Marine Biodiversity of La Reunion Island: Echinoderms

Abstract

The inventories of marine species of La Reunion (South West Indian Ocean) are still incomplete for several phylum including the Echinodermata. The present knowledge for the five classes is reported here, in the habitats below (1) and above (2) 50 m depth. The overall diversity for (1) is 136 species and for (2), 48 species. On the whole, as in the broader western Indian Ocean, the Holothuroidea and the Ophiuroidea are the dominant classes. Several new species have been described and many still need further research.