Rev. biol. mar. oceanogr. 48(1): 177-184

Article

New records of sea anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa)from Costa Rica

Fabián H. Acuña^1,2, Agustín Garese^1,2, Adriana C. Excoffon^1,3 and Jorge Cortés^4,5

¹Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3250, 7600 Mar del Plata, Argentina

²Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)

³Deceased on 22-IV-2010

⁴Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Ciudad de la Investigación, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica

⁵Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica

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Despite being important components in coastal marine systems, sea anemones have been poorly studied on both coasts of Costa Rica. In this paper new records of sea anemones are mentioned for the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and the Isla del Coco National Park. Additionally, the presence of other species previously recorded in Costa Rica based on single observations or photos, is reconfirmed. An updated inventory of these cnidarians is provided, and with the corallimorpharians, comprises of 16 species (10 in the Caribbean and 6 in the Pacific and Coco Island). A comparison with the sea anemone fauna of Panama is added.

Key words:   Actiniaria, Caribbean coast, Pacific coast, Cocos Island, Central America