Checklist of conspicuous reef fishes of the Bahía de los Ángeles region, Baja California Norte, Mexico, with comments on abundance and ecological biogeography

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2922 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
ISMAEL MASCAREÑAS-OSORIO ◽  
BRAD ERISMAN ◽  
JERRY MOXLEY ◽  
EDUARDO BALART ◽  
OCTAVIO ABURTO-OROPEZA

A first checklist of conspicuous reef fishes observed at 15 sites in the vicinity of Bahía de los Ángeles from 2008 to 2010 is presented. A total of 70 species representing 31 families were observed. Species composition was similar to well studied regions in the southern Gulf of California, in that most species had distributions that span the Tropical Eastern Pacific but species endemic to Mexico or the Gulf of California ranked highest in relative abundance, frequency of occurrence, and mean density. Several species with temperate geographic distributions were more abundant and frequent than on reefs in the southern Gulf. Large-bodied, predatory species such as sharks and the Gulf Grouper, Mycteroperca jordani, were rare or absent.

1964 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Vrooman

Three genetically distinct subpopulations of the Pacific sardine have been differentiated by the frequency of occurrence of a C-positive blood factor. Two of these subpopulations, a northern and a southern one, live off the coast of California and the outer coast of Baja California, Mexico. The third group inhabits the Gulf of California. The C-positive factor occurred in 13.6% of the northern subpopulation, 6.0% of the southern, and 16.8% of the Gulf subpopulation.


Author(s):  
Rafael Lemaitre ◽  
Ricardo Alvarez León

The Pacific coast of Colombia has been poorly explored, and its fauna is one of the least known in the tropical eastern Pacific. Although knowledge of the decapod fauna from this coast has recently increased, the information is scattered in numerous sources. A review of the literature showed that 378 decapods have been reported from this coast, including the islands of Gorgona and Malpelo. The numbers of species are distributed as follows; Dendrobranchiata, 18; Caridea,79; Thalassinidea, 13; Palinura, 6; Anomura, 61; and Brachyura, 201 .Twenty-seven species are known exclusively from the Colombian coast, three of which are endemic to the islands of Malpelo or Gorgona. A list of nominal species is presented, including information on distribution, important references, and synonyms under which the taxa have been reported for this coast. A summary of the history of explorations of the Pacific coast of Colombia as it relates to decapods, is presented. Zoogeographic affinities are briefly discussed for the marine species based on published distributions. Affinities are greatest with the Gulf of California (51.8%), followed by the Galápagos (28.6%), the Indo-Pacific (8.8%), and the Caribbean- Atlantic (7.7%).


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3418 (1) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHEL E. HENDRICKX

Seven species of squat lobsters were collected during the TALUD XIV cruise in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Gastrop-tychus perarmatus (Haig, 1968) was collected for the second time since it was described and represents a first record ofthe genus in the tropical eastern Pacific. Its association with gorgonians is also noted from color pictures taken during adeep-water dive in another cruise in the area. Janetogalathea californiensis (Benedict, 1902) was captured in four sam-pling stations, in the same area where it has been previously reported. Three species of Munida Leach, 1820 were collected(M. bapensis Hendrickx, 2000, M. mexicana Benedict, 1902, and M. tenella Benedict, 1902). Records of M. bapensis ofthis cruise combined with additional captures of this species in 2007 in the same area indicate that it is the most abundantdeep-water species of squat lobster in the northern part of the central Gulf of California. Among the species of Munida,M. tenella was second in abundance and included specimens much larger than previously known. The single record forM. mexicana fits within the currently known depth and geographical ranges. Only one species of Munidopsis Whiteaves,1874 (M. depressa Faxon, 1892) was collected, in one of the deeper sampling stations visited during the cruise and itsnorthernmost distribution limit within the Gulf of California is increased by ca two degrees of latitude. The seventh speciescollected during this survey, Pleuroncodes planipes Stimpson, 1860, is a common inhabitant of the California Current and the Gulf of California.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2985 (1) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRAD E. ERISMAN ◽  
GRANTLY R. GALLAND ◽  
ISMAEL MASCAREÑAS ◽  
JERRY MOXLEY ◽  
H. J. WALKER ◽  
...  

The first comprehensive list of 318 coastal fish species recorded from the Islas Marías Archipelago, Mexico, was compiled from recent fieldwork, archival museum collections, and literature references. The jacks (Carangidae, 18 species) and the labrisomid blennies (Labrisomidae, 16) were the most speciose families. Most recorded species occur throughout the tropical eastern Pacific (160 species), while a significant proportion have wider ranges in the eastern Pacific (39), eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific (39), eastern Pacific and Atlantic (3), or are circumtropical (39) in distribution. Three species occur in the Northeast Pacific, twenty-five are endemic to the Pacific coasts of Mexico, five are endemic to the Gulf of California, and three are endemic to Islas Marías. Cephalopholis panamensis (Epinephelidae), Epinephelus labriformis (Epinephelidae), Mulloidichthys dentatus (Mullidae), Stegastes flavilatus (Pomacentridae), Acanthurus xanthopterus (Acanthuridae), Pseudobalistes naufragium (Tetraodontidae), and Sufflamen verres (Tetraodontidae) were the dominant conspicuous species observed during underwater surveys in 2010. The absence or low abundance of commercially valuable shark, ray, and grouper species throughout the archipelago is discussed.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Abas ◽  
Hector Reyes-Bonilla

