Observations of Litter Deposited in the Deep Waters of Isla del Coco National Park, Eastern Tropical Pacific

The crown of thorns (CoTS; Acanthaster cf. solaris) have not been reported as an actual threat to reefs in the Gulf of California; however, in the Espiritu Santo Archipelago National Park, we have evidenced massive predation over scleractinian corals. Its abundance is now over outbreaks threshold value and it is higher than historical records

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A new Lepeophtheirus (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Caligidae) from Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica, Eastern Tropical Pacific

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v60i3.28371 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 235-242

Author(s):

Eduardo Suárez-Morales ◽

Rebeca Gasca

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Costa Rica ◽

National Park ◽

Relative Length ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Costa Rican ◽

Tropical Region ◽

Nominal Species ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Genital Complex

Among the several groups of copepods that are teleost parasites, the siphonostomatoid family Caligidae is by far the most widespread and diverse. With more than 108 nominal species, the caligid genus Lepeophtheirus von Nordmann is one of the most speciose. There are no reports of this genus in Costa Rican waters. A new species of Lepeophtheirus is herein described based on female specimens collected from plankton samples in waters off Bahía Wafer, isla del Coco, an oceanic island in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The new species, L. alvaroi sp. nov., has some affinities with other congeners bearing a relatively short abdomen, a wider than long genital complex and a 3-segmented exopod of leg 4. it differs from most of these species by the presence of an unbranched maxillular process and by the relative lengths of the terminal claws of leg 4, with two equally long elements. it is most closely related to two other Eastern Pacific species: L. dissimulatus Wilson, 1905 and L. clarionensis Shiino, 1959. it differs from these species by the proportions and shape of the genital complex, the shape of the sternal furca, the relative length of the maxillar segments, the absence of a pectiniform process on the distal maxillar segment, the length of leg 4 and the armature of leg 5. The new species represents the first Lepeophtheirus described from Costa Rican waters of the Pacific. The low diversity of this genus in this tropical region is explained by its tendency to prefer hosts from temperate latitudes. Until further evidence is found, the host of this Lepeophtheirus species remains unknown. Citation: Suárez-Morales, E. & R. Gasca. 2012. A new Lepeophtheirus (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Caligidae) from isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica, Eastern Tropical Pacific. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 3): 235-242. Epub 2012 Dec 01.

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Fungal communities in sediments along a depth gradient in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

10.1101/2020.06.26.173682 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Keilor Rojas-Jimenez ◽

Hans Peter Grossart ◽

Erik Cordes ◽

Jorge Cortés

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Marine Sediments ◽

Sediment Cores ◽

18S Rrna Gene ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Fungal Communities ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Deep Waters

AbstractDeep waters represent the largest biome on Earth and the largest ecosystem of Costa Rica. Fungi play a fundamental role in global biogeochemical cycling in marine sediments, yet, they remain little explored. We studied fungal diversity and community composition in several marine sediments from 16 locations sampled along a bathymetric gradient (from a depth of 380 to 3474 m) in two transects of about 1500 km length in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) of Costa Rica. Sequence analysis of the V7-V8 region of the 18S rRNA gene obtained from sediment cores revealed the presence of 787 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). On average, we detected a richness of 75 fungal ASVs per sample. Ascomycota represented the most abundant phylum with Saccharomycetes constituting the dominant class. Three ASVs accounted for ca. 63% of all fungal sequences: the yeast Metschnikowia (49.4%), Rhizophydium (6.9%), and Cladosporium (6.7%). Although we distinguished a cluster dominated by yeasts and a second cluster dominated by filamentous fungi, we were unable to detect a strong effect of depth, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and pH on the composition of fungal communities. We highlight the need to understand further the ecological role of fungi in deep-sea ecosystems.

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First record of Coronida glasselli (Stomatopoda: Coronididae) for Costa Rica (Isla del Coco National Park, Eastern Tropical Pacific)

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v64i1.23452 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 231 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carolina Salas-Moya ◽

Rita Vargas-Castillo

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

First Record ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Shallow Waters ◽

Rocky Reef ◽

Washington Dc ◽

National Museum ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Intertidal Zones ◽

Reef Environments

Stomatopods are a small group of marine and estuarine crustaceans that inhabit several marine ecosystems including deep, shallow waters, and intertidal zones. Six species from five families have been reported from the Park. We add Coronida glasselli Manning, 1976 from rocky reef environments at Isla del Coco. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific the species was reported only from Isla Gorgona, Colombia. There are species from Isla Uva, Panamá in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC.<div> </div>

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New records of heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v64i1.23449 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 205 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kimberly García-Méndez ◽

Yolanda E. Camacho-García

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

National Park ◽

New Records ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Costa Rican ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Sea Slugs ◽

