Argentinean marine invertebrates: present and potential problems on conservation and management. .

G. BIGATTI Y P E. PENCHASZADEH

Valencia, España.

Congreso; World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (MARBEF),; 2008

Along the coast of Argentina there is a great diversity and abundance of marine invertebrates which is due in part to its origin from two different biogeographic provinces. The invertebrates, either motile or sessile,  play a fundamental role in the communities as bio-constructors and as part of the trophic webs. Comparing the species from cold zones of the Southern Atlantic with those of temperate and tropical zones, the decapods and bivalve crustaceans are less represented, whereas the suspension feeders, pycnogonid crustaceans and echinoderms are the richest and more diverse. Some endemic species from Argentinean coasts are only distributed from the south of the Rio de la Plata and others inhabit sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters. The greatest threat against marine biodiversity is produced by  trawling nets, which  devastate the bottoms, the recovery being very slow. This can lead to population declines, that can also be produced by the degradation of sandy beaches due to disturbance caused by urban development and tourist use, to regional aquatic pollution, the presence of introduced species, the fishing of invertebrate target species, the fishing of non target species and by-catch. The present and potential problems of conservation and  management of the invertebrates of the Argentinean coast are approached, and some precise examples on biology, population diversity, endemism, population declines, as well as  the use of marine snails as bioindicators of contamination in zones of high marine traffic are given.