A total of 627 echinoderm species (12 crinoids, 185 asteroids, 185 ophiuroids, 95 echinoids and 150 holothuroids) are known from the shallow and deep waters between southern California and southern Peru, and an up-to-date classification scheme is given for them. Distribution tables provide detailed presence-absence data for latitudinal increments, geographic range endpoints, depth ranges, and substrate associations of each species. Annotated lists of all species include relevant synonyms and mistaken records as well as literature citations used for both lists and distribution tables. A species-level biogeographic analysis shows that echinoderm provinces conform to those generally observed for other marine taxa, including mollusks, crustaceans and fishes. Based on cluster analysis and more traditional approaches (using species richness, faunal turnover and faunal composition), overall faunal similarity of the shelf echinoderms is very high between 23°N and 4°S, in the tropical Panamic province. There is a northern warm-temperate fauna (California province) between Pt. Conception, California and Pt. Eugenio, Baja California that also extends into lower Baja and the Gulf of California. Warm-temperate elements in the subtropical Gulf of California distinguish it from the tropics, and it is recognized as a faunal province in spite of its low endemism. Echinoderm endemism is unusually high in the Galapagos province and is attributed to the wide habitat diversity and isolation of the archipelago. There is no evidence for a Mexican province, but there is evidence for a distinction between the tropics to the north and south of Costa Rica/Panama. Transition zones (especially in Panama and southern California) often have high species richness, increased habitat diversity, and a number of endemic species. The warm-water eastern Pacific genera are most closely related to those of the west Atlantic tropics, but very few species are shared between the regions. Trans-Pacific species in the CEP are widespread throughout the region. A confinement of Indo-Pacific species to offshore CEP islands is only seen at Clipperton Island, the lone coral atoll of the eastern Pacific.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/184082 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | MALUF, LINDA YVONNE. |
| Contributors | Thomson, Donald, Flessa, Karl, Pawson, David, Hoshaw, Robert, Miller, Walter |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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