ABSTRACT
Although echinoderms are a highly diverse group that includes some 6000 described species (Ruppert & Barnes 1996), they have received less attention than other marine groups such as fish, corals and crustaceans. Although a number of publications have described the diversity of echinoderms of Latin American countries, e.g. Mexico (Caso 1961, 1963, 1966, 1978), the Caribbean (Hendler et al. 1995) and the Galapagos Islands (Maluf 1991, Hickman 1998), little remains known about the echinoderm faunas of other parts of Central America. This contribution reports the status of knowledge of Central American echinoderms, with a focus on the Costa Rican fauna, and to establish possible areas of future research.
