THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2000 Supplement No. 8: 459-493 © National University of Singapore ECHINODERM FAUNA OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: AN INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS David J.W. Lane Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119260, Republic of Singapore. E-mail:
[email protected] Loisette M. Marsh Department ofAquatic Zoology, Museum ofNatural Science, Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia 6000, Australia Didier VandenSpiegel Musee Royal de I'Afrique Centrale, Invertebres non insectes, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium Frank W.E. Rowe Goldbrook Boarding Kennels, Nuttery Vale, Cross Street, Hoxne, Suffolk, IP21 5BB, u.K. ABSTRACT. - A comprehensive review and analysis of the literature on echinoderm records for the South China Sea (SCS) indicates close to a thousand (982) species in total (113 crinoids, 227 asteroids, 272 ophiuroids, 167 echinoids and 203 holothuroids). All known SCS species and their distributions are tabulated herein. A total of 178 echinoderms have their type locality in the South China Sea, with 63% of these (12% of the echinofauna overall) currently considered endemic. One possible reason for the prominence of endemics is that the South China Sea became relatively land-locked, repeatedly, during low sea level stands. Large areas of the South China Sea remain relatively unexplored biologically and it is likely that additional records and new taxa await discovery. KEY WORDS. - Echinodermata, South China Sea, Indo-Pacific, biodiversity, biogeography INTRODUCTION The fauna of the South China Sea has never been comprehensively studied and most expeditions have merely touched the fringes. The first major expedition to collect in the South China Sea was the renowned world-wide, deep-sea exploring expedition of HMS "Challenger" (1873-76).