From 2020 to 2024, The Institut Mauritanien de Recherches Océanographiques et des Pêche (IMROP) and the Senckenberg Research Institute conducted five joint expeditions, exploring the marine biodiversity of the North-Mauritanian coastal habitats, primarily focusing on the Baie de l'Étoile north of Nouadhibou and to the Banc d'Arguin National Park. In order to establish a Mauritanian scientific reference collection of the marine fauna and to build up a DNA barcode library, macrozoobenthic invertebrates from all major groups were collected using various methods and gear. A total of 103 living marine macrozoobenthic invertebrate species were found and their key morphological features were described herein. This checklist gives an overview on the most common species of the Mauritanian coastal macroinvertebrates and provides a baseline for future biodiversity assessments along the Mauritanian coast.
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