Based on the revision of available literature on the Colombian Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda), we present an annotated checklist, with taxonomical comments for all taxa recorded since the start of research on this group in the country in 1913. We have listed 101 valid taxa, of which most records belong to the Caribbean region of Colombia. The situation in Colombian Cladocera taxonomy is, at present, unfavorable for any realistic conclusions on biodiversity, ecology and biogeography.

A new species of Leberis Smirnov 1989 (Cladocera: Chydoridae) is described based on the material from Ciénaga El Convento (Atlántico Department), Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (Magdalena Department), and Laguna Navío Quebrado (La Guajira Department), Colombia. In the Neotropics, Leberis colombiensis sp. nov. could be confused with L. davidi Richard, 1985. But the former differs from the latter in: (1) smaller size; (2) smaller post-pore distance; (3) gonopore region on male postabdomen un-inflated, not overhanging base of postabdominal claw; (4) shorter postanal portion of male postabdomen. Diversity of the genus worldwide is underestimated yet. We believe that more species of Leberis will be described in the future, i.e. after molecular genetic studies.

The history surrounding the identity of Cletocamptus albuquerquensis (Herrick, 1894) and C. dominicanus Kiefer, 1934 is very complex. This complexity has been exacerbated by incomplete, and in some cases erroneous, original descriptions of these two species. Also, new records from other locations did not describe the significant characters needed to clearly delineate them. This led several authors to consider C. dominicanus as a synonym of C. albuquerquensis, among other taxonomical considerations regarding, for example, the status of Marshia brevicaudata Herrick, 1894. Inspection of biological material from Saskatchewan (southern Canada), Wyoming (central US), Trinidad and Tobago, and the British Virgin Islands, identified by other researchers as C. albuquerquensis, as well as of newly collected material from Great Salt Lake (Utah, central US), Puerto Rico, Culebra Island, Vieques Island, St. John Island (US Virgin Islands), San Salvador (Bahamas), and Santa Marta (Colombia), revealed that C. albuquerquensis and C. dominicanus are distinct and identifiable species, distributed in a more restricted area than previously thought. Additionally, we describe a new species, C. tainoi sp. nov., from St. John Island (US Virgin Islands), and we propose another new species, C. chappuisi sp. nov., for two males from Bonaire previously identified as C. albuquerquensis. Finally, we give some observations on tube-pore-like structures, previously overlooked, on the endopod of the male leg three.

The harpacticoid copepod fauna of the Laguna Navío Quebrado, La Guajira, a protected area of the northern Colombian coast, was studied from plankton samples obtained at littoral areas covered by vegetation (macrophytes and mangroves), and at limnetic habitats close to an oyster bank. A total of 14 species of harpacticoid copepods are reported from the surveyed area. Nine of these species are new to the Colombian copepod fauna: Schizopera knabeni Lang, 1965, Cletocamptus helobius Fleeger, 1980, Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell, 1924), Sarsamphiascus hirtus (Gurney, 1927), Parategastes herteli Jacobi, 1953, Enhydrosoma lacunae Jakubisiak, 1933, Metis holothuriae (Edwards, 1891), Robertsonia propinqua (T. Scott, 1894) and Nitokra taylori Gómez, Carrasco & Morales-Serna, 2012. The first two species have not been hitherto recorded from South America and the last one is reported for the Americas for the first time. Nine of these species are also new records for the Caribbean Sea. This is the first report on the marine benthic harpacticoid Copepoda from northern Colombia. A complete species list plus brief diagnostic descriptions of the new records for the Colombian harpacticoid copepod fauna are provided together with morphologic remarks, notes on the variability of some species and their distribution.

A new species of the harpacticoid copepod genus Echinolaophonte is described here from specimens obtained during a biological survey of Rodadero Bay, a coastal system in the Colombian Caribbean. This species has been previously recorded as E. armiger Gurney, 1927 in different geographic areas (Indian and Pacific Oceans). The Colombian specimens recognized as E. villabonae sp. n. and true E. armiger are deemed as distinct species based on differences in several features of which the shape of the rostrum and the dorsal spinous process on the prosome are among the most distinctive. These and other characters are shared by specimens recorded as E. armiger from Caroline Islands and Australia that are now incorporated to the new species. The finding of the true E. armiger, previously known only from Egypt, the Texan coast, Brazil, and possibly Bermuda, constitutes the first record of this species in the western Caribbean and a regional range extension. A key to the identification of the 13 known species of the genus is also provided.