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The Endemic Marine Invertebrates of Easter Island: How Many Species and for How Long?

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Book cover Easter Island

Abstract

By whatever name it is called, Easter Island, Isla de Pascua, or Rapa Nui, this small (ca. 106 km2) spot of land in the central Pacific Ocean (27° 08’S, 109°20’W) has the distinction of being perhaps the most isolated spot on earth. It is approximately 3800 km from the South American mainland to the east, and over 2200 km from it’s nearest neighbor to the west, Pitcairn Island. The closest landmass is tiny Sala y Gómez 415 km to the east, a bleak uninhabited rock. Easter Island is, of course, most famous for its anthropological history, and the numerous stone statues (moai) that dot the landscape. Not surprisingly, most of the preservation effort directed at Easter Island in this century has been towards these archaeological and cultural artifacts. That the biological component of the island has received less attention is also not surprising, given the relatively depauperate fauna and flora reported on and around the island. What animals lived on the island in historical times is unknown and the few terrestrial species living there today, from the common isopods to the ubiquitous hawks, were introduced either on purpose (hawks from Chile for rodent control; see Klemmer and Zizka, 1993) or by accident (cosmopolitan isopod species brought in on plants). Of the terrestrial invertebrate fauna, only the insects have been studied in any detail (Compos & Peña, 1973); there are no comprehensive published accounts of the sparse isopod, mollusk, or flatwork freshwater faunas to date (see Kuschel, 1963; Klemmer and Zizka, 1993).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West @ 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024

    Christopher B. Boyko

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881

    Christopher B. Boyko

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  1. Christopher B. Boyko
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Science Museum of Long Island, Plandome, New York, USA

    John Loret

  2. Dowling College, Oakdale, New York, USA

    John T. Tanacredi

  3. American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA

    John T. Tanacredi

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Boyko, C.B. (2003). The Endemic Marine Invertebrates of Easter Island: How Many Species and for How Long?. In: Loret, J., Tanacredi, J.T. (eds) Easter Island. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0183-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0183-1_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4956-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0183-1

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