Springer Deep-Sea Pycnogonids and Crustaceans of the Americas

Among the deep-sea marine invertebrates, pycnogonids and crustaceans represent ecologically important and most diverse groups of species. Yet both are still poorly understood. Sampling and exploring operations off the west and east coast of the Americas has significantly increased in the last two decades. However such operations are very costly and limited in number and frequency. In countries like Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, the United States of America, and El Salvador a large effort has been made to explore the deep-sea resources and the rich diversity of the communities, resulting in a better understanding of the natural ecosystems on both coasts of America. Pycnogonids and many groups of deep-sea crustaceans have been intensively studied, from the smallest animals, like the mostly unknown benthic copepods to the largest decapods. This book presents new and updated information on various groups of deep-sea pycnogonids and crustaceans occurring off the American continent. Offering a valuable reference resource for scientists interested in this fascinating fauna, it includes review papers and new data on the deep-sea communities occurring off the USA, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina, as well as in larger areas in both the East Pacific and the West Atlantic. As such it covers most of the current deep-water research in Latin America. From the Back Cover Among the deep-sea marine invertebrates, pycnogonids and crustaceans represent ecologically important and most diverse groups of species. Yet both are still poorly understood. Sampling and exploring operations off the west and east coast of the Americas has significantly increased in the last two decades. However such operations are very costly and limited in number and frequency. In countries like Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, the United States of America, and El Salvador a large effort has been made to explore the deep-sea resources and the rich diversity of the communities, resulting in a better understanding of the natural ecosystems on both coasts of America. Pycnogonids and many groups of deep-sea crustaceans have been intensively studied, from the smallest animals, like the mostly unknown benthic copepods to the largest decapods. This book presents new and updated information on various groups of deep-sea pycnogonids and crustaceans occurring off the American continent. Offering a valuable reference resource for scientists interested in this fascinating fauna, it includes review papers and new data on the deep-sea communities occurring off the USA, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina, as well as in larger areas in both the East Pacific and the West Atlantic. As such it covers most of the current deep-water research in Latin America. About the Author Michel E. Hendrickx received his Ph.D. from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, with a project dealing with "Crustacea Decapoda and Stomatopoda of the Gulf of California. Taxonomy, ecology and distribution." He served as an Invited Scientist at the Phuket Marine Biological Center, a field station operated by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, in Thailand, from 1974 to1976. He then worked as an Associated Expert for UNESCO, in a UNDP project in Mexico, from January 1977 to March 1981. He has been working at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México since 1981, and is currently a Senior Scientist there. Since 2016 he has been an "Emeritus" member of the National Research System (CONACyT-SNI), Mexico. He is also a Scientific Collaborator of the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Chief scientist of 22 research expeditions aboard the UNAM RV "El Puma," he is the author of 360 scientific publications, including 280 in journals, 61 book chapters and 10 books. He has also pres