In the Colombian Caribbean there are few studies on zooplankton that have explored their specific composition and the existing information is largely restricted to grey literature. Studies in other areas of the Caribbean show a high species richness of copepods, recording approximately 500 species. This paper presents a taxonomic list of 217 species of planktonic copepods belonging to the orders Calanoida, Cyclopoida, Harpacticoida, Poecillostomatoida, Mormonilloida, and Siphonostomatoida recorded in the Colombian Caribbean since 1970.

Abstract:Owing to the decrease of reef organisms in general, it has become essential to study populations that are prone to marine diseases, with the purpose of developing accurate survivorship predictions and in turn alarm on triggers and drivers of disease outbreaks. In this study, we quantified the octocorals of Gorgona island

Echinoderms collected by CIOHINVEMAR- SMITHSONIAN expedition from Cartagena to Golfo de Urabá, Colombian Caribbean. 22 Echinoderm species collected in 21 statjons using a semiballoon trawling net from Cartagena to Golfo de Urabá, between 30 and 380 m depth by the 1995 CIOHINVEMAR- SMITHSONIAN expedition are listed, diagnosed and iIIustrated. The species included two crinoids, seven asteroids, five ofiuroids, four equinoids and four holothuroids, Astropecten nitidus Verrill, Plutonaster agassizi agassizi (Verrill), Tethyaster grandis (Verrill) and Leptopentacta deichmannae Domantay are first records to the Caribbean sea, and Astropecten alligator Perrier, Anthenoides piercei Perrier, Amphiodia atra (Stimpson), Amphilimna olivacea (Lyman), Ophiomusium acuferum Lyman, Araeosoma fenestratum (Wyville - Thomson) y Molpadia parva Théel are first records for the Colombian Caribbean. Grouping analysis between stations, based in presence - absence data, evidenced a pattern of stations relationships according depth. However, data are insufficient for determining zonation schemes in the area.

A check list of the marine species of dinoflagellates reported from coastal and oceanic Colombian Caribbean Sea is presented. The list is based on the revision of bibliographical information available from studies developed on phytoplanktonic community. It reports a total of 186 taxa corresponding to 169 species with 27 varieties and six forms. These are grouped in 32 genera, 17 families, six orders, and two classes. The taxonomic classification was based on the system proposed by Fensome et al. (1993).

During the INVEMAR - MACROFAUNA I expedition (1998-1999), specimens of 16 species of crustacean decapods of the Galatheidae family, belonging to three genera, were collected. In this paper the distictive characteristics of 12 of the species, registered for the first time for the Colombian Caribbean, are presented. This paper also includes taxonomic keys, species images, bathymetric and geographic data and comments of their morphological variations. Additionally, the holdings of the family, collected in Colombian localities and deposited in biological collections, according to the reviewed bibliographical references, are listed. The species are: Agononida longipes (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880); Munida constricta A. Milne-Edwards, 1880; M. evermanni Benedict, 1901; M. flinti Benedict, 1902; M. forceps A. Milne-Edwards, 1880; Munidopsis alaminos Pequegnat and Pequegnat, 1970; M. brevimanus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880); M. erinaceus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880); M. longimanus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880); M. platirostris (A. Milne-Edwards and Bouvier, 1894); M. polita (Smith, 1883); and M. ramahtaylorae Pequegnat and Pequegnat, 1971.

Between October and August 1999 five cruises were made on board of R/V Ancón, across the Colombian Caribbean slope, from Punta Estrella (Guajira), near the Venezuelan border, to Cabo Tiburón (Chocó), near the Panamá border. Eighty trawls were made between 200 and 500 m depth with a semi-balloon net. Twelve new records of fishes for the Colombian Caribbean in the orders Beryciformes, Zeiformes, Perciformes and Tetraodontiformes were collected. Plectranthias garrupellus (Serranidae), Benthodesmus tenuis and B. simonyi (Trichiuridae) are new records for the Caribbean; Diplospinnus multistriatus family (Gempylidae) is a new record for the southern Caribbean.

A taxonomic checklist of larval stages of fish species recorded in the Colombian Caribbean is presented, as a product of an extensive literature review of studies on the topic. Eighty five family records included in 21 orders, with a total of 129 species were found. In terms of composition, the order Perciformes has shown the highest number of families (41), genera (66) and species (46). The families Carangidae and Exocoetidae were the richest. In terms of distribution, it was evident a bigger sampling effort in La Guajira, Magdalena and San Andrés y Providencia provinces.

En Colombia el Bosque Seco Tropical (bs-T) ha sufrido una drástica reducción debido al incremento de la frontera agrícola y ganadera que ha fragmentado este ecosistema. Los escarabajos coprófagos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) se consideran un excelente grupo para evaluar los efectos de las perturbaciones antrópicas debido a su carácter bioindicador, sin embargo, el conocimiento sobre la estacionalidad y diversidad de este grupo en los bs-T del departamento de Bolívar es escaso. Para llenar este vacío, se realizó un inventario y análisis de la dinámica estacional del ensamblaje de escarabajos en el bs-T del jardín botánico de Cartagena. Se realizaron cuatro muestreos (noviembre 2015, enero, mayo y septiembre 2016) cubriendo las variaciones estacionales y tomando datos de precipitación y temperatura. Las capturas se realizaron con trampas de caída cebadas con excremento y carroña. Se capturaron 3550 individuos agrupados en 18 especies y diez géneros. La mayor abundancia y menor riqueza se registró en enero (época seca). Los grupos funcionales de los pequeños telecópridos y paracópridos fueron los más abundantes en todos los muestreos. Se registraron diferencias significativas entre la abundancia y la riqueza entre estaciones. Se encontró una regresión negativa entre la precipitación y la riqueza (r = -0,370) y la abundancia (r = -0,381). Se propone que la estacionalidad del bs-T tiene un potencial efecto en la abundancia, riqueza y estructura del ensamblaje de escarabajos coprófagos.