Field Guide to the Offshore Marine Invertebrates of South Africa

Long-term environmental monitoring is important to enable an improved understanding of how changing conditions affect marine environments. Without rigorous data from the past, we are unable to detect, quantify or adapt to changes in the environment now or into the future. Offshore benthic ecosystems of South Africa's Exclusive Economic Zone have, in the past, been poorly studied and local taxonomic knowledge of offshore invertebrates has been considered sparse. Marine invertebrates are one of the most poorly studied groups of taxa across all known environments. However, since 2007, marine invertebrates have been increasingly retained and identified in research demersal trawl surveys, culminating in a formal monitoring initiative led by the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) established in 2011. This field identification guide has been developed to improve accuracy of South African invertebrate identifications while at sea, minimising the volume of specimens retained and brought back to land for further identification. Over 400 benthic invertebrate epifauna occurring in South Africa's offshore region (> 20 m to 1000 m) are included in the guide.

长期环境监测对于深化理解环境条件变化如何影响海洋生态系统至关重要。若无过往的严谨观测数据，我们便无法对当前乃至未来的环境变化进行侦测、量化，亦无法采取相应的适应措施。南非专属经济区（Exclusive Economic Zone）的近海底栖生态系统过往研究较为匮乏，当地针对近海无脊椎动物的分类学认知同样较为零散。在所有已知生境中，海洋无脊椎动物是研究程度最低的类群之一。不过自2007年起，科研底拖网调查中留存并鉴定的海洋无脊椎动物样本数量持续增长，最终促成了2011年由南非环境观测网络（SAEON）牵头设立的正式监测项目。本野外鉴定指南的编制旨在提升海上作业阶段南非无脊椎动物鉴定的准确率，减少需带回陆地进行后续鉴定的样本总量。本指南涵盖了南非近海区域（水深20米至1000米）的400余种底栖无脊椎底表动物（epifauna）。