This study summarises the diversity of living macroinvertebrates and seaweeds from the intertidal and subtidal rocky shores along Ecuadorian continental coast. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities and seaweeds were quantified over quadrants (50 × 50 cm) randomly placed on transects of 50 m length. A checklist of 612 species was generated: 479 species of macroinvertebrates and 133 species of seaweeds. Groups recorded were Mollusca (184 species), Cnidaria (70), Arthropoda (68), Annelida (60), Echinodermata (42), Chordata (18), Bryozoa (13), Porifera (22), Sipuncula (2), Brachiopoda and Platyhelminthes (only identified as morphotypes). The seaweeds were represented by Rhodophyta (78), Chlorophyta (37), Ochrophyta (13), Cyanobacteria (5) and 19 biotic complexes. Furthermore, 22 new taxa and six alien species were recorded from the intertidal zone. This study provides the first large scale report of benthic communities in different marine coastal ecosystems in mainland Ecuador, covering 1,478 km2 of protected areas and 382 km2 of non-protected areas. The highest benthic diversity was registered in the protected areas and rocky shores from the intertidal zone. The biological data, herein reported, are useful for a long-term monitoring programme to evaluate the status of conservation and to detect rapid changes in the benthic biodiversity from coastal areas.

中文翻译：

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厄瓜多尔沿海的海洋无脊椎动物和海藻生物多样性。

这项研究总结了厄瓜多尔大陆沿海潮间带和潮间带岩石海岸的大型无脊椎动物和海藻的多样性。在随机放置在长度为50 m的样带上的象限（50×50 cm）上量化底栖大型无脊椎动物群落和海藻。生成了612种清单：479种无脊椎动物和133种海藻。记录的种群为软体动物（184种），猪鞭草（70种），节肢动物（68种），An科（60种），棘皮动物（42种），梭子鱼（18种），Bryozoa（13种），Porifera（22种），Sipuncula（2种），腕足类和侧柏（仅鉴定为形态型）。海藻由红藻（78）​​，绿藻（37）、,藻（13），蓝细菌（5）和19种生物复合物代表。此外，潮间带还记录了22种新的分类单元和6种外来物种。这项研究提供了厄瓜多尔大陆不同海洋沿海生态系统底栖动物群落的首次大规模报告，涵盖了1,478 km2的保护区和382 km2的非保护区。底栖生物多样性最高的地区是潮间带的保护区和多岩石的海岸。本文报道的生物学数据可用于长期监测计划，以评估保护状况并检测沿海地区底栖生物多样性的迅速变化。