An annotated checklist of freshwater Copepoda (Crustacea, Hexanauplia) from continental Ecuador and the Galápagos Archipelago v1

An annotated checklist of the free-living freshwater Copepoda recorded at different regions in Ecuador (including the Amazon, Andes, Coastal Ecuador, and the Galápagos Islands) is here provided. We revised all published records, critically evaluated the validity of each taxon and provided short taxonomic and biogeographical remarks for each one. A total of 27 records have been reported, including species and records at the generic level only. The species and taxa identified only up to the generic level belong to 5 families and 14 genera. The Cyclopoida is the most diverse group with 16 records belonging to species (or identified to the generic level only) and 8 genera, followed by the Harpacticoida with 6 species, one identification to the generic level only, and 4 genera, and Calanoida with 4 species belonging to 2 genera. A total of 17 taxa are recorded for the Andes, 9 have been recorded in Amazon, 2 are recorded for the Coastal region, and 6 to Galápagos. Three species are shared between Amazon and Andes. One species is shared between Coastal region and Amazon. Twelve are only reported from the Andes and 5 are only reported from the Amazon. At the current status of the knowledge, any attempt to analyze and generalize distributional patterns of copepods in Ecuador is premature due to the scarcity of available information, and evidently there is an urgent need for more extensive field collections. A few working hypothesis for future studies are identified.