The Pacific ◽

Molluscan Fauna ◽

First Time

The molluscan fauna of Isla del Coco has recently been well documented, but the heterobranch sea slugs, traditionally called “opisthobranchs”, remain poorly known. We report 13 new records, increasing the total to 40 species. Of the 13 newly discovered species, the following species had not been previously recorded along the Pacific Costa Rican mainland: Berthella californica (Dall, 1900), Peltodoris rubra (Bergh, 1905), Dendrodoris albobrunnea Allan, 1933, Doriopsilla cf. spaldingi Valdés & Behrens, 1998, Glaucus cf. marginatus (Reinhardt & Bergh, 1864), and Flabellina sp. Additionally, we report Peltodoris rubra, previously known from the Indo-Pacific, for the first time in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.<div> </div>

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Estudios de zooplancton marino en Costa Rica: una revisión y perspectivas a futuro

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v66i1.33258 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 (1-1) ◽

pp. 24

Author(s):

Álvaro Morales-Ramírez ◽

Marco Corrales-Ugalde ◽

Octavio Esquivel-Garrote ◽

Allan Carrillo Baltodano ◽

Karina Rodríguez-Sáenz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Production ◽

National Park ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Zooplankton Abundance ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Caribbean Coast ◽

Ecological Features ◽

Taxonomic Groups ◽

Gulf Of Nicoya

This review summarizes marine zooplankton research performed in the Costa Rican Pacific and Caribbean coasts and at Isla del Coco National Park. Composition, abundance, biomass, distribution and some ecological features of the zooplankton for each system is discussed. Pacific coastal zooplankton composition has been described in Bahía Salinas and Bahía Culebra. The local oceanography of these bays is heavily influenced by the Papagayo wind jet, which produces seasonal coastal upwelling and most likely drives the seasonal changes in zooplankton abundance and biomass. Copepods and ostracods were the dominant taxonomic groups throughout the year with a strong seasonality, furthermore 53 hydromedusae species has been found, where Liriope tetraphylla (Chamisso & Eysenhardt, 1821), Solmundella bitentaculata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833) and Aglaura hemistoma (Péron & Lesueur, 1810), were the most abundant species. Zooplankton herbivory rates at Gulf of Nicoya estuary was estimated over 50 % removal of primary production. This is a typical value for tropical productive environments. Copepods numerically dominated zooplankton community from the Gulf of Nicoya. Other dominant taxa includes merozooplanktonic decapod larvae and ichthyoplankton. Biomass is high and there are strong crossshelf gradients in the Gulf. Zooplankton collected in the southern Pacific coast (close to Isla del Caño) is also dominated by copepods, while Bahía Coronado has a mixed zooplankton composition of oceanic and coastal transition waters. In Golfo Dulce, zooplankton is highly diverse and dominated by copepods, appendicularians, and ostracods. About 35 % of daily primary production is consumed by microzooplankton, and zooplankton adapt to anomalous conditions of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Coco´s Island, and other oceanic islands in the Eastern Tropical Pacific are “hot spot” of zooplankton diversity, where > 160 zooplankton species have been reported (predominantly copepods). The biomass is dominated by mesozooplankton, and new species records for the Eastern Tropical Pacific have been found in this insular ecosystem. In the other hand, early works of 1980 carried out at Caribbean coast (Cahuita National Park), show a considerably low zooplankton diversity and abundance while research at the end of the 2000 decade recognized a significant increase in zooplankton diversity, specially fish larvae. Recent zooplankton studies have added six new copepod species and several new records of species from different taxonomic groups such as appendicularians, amphipods, chaetognats, euphausiids, gastropods, and polychaetes. Future work should focus on monthly long-term monitoring programs to investigate the effects of ocean acidification and the trophic dynamics associated with fisheries. Alike, longterm studies are needed to see trends of change in planktonic communities, especially comparing areas under human activity in the coastal zone (tourism, port, urban development) with protected areas as targets for study. An increase of sampling efforts must be done in the relatively understudied Northern Caribbean coast.

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The shallow-water fish assemblage of Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica: structure and patterns in an isolated, predator-dominated ecosystem

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v60i3.28407 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 321-338

Author(s):

Alan M. Friedlander ◽

Brian J. Zgliczynski ◽

Enric Ballesteros ◽

Octavio Aburto-Oropeza ◽

Allan Bolaños ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Shallow Water ◽

Fish Assemblage ◽

National Park ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Total Biomass ◽

High Biomass ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Water Fish

Fishes at Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica, were surveyed as part of a larger scientific expedition to the area in September 2009. The average total biomass of nearshore fishes was 7.8 tonnes per ha, among the largest observed in the tropics, with apex predators such as sharks, jacks, and groupers accounting for nearly 40% of the total biomass. The abundance of reef and pelagic sharks, particularly large aggregations of threatened species such as the scalloped hammerhead shark (up to 42 hammerheads ha-1) and large schools of jacks and snappers show the capacity for high biomass in unfished ecosystems in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. However, the abundance of hammerhead and reef whitetip sharks appears to have been declining since the late 1990s, and likely causes may include increasing fishing pressure on sharks in the region and illegal fishing inside the Park. One Galapagos shark tagged on September 20, 2009 in the Isla del Coco National Park moved 255km southeast towards Malpelo Island in Colombia, when it stopped transmitting. These results contribute to the evidence that sharks conduct large-scale movements between marine protected areas (Isla del Coco, Malpelo, Galápagos) in the Eastern tropical Pacific and emphasize the need for regional-scale management. More than half of the species and 90% of the individuals observed were endemic to the tropical eastern Pacific. These high biomass and endemicity values highlight the uniqueness of the fish assemblage at Isla del Coco and its importance as a global biodiversity hotspot. Citation: Friedlander, A., B.J. Zgliczynski, E. Ballesteros, O. Aburto-Oropeza, A. Bolaños & E. Sala. 2012. The shallow-water fish assemblage of Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica: structure and patterns in an isolated, predator-dominated ecosystem. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 3): 321-338. Epub 2012 Dec 01.

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Marine biodiversity of an Eastern Tropical Pacific oceanic island, Isla del Coco, Costa Rica

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v60i3.28356 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 131-185

Author(s):

Jorge Cortés

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

National Park ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Oceanic Island ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Unesco World Heritage Site ◽

Bony Fishes

Isla del Coco (also known as Cocos Island) is an oceanic island in the Eastern Tropical Pacific; it is part of the largest national park of Costa Rica and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island has been visited since the 16th Century due to its abundance of freshwater and wood. Marine biodiversity studies of the island started in the late 19th Century, with an intense period of research in the 1930’s, and again from the mid 1990’s to the present. The information is scattered and, in some cases, in old publications that are difficult to access. Here I have compiled published records of the marine organisms of the island. At least 1688 species are recorded, with the gastropods (383 species), bony fishes (354 spp.) and crustaceans (at least 263 spp.) being the most species-rich groups; 45 species are endemic to Isla del Coco National Park (2.7% of the total). The number of species per kilometer of coastline and by square kilometer of seabed shallower than 200m deep are the highest recorded in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Although the marine biodiversity of Isla del Coco is relatively well known, there are regions that need more exploration, for example, the south side, the pelagic environments, and deeper waters. Also, several groups of organisms, such as the flatworms, nematodes, nemerteans, and gelatinous zooplankton, have been observed around the Island but have been poorly studied or not at all. Citation: Cortés, J. 2012. Marine biodiversity of an Eastern Tropical Pacific oceanic island, Isla del Coco, Costa Rica. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 3): 131-185. Epub 2012 Dec 01

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Elasmobranchs observed in deepwaters (45-330m) at Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica (Eastern Tropical Pacific)

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v60i3.28373 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 257-273

Author(s):

José Cortés ◽

Astrid Sánchez-Jiménez ◽

J. Alexander Rodríguez-Arrieta ◽

Geovanna Quirós-Barrantes ◽

Paula C. González ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

National Park ◽

First Record ◽

Tropical Pacific ◽

Tiger Shark ◽

Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽

Marine Fauna ◽

Scalloped Hammerhead ◽

Manta Birostris ◽

Spotted Eagle Ray

Isla del Coco is an oceanic island 500km off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is a National Park and its marine fauna has been relatively well protected. The island is famous for its elasmobranch (sharks, rays and skates) sightings in shallow waters. Here we present a catalogue of the deepwater elasmobranchs observed with the DeepSee submersible. Five species of sharks, six species of skates and one ray have been observed between 45 and 330m depth. Triaenodon obesus, the white tip reef shark, was commonly observed between 80 and 301m, but only in the afternoons. Sphyrna lewini, the scalloped hammerhead shark, was observed as deep a 303m, but commonly between 45 and 90m, and close to the island. Odontaspis ferox, the smalltooth sand tiger shark, was observed between 82 and 316m. Echinorhinus cookei, the prickly shark, was observed between 91 and 320m. Rhincodon typus, the whale shark, was observed only close to the island, between 77 and 80m. Taeniura meyeni, the marbled ray, was observed only close to the island, between 45 and 90m. A Dasyatis sp., similar to the the diamond stingray, was observed only once close to the island at 60m; this is the first report of this genus at Isla del Coco National Park. Manta birostris, the giant manta, was only observed close to the island at 90m. Mobula tarapacana, the sicklefin devil ray, was observed between 60 and 326m, extending its maximum depth almost 10 times what has been reported. Aetobatus narinari, the spotted eagle ray, was observed only close to the island between 60 and 82m. Torpedo peruana, the Peruvian torpedo ray, was observed only once at 313m, and is the first record of this species from Isla del Coco National Park. Citation: Cortés, J., A. Sánchez-Jiménez, J.A. Rodríguez-Arrieta, G. Quirós-Barrantes, P.C. González & S. Blum. 2012. Elasmobranchs observed in deepwaters (45-330m) at Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica (Eastern Tropical Pacific). Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 3): 257-273. Epub 2012 Dec 01.

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