A shore-based preliminary survey of marine ribbon worms (Nemertea) from the Caribbean coast of Colombia

Abstract

A checklist of benthic ribbon worm species from the Caribbean coast of Colombia is presented, including synonyms, distributions, a photographic record, and the main morphologic characters of each species for a rapid identification. This is the first research focused broadly on nemerteans in Colombia. 54 specimens of nemerteans were hand-collected from the rocky littoral of two different localities, and identified according to personal experience and specialist literature. 13 species were found; of which 11 represent new records for the country. These species belong to eight different traditionally used families: Tubulanidae, Valenciniidae, Lineidae, Amphiporidae, Cratenemertidae, Emplectonematidae, Drepanophoridae and Ototyphlonemertidae. The most common and abundant species was Dushia atra. The biodiversity of nemerteans in Colombia seems to overlap with the nemertean fauna from Florida and Brazil, explained by the convergence of the North Brazil Current, Guiana Current, Caribbean Currents and the Panama-Colombia Contracurrent in the sampled region. The results of this work suggest that the Caribbean coast of Colombia is a region with a high diversity of nemerteans, and provide important taxonomic data for environmental assessments and future biological research.