Macro-Invertebrate Communities of Baa Atoll, Republic Of Maldives

In order to guide conservation efforts in Baa Atoll in the Republic of Maldives, macro-invertebrate species (principally sponges, sea stars, urchins, holothurians, crinoids, ophiuroids, ascidians, bivalves, gastropods, anemones, zooanthids, anthipatharian, gorgonians, alcyonaceans, and flatworms) were inventoried on 21 sites to provide an index of benthic species richness (number of species). A total of 182 species were recorded and identified. Richness ranged between 6 to 40 species per sampling sites. The richest sites were hard-bottom submerged lagoonal patch reefs experiencing high currents. Ecological rarity dominates the macro-invertebrate community pattern with 95 species found in only one sampling site. This new data set brings fresh knowledge on Baa Atoll and Maldives in order to identify biodiversity hot-spots. Further work will investigate the sensitivity of biodiversity conservation planning and sitting algorithms to this data set.