Marine invertebrate biodiversity from the Argentine Sea, South Western Atlantic

Abstract

The list of marine invertebrate biodiversity living in the southern tip of South America is compiled. In particular, the living invertebrate organisms, reported in the literature for the Argentine Sea, were checked and summarized covering more than 8,000 km of coastline and marine platform. After an exhaustive literature review, the available information of two centuries of scientific contributions is summarized. Thus, almost 3,100 valid species are currently recognized as living in the Argentine Sea. Part of this dataset was uploaded to the OBIS database, as a product of the Census of Marine Life-NaGISA project. A list of 3,064 valid species, grouped into 1,662 genera distributed in 808 families and 23 phyla, was assessed. The best represented taxa were Arthropoda and Mollusca, contributing approximately with the 50% of the mentioned species in the literature. Cumulative species curves were analyzed in order to estimate the percentage of marine invertebrate biodiversity that is currently known. However, no model fit to our data, showing that the recorded species represent less than 50% of the expected marine invertebrate biodiversity for the Argentine Sea. The great surface of the Argentine Marine Platform (6,581,500 km2) and the relative low effort in collecting and studying new species due to economical restrictions could explain the low fraction of described species. The training of new taxonomists, as well as, the support of projects that contribute to the knowledge of marine invertebrate biodiversity from South Western Atlantic is recommended.

Metabarcoding, direct stomach observation and stable isotope analysis reveal a highly diverse diet for the invasive green crab in Atlantic Patagonia

“…July 2020. The fact that the nemertean parasite Carcinonemertes was observed in one of our samples highlights the possible risk of dispersion of these parasites, which had not been reported before for Argentina (Bigatti and Signorelli 2018), in green crabs and other species of native crabs.…”

Metabarcoding, direct stomach observation and stable isotope analysis reveal a highly diverse diet for the invasive green crab in Atlantic Patagonia

“…July 2020). The fact 519 that the nemertean parasite Carcinonemertes was observed in one of our samples highlights the 520 possible risk of dispersion of these parasites, which had not been reported before among green crabs 521 or native crabs in Argentina (Bigatti and Signorelli 2018). 522…”

“…July 2020). The fact that the nemertean parasite Carcinonemertes was observed in one of our samples 537 highlights the possible risk of dispersion of these parasites, which had not been reported before 538 among green crabs or native crabs in Argentina (Bigatti and Signorelli 2018). 539 Community structure at intertidal Patagonian rocky shores is driven by harsh physical 540 conditions, rather than by consumer pressure (Bertness et al 2006;Hidalgo et al 2007).…”

Rocky reef biodiversity survey: Punta Pardelas, Argentina

“…As in most parts of the world, in Patagonia Argentina, there is more information about biodiversity in intertidal than subtidal habitats ( Miloslavich et al 2011 , Rechimont et al 2013 ). This region contains large areas where underwater marine life remains largely unexplored ( Bigatti and Signorelli 2018 ), even in easily accessible shallow diving locations. Detecting changes in biodiversity with the current gaps in baseline data may be difficult or even impossible ( Fraschetti et al 2008 , Halpern et al 2008 , Duffy et al 2013 ).…”