogued individual specimens, with 50 species in the five extant classes Crinoidea, Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea and Holothuroidea, based on 640 records; the class Ophiuroidea is best represented. The results of this inventory contribute significantly to knowledge of marine benthic diversity from the state of Alagoas, and the information presented here expands the data for Echinodermata from the northeastern coast of Brazil.

Aspects of the distribution and ecology of ophiuroids from shallow waters off Maceió, State of Alagoas in north-eastern Brazil were characterized. The ophiuroid fauna comprised 16 species in nine genera and seven families, including three endemic species from Brazil, Ophiocnida loveni, Ophiactis brasiliensis and Amphiura kinbergi, and also four new records for the coastal reef system off north-eastern Brazil. On coral reefs 15 species were found and Ophiothrix angulata was the most abundant species. The sandstone reefs presented six species with dominance to Ophioderma appressa. Four of these species were associated with the fouling community on piers. Ophioderma appressa and Ophioderma cinerea were common in the intertidal zone on the reef edges and tide pools on coral reefs. The results demonstrated the presence of a large number of Ophiuroidea species in the shallow waters of Maceió, and expanded their distributions to the State of Alagoas and the reef systems of north-eastern Brazil.

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