The benthic macrofauna includes those organisms that live within the marine sediment and are larger than 500 μm. Their study has been relevant to determine the health of benthos due to be considered good indicators of anthropic impacts and natural disturbances. The purpose of this study was to characterize the benthic macrofauna in the block COL 10 located in the northernmost Colombian Caribbean, in order to create a base line for its management and conservation. A total of 10 benthic samples were collected with a Box Corer between 2,880 and 4,220 m depth, which were processed at laboratory, and deposited in the collections of the Marine Natural History Museum of Colombia (MHNMC) - Makuriwa of INVEMAR. A total of 321 organisms were quantified, and are included in 77 families and/or taxa and nine phyla: Annelida, Arthropoda, Bryozoa, Cnidaria, Mollusca, Nematoda, Nemertea, Platyhelminthes and Sipuncula. Annelida was the most representative group in terms of abundance and number of taxa, with Cirratulidae and Paraonidae as dominating families. The classification and ordering analyzes shown a differentiation in the community structure in stations E612 (ocean basin area) and E600 (in oceanic mountain range area). The present study provides the first contributions to the ecology and taxonomy of deep sea benthic macrofauna in the block COL 10 located in the northernmost Colombian Caribbean.