Climate change is affecting the structure and function of marine communities in the eastern Pacific, and to anticipate possible consequences of these modifications, a better understanding of the natural adaptation potential of the species is needed. This study aimed to build a metric of adaptive capacity of reef fishes, and evaluate it using data from fish assemblages from 12 rocky and coral reefs of western Mexico. The index was developed using six life history traits from 719 fish-species distributed along the tropical Eastern Pacific. Our results indicated low adaptive capacity for big sized carnivore fish such as the tunas, totoaba and most groupers (Mycteroperca spp.); conversely, high values were attributed to species with fast life strategies such as anchovies, gobies, and blennies. The application of the index to census data showed that the adaptive potential of fish assemblages had an inverse latitudinal trend (higher in the southern reefs), resulting from the abundance of large-sized carnivores in the central and northern Gulf of California, and of small herbivores in the tropical region. As the index allows to estimate reef-fish species and communities' adaptive capacity in a straightforward and simple way, it may be a useful tool for marine conservation.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Abas ◽  
Hector Reyes-Bonilla

Climate change is affecting the structure and function of marine communities in the eastern Pacific, and to anticipate possible consequences of these modifications, a better understanding of the natural adaptation potential of the species is needed. This study aimed to build a metric of adaptive capacity of reef fishes, and evaluate it using data from fish assemblages from 12 rocky and coral reefs of western Mexico. The index was developed using six life history traits from 719 fish-species distributed along the tropical Eastern Pacific. Our results indicated low adaptive capacity for big sized carnivore fish such as the tunas, totoaba and most groupers (Mycteroperca spp.); conversely, high values were attributed to species with fast life strategies such as anchovies, gobies, and blennies. The application of the index to census data showed that the adaptive potential of fish assemblages had an inverse latitudinal trend (higher in the southern reefs), resulting from the abundance of large-sized carnivores in the central and northern Gulf of California, and of small herbivores in the tropical region. As the index allows to estimate reef-fish species and communities' adaptive capacity in a straightforward and simple way, it may be a useful tool for marine conservation.


Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1577 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARTHUR ANKER ◽  
CARLA HURT ◽  
NANCY KNOWLTON

The Alpheus nuttingi (Schmitt, 1924) species complex consists of three species.  The only western Atlantic species, A. nuttingi, occurs from the southeastern United States to Brazil.  The two eastern Pacific species are A. galapagensis Sivertsen, 1933 (synonyms: A. canalis Kim & Abele, 1988; A. cryptodentatus Christoffersen & Ramos, 1988), which occurs from the Gulf of California to Colombia and Galapagos, and A. millsae, n. sp., presently known only from a few localities in Panama.  The three species differ morphologically, genetically, and in color pattern.  The two eastern Pacific species both can be found in the intertidal, but A. millsae, n. sp. occurs slightly deeper, suggesting the possibility of ecological speciation.  All evidence shows that A. nuttingi and A. millsae, n. sp. are transisthmian sister species, with A. galapagensis forming their sister clade.  Genetic differentiation between the transisthmian sister species suggests a divergence time of approximately 6 mya, well before the final closure of the Isthmus of Panama.


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2623 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARÍA DEL SOCORRO GARCÍA-MADRIGAL

In the Tropical Eastern Pacific region, the gammaridean amphipods of the families Maeridae and Melitidae are represented by 28 species and 11 genera; the genus Elasmopus is the richest, with 13 species. The examination of approximately 3,250 specimens resulted in 12 new records from the Gulf of Tehuantepec, belonging to four genera, Elasmopus, Maera, Quadrimaera and Melita. All species are illustrated and described. Seven new species are described as: Elasmopus bastidai n. sp., Elasmopus karlae n. sp., Elasmopus lecroyae n. sp., Elasmopus marcelae n. sp., Elasmopus oaxaquensis n. sp., Maera umarae n. sp., and Melita bousfieldi n. sp. With these new species the genus Elasmopus from the Tropical Eastern Pacific is increased to 18 species that corroborates the hypothesis of Barnard (1979) “on the Pacific there are (sic) a mark of speciation of genus Elasmopus”. In addition, there are five new records from the Gulf of Tehuantepec: three species of Elasmopus and two of Quadrimaera. Also, the range distribution of Elasmopus temori Barnard and E. zoanthidea Barnard, is increased to the north from the Galapagos Islands to the Gulf of Tehuantepec; for E. tubar Barnard, Quadrimaera chinarra Barnard, and Q. reishi Barnard, there are new intermediate records between the Gulf of California and the Galapagos Islands. With the exception of the species of Quadrimaera, all known species represent the second record in the region after their first descriptions.


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