CHECKLIST and BIOGEOGRAPHY of FISHES from GUADALUPE ISLAND, WESTERN MEXICO Héctor Reyes-Bonilla, Arturo Ayala-Bocos, Luis E
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ReyeS-BONIllA eT Al: CheCklIST AND BIOgeOgRAphy Of fISheS fROm gUADAlUpe ISlAND CalCOfI Rep., Vol. 51, 2010 CHECKLIST AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF FISHES FROM GUADALUPE ISLAND, WESTERN MEXICO Héctor REyES-BONILLA, Arturo AyALA-BOCOS, LUIS E. Calderon-AGUILERA SAúL GONzáLEz-Romero, ISRAEL SáNCHEz-ALCántara Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada AND MARIANA Walther MENDOzA Carretera Tijuana - Ensenada # 3918, zona Playitas, C.P. 22860 Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur Ensenada, B.C., México Departamento de Biología Marina Tel: +52 646 1750500, ext. 25257; Fax: +52 646 Apartado postal 19-B, CP 23080 [email protected] La Paz, B.C.S., México. Tel: (612) 123-8800, ext. 4160; Fax: (612) 123-8819 NADIA C. Olivares-BAñUELOS [email protected] Reserva de la Biosfera Isla Guadalupe Comisión Nacional de áreas Naturales Protegidas yULIANA R. BEDOLLA-GUzMáN AND Avenida del Puerto 375, local 30 Arturo RAMíREz-VALDEz Fraccionamiento Playas de Ensenada, C.P. 22880 Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Ensenada, B.C., México Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Carr. Tijuana-Ensenada km. 107, Apartado postal 453, C.P. 22890 Ensenada, B.C., México ABSTRACT recognized the biological and ecological significance of Guadalupe Island, off Baja California, México, is Guadalupe Island, and declared it a Biosphere Reserve an important fishing area which also harbors high (SEMARNAT 2005). marine biodiversity. Based on field data, literature Guadalupe Island is isolated, far away from the main- reviews, and scientific collection records, we pres- land and has limited logistic facilities to conduct scien- ent a comprehensive checklist of the local fish fauna, tific studies. In consequence (and despite its biological which is comprised of 328 species from 219 genera, 105 importance) there is still a very limited number of papers families, 30 orders, and 3 classes. Of these, 156 species about the ecology and composition of its marine com- represent new records. Almost half of the species (154) munities. A good example of this situation is the lack of are from tropical waters and the remainders are typi- a formal checklist for many invertebrate taxa, and of the cal of warm and cold temperate regions. The island is bony and cartilaginous fish fauna of this insular region. the type locality of 18 fishes, represents the range limit In relation to the ichthyofauna, most published listings of 48 taxa, and has 8 endemics. A biogeographic analy- contain only partial information from occasional visits sis comparing Guadalupe and the Baja California Pen- or literature reviews (Hubbs 1960; Miller and Lea 1972; insula indicates that the composition of reef fishes of Love et al. 2005), and the few studies that have specifi- the island is very similar to that found at 28˚N, and cally targeted Guadalupe Island, are focused on particu- suggests that Cedros, San Benito islands, and Punta lar families (Hubbs and Rechnitzer 1958; Briggs 1965; Eugenia, might be the key sources of tropical immi- Pietsch 1969; León-Castro et al. 1993). The lack of more grants to Guadalupe. complete information hinders the efforts of the Bio- sphere Reserve managers, who require comprehensive INTRODUCTION data to set adequate baselines for monitoring possible Guadalupe Island, located off the western coast of the temporal changes in community composition, caused Baja California Peninsula, has a long tradition as a fish- either by anthropogenic or natural forces. Furthermore, ing ground (Aguirre-Muñoz et al. 2005; Salgado-Rogel without a detailed inventory of fish species, any bio- et al. 2009), and sustains many high-value fisheries, such geographic analysis of the island is limited in scope. A as abalone Haliotis spp., lobster Panulirus interruptus (Ran- comparison of the fish assemblages of Guadalupe Island dall 1840), and sea cucumber Parastichopus parvimensis and the mainland has never been adequately conducted, (Clark 1913). In addition, Gallo- Reynoso et al. (2005a, but might elucidate population linkages between Gua- b) demonstrated that the island has a key conservation dalupe Island and the mainland. Such studies would significance as a breeding habitat for marine mammals, be an important contribution to the “Baja to Bering” such as the Guadalupe fur seal Arctocephalus townsendi initiative, devoted to create a multinational network of (Merriam 1897) and the elephant seal Mirounga angu- marine reserves in Canada, the United States, and Méx- stirostris (Gill 1866). More recently, this location has ico (Vásárhelyi and Thomas 2008). For the reasons spec- become an important tourist attraction (Domeier and ified above, the objective of this paper is to present an Nasby-Lucas 2007) because of the presence of white updated systematic list of the fish fauna of Guadalupe sharks, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus 1758). For all Island, based on field data, literature reviews, and scien- these reasons, in 2005, the Méxican federal government tific collection records. 195 ReyeS-BONIllA eT Al: CheCklIST AND BIOgeOgRAphy Of fISheS fROm gUADAlUpe ISlAND CalCOfI Rep., Vol. 51, 2010 STUDy AReA 2009. Second, we gathered information from electronic Guadalupe Island is located in the Pacific Ocean, and in-house scientific collections from institutions in about 260 km west of the Baja California Peninsula, México and the United States, encompassing records México (fig. 1). It is of volcanic origin, approximately from the 1950s to 2004. Third, we conducted an exten- 37 x 8 km in size (total area about 254 km2), and ori- sive literature review on the fish fauna of the location ented in a north-south direction with a mountainous of interest. topography and altitudes