ABSTRACT 
How many recorded species are there in Trinidad? 
Caryl Maretha Sahadath 
The biota of Trinidad is regarded as continental, showing a higher affinity to the 
South American fauna rather than the antillian fauna. It contains species from 
both zoogeographical realms. Consequently based on island size, the biodiversity 
of Trinidad and Tobago is reportedly among the highest in the world. No baseline 
study regarding the actual number of recorded terrestrial and freshwater species 
for Trinidad has been conducted however. 
Through the review of published information and museum specimen collections, 
this report provides preliminary baseline data on the number of freshwater and 
terrestrial species recorded for the island of Trinidad. The study reveals 7,433 
species reported for Trinidad, which includes 2,500 floral and 4,933 faunal 
species, among them 483 vertebrates. Invertebrates number 4,450 species with 
the majority 4,154 species belonging to the group Insecta. The study also reveals 
a paucity of information for the groups Annelida, Chelicerata and Myriapoda as 
well as within many orders of the group Insecta itself. 
Keywords: Species number; Trinidad; flora; vertebrates; invertebrates 
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