Benthos of the Bijagós: An illustrated field catalogue for the identification of local macrozoobenthic fauna

The Bijagós Archipelago hosts large populations of migratory shorebird species, which spend the non-breeding period of their annual cycle in this area. For this reason, it as caught the interest of ecologists and ornithologists studying these birds. Benthic macroinvertebrates, despite being a major factor in hosting such large concentrations of their predators, have not received as much attention. Although a few studies have been conducted in the Bijagós Archipelago regarding macrozoobenthos, no identification keys, field guides or even species lists have been published.

Following the global declines in shorebird populations worldwide, and particularly the decreasing numbers of shorebirds in the Bijagos, MAVA Foundation funded a consortium of academic, NGOs and governmental institutions to develop the project “Waders of the Bijagos - Securing the ecological integrity of the Bijagós Archipelago as a key site for waders along the East Atlantic Flyway”. The project aims at improving knowledge on wintering shorebird ecology and their trophic interactions, while supporting conservation efforts towards these species in the archipelago. Within this framework it became apparent that the knowledge gap on macrozoobenthic invertebrates, particularly on the lack of accessible information, was a potential limiting factor for several ecological studies, and this publication is therefore aimed at filling this gap.

Although we expect that publishing this catalogue will promote further ecological studies in the Bijagos, it should be noted that this document is by no means a complete listing of all macrozoobenthos in the archipelago and that it was also produced by and for shorebird researchers, therefore being limited in its scope and capacity to provide the needed information for extensive species identification; in fact some taxa are only described here at a higher level.