Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 81 (1): 51-67, 2008
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Free-living benthic marine invertebrates in Chile
A comprehensive literature review was conducted to determine the species richness of
all the possible taxa of free-living benthic marine invertebrates in Chile. In addition, the extent of endemism to the Pacific Islands and
deep-sea, the number of non-indigenous species, and the contribution that the Chilean benthic marine invertebrate fauna makes to the
world benthic marine invertebrate fauna was examined. A total of 4,553 species were found. The most speciose taxa were the
Crustacea, Mollusca and Polychaeta. Species richness data was not available for a number of taxa, despite evidence that these taxa
are present in the Chilean benthos. The Chilean marine invertebrate benthic fauna constitutes 2.47 % of the world marine invertebrate
benthic fauna. There are 599 species endemic to the Pacific Islands and 205 in the deep-sea. There are 25 invasive or non-indigenous
species so far identified in Chile. Though the Chilean fauna is speciose there is still a considerable amount of diversity yet to be
described, particularly amongst the small bodied invertebrates and from the less well explored habitats, such as the deep-
sea.
Key words:
Chile, species
richness, benthos, free-living invertebrates
