218 
THE CORAL TRIANGLE: HEARST BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION 
make up just over half of the total Table 1. Contents of the species list (see Appendix 
number of echinoid species. table) are summarized by higher taxon. 
These numbers are comparable 
to world-wide taxonomic repre¬ 
sentations for the Echinoidea, 
particularly in tropical regions 
(see, for example, Lessios 2005). 
Remarkably, every extant order 
and over 70% of the extant fami¬ 
lies of echinoids listed in Kroh 
and Smith (2011) are represented 
in Philippine waters. 
Origins of Philippine 
ECfflNOID DIVERSITY 
The unsurpassed diversity of 
the Echinoidea in the Philippines 
is not primarily due to high levels 
of endemism. About 13% of the 
species have so far been recorded 
only from the Philippines. Nearly 
half of these “endemics” are 
cidaroids that are not only notori¬ 
ously difficult to identify, but 
from depths over 100 meters (all 
but two from over 200 meters). 
Only three of the remaining 
species recorded to occur in the 
Philippines do so at depths shal¬ 
lower than 100 meters, and only 
two of those can be found at what 
might be considered depths that 
collectors could reach with con¬ 
ventional scuba gear. Our overall 
knowledge of the seemingly 
endemic species, most of which 
occur at depths greater than are 
normally sampled, prevents us 
from stating unequivocally that 
they do not occur elsewhere in 
the Indo-Pacific. 
Over 60% of all the known 
Philippine species occur at 
depths shallower than 100 
meters, and of these, nearly 64% 
occur between 0 and 10 meters. 
Order 
Family 
# of Species 
in Philippines 
Total 
by Order 
Cidaridae 
30 
Cidaroida 
Histocidaridae 
4 
35 
Psychocidaridae 
1 
Echinothiirioida 
Echiiiothuriidae 
11 
13 
Phormosomatidae 
2 
Micropygoida 
Micropygidae 
2 
2 
Diadematoida 
Diadematidae 
10 
10 
Aspidodiadematoida 
As pidodi ademat idae 
2 
2 
Pedinoida 
Pedinidae 
3 
3 
Salenioida 
Saleniidae 
1 
1 
Stomopneustoida 
Stomopneustidae 
1 
1 
Arbacioida 
Arbaciidae 
4 
4 
Echinometridae 
7 
Parasaleniidae 
2 
Camarodonta 
Temnopleuridae 
19 
39 
Toxopneustidae 
7 
Trigonocidaridae 
4 
Echinoneoida 
Echinoneidae 
2 
2 
Cassiduloida 
Neolampadidae 
1 
Cassidulidae? 
1 
z, 
Echinolampadoida 
Echinolampadidae 
7 
7 
Astriclypeidae 
4 
Clypeasteridae 
8 
Clypeasteroida 
Echinocyamidae 
5 
33 
Fibulariidae 
6 
Laganidae 
10 
Holasteroida 
Corystusidae 
1 
Plexechinidae 
1 
z 
Brissidae 
14 
Eiipatagidae 
3 
Eurypatagidae 
6 
Heiniasteridae 
1 
Loveniidae 
7 
M acropneustidae 
1 
Spatangoida 
Maretiidae 
6 
56 
Micrasteridae 
1 
Palaeostomatidae 
1 
Palaeotropidae 
1 
Paleopneustidae 
4 
Pericosmidae 
4 
Schizasteridae 
3 
Spatangidae 
2 
Total 
42 
210 
