Annotated checklist of Echinoderms from Araçá Bay, Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

We present a species list of echinoderms from Araçá Bay, state of São Paulo. Altogether, 863 specimens belonging to 25 species, 19 genera, and 13 families were exhaustively collected during three years in consolidated and non-consolidated substrate. Ophiuroidea was the most representative taxon with 16 species, follow by Asteroidea with four species, Echinoidea with three, and Holothuroidea with two species. The brittle stars Amphiura kinbergi and Ophiothela cf. mirabilis are new records for Araçá Bay. We confirm that Araçá Bay is one of the best known area of echinoderm diversity in Brazil considering that the perimeter (3 km) of the bay corresponds to only 0.03% of the Brazilian coastline (8500 km). This work complements the knowledge of Araçá Bay biodiversity and supports future interventions, management and maintaining the diversity of this wonderful group of marine animals.