Preliminary report of recent brachiopods from the Colombian Caribbean Sea

Several specimens collected during the INVEMAR-MARCORAL cruise in San Bernardo, Caribbean

coast from Colombia, were examined. The brachipods are associated to deep reeef community

with marine algae, mollusks, echinoderms, briozoan, and decapod crustaceans and were collected

from a wide range of sediments. The material includes the terebratulids: Argyrotheca, Terebratulina

and Tichosina. Although the diversity of this fauna is low, this record suggests that the Caribbean

brachiopods probably are more abundant in offshore than it was supposed.

Reporte preliminar de los braquiópodos recientes del Caribe colombiano

ALEXIS ROJAS-BRICEÑO1, PEDRO PATARROYO2, ADRIANA GRACIA3

1 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Balboa, Ancon, Panamá RojasA@si.edu

2 Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Cr. 30 N. 45-03, Bogotá pcpatarroyog@unal.edu.co

3 Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras INVEMAR. Santa Marta, Colombia agracia@invemar.org.co

Manuscrito recibido Septiembre 2009; aceptado Diciembre 2009.

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ABSTRACT

Several specimens collected during the INVEMAR-MARCORAL cruise in San Bernardo, Caribbean coast from Colombia, were examined. The brachipods are associated to deep reeef community with marine algae, mollusks, echinoderms, briozoan, and decapod crustaceans and were collected from a wide range of sediments. The material includes the terebratulids: Argyrotheca, Terebratulina and Tichosina. Although the diversity of this fauna is low, this record suggests that the Caribbean brachiopods probably are more abundant in offshore than it was supposed.

Key words: Argyrotheca, Terebratulina, Tichosina, Caribbean, Colombia.

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RESUMEN

Se examinaron los ejemplares recolectados durante el crucero INVEMAR-MARCORAL en San Bernardo, costa del Caribe de Colombia. Los braquiópodos están asociados a una comunidad arreacifal profunda de algas marinas, moluscos, equinodermos, briozoos y crustáceos decápodos, los cuales fueron colectados en una amplia gama de sedimentos. El material incluye los terebratulidos: Argyrotheca, Terebratulina y Tichosina. Aunque la diversidad de esta fauna es baja, el registro sugiere que los braquiópodos del Caribe colombiano probablemente son más abundantes costa afuera de lo que se suponía.

Palabras Clave: Argyrotheca, Terebratulina, Tichosina, Caribe, Colombia.

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INTRODUCTION

Although articulate brachiopods are considered to be rare in the modern oceans, they are diverse in the Caribbean Sea (COOPER 1977, KOWALEWSKI et al. 2002, HARPER & DONOVAN 2007). However, recent brachiopods had not been recorded from Colombia. This preliminary report documents the brachiopods collected during the INVEMAR-MARCORAL cruise in San Bernardo Island, Colombian Caribbean Sea (Figura 1). San Bernardo is an extensive reef complex located in the central region of the Continental Shelf from Colombian Caribbean and comprises more than 250 km2 (LÓPEZ-VICTORIA & DíAZ 2000). The samples were collected in offshore associated to deep reeef community (95 -198 m) with marine algae, snails, bivalves, tusk shells, stars, sea lilies, bryozoans and decapod crustaceans and were collected from mud to sand-gravel sediments (Tabla 1).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The material included in the report was collected by the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras –INVEMAR during the INVEMAR-MARCORAL cruise in the San Bernando locality, Colombian Caribbean Sea, carried out in April of 2005 (Figura 1). The shells were examined under a camera lucida and SEM micrographs were taken in the SEM laboratory of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

All samples kept at the Museo de Historia Natural Marina de Colombia (MHNMC) Santa Marta.

RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS

Four species of brachiopods has been preliminary identified: Argyrotheca cuneata (Risso), Argyrotheca cf. jacksoni Cooper, Terebratulina sp. y Tichosina sp., all new record for Colombia (Figura 2).

The brachiopod fauna is dominated by micromorphic brachiopods, Terebratulina sp. and A. cuneata (Risso), with a bathymetric distribution from 100-170m. These are the commonest brachiopods in the Caribbean (COOPER 1979). Tichosina sp., a deep-water generalist, includes a small number of big and strongly uniplicate shells. This genus that occupied water from approximately 200 250 m (HARPER & DONOVAN 2007) was recovered from shallower waters. Accurate ecologic and taxonomic studies will be presented in the near future.

REFERENCES

COOPER, A. (1979): Tertiary and Cretaceous Brachiopods from Cuba and the Caribbean. Smithsonian contributions to Paleobiology, No. 37.

COOPER, G.A. 1977. Brachiopods from the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Stud. Trop. Ocean., 14: 1-211.

BITNER, M. A., LOGAN, A. & GISCHLER, E. (2008): Recent brachiopods from the Persian Gulf and their biogeographical significance, Scientia Marina, 72(2), pp. 279-285.

HARPER, D. A. T. & DONOVAN, S.K. (2007): Fossil brachiopods from the Pleistocene of the Antillas. Scripta Geologica., 135, pp. 213-233.

KOWALEWSKI, M., SIMOES M. G., CARROLL, M., & RODLAND, D. L. (2002): Abundant brachiopods on tropicail, upwellinginfluenced shelf (Southeast Brazilian Bight, South Atalntic). Palaios, 17, 274-283.

LOPEZ-VICTORIA M. & DIAZ J. (2000): Morfología y estructura de las formaciones coralinas del Archipielago de San Bernardo, Caribe Colombiano. Rev. Acad. Colomb. Cienc.24 (91) 219-230.

MUIR-WOOD, H.M. (1965): Mesozoic. and Cenozoic Terebratulidina. In Moore, R. C. (ed.): Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, part H (Brachiopoda). Geological Society of America and Kansas University Press, Lawrence, Kansas, pp. 762-816.