Diversity and biology of deep-water crustaceans in Costa Rica

Abstract

Crustaceans are an important component of deep-sea biodiversity. A brief review of the history of expeditions and studies related to deep-sea crustaceans in Costa Rica is presented. We briefly discuss studies on crustaceans from the Costa Rican deep-sea environments, and we provided an updated list of species recorded for the Pacific and the Caribbean. A total of 147 species has been reported from Costa Rican deep sea; 8 species have been reported from the Caribbean, 138 from the Pacific, and 1 from both basins. Decapoda was the most diverse group with 87 species, followed by Copepoda (23 spp.) and Peracarida (19 spp.). The first deep- sea exploration in Costa Rica began with foreign efforts, with national projects and participation increasing in recent years. Most research dealing with crustaceans has been focused on reproductive biology, in collaboration with the deepwater shrimp f isheries. Future efforts to study the Costa Rican deep-sea will incorporate collabo ration with foreign expeditions and private companies since the country does not have enough funding invested in its deep sea. Finally, we discuss the current threats to deep-sea crustaceans, as well as future perspectives for the study of this fascinat ing group in Costa Rica.