We are still far from having a sufficient inventory of
many marine species across all phyla, and global species
censuses are deficient for tropical systems (Mora et al.
2008). Our current understanding of planktonic cnidarians
in tropical waters is far from acceptable due to the
insufficient collections that have been made to record
species diversity; such deficiencies are also notable in
tropical Brazil (Morandini et al. 2005). Diversity is a fundamental
measurement of a community and is importantfor understanding basic ecology and for developing conservation strategies (Gotelli & Colwell 2001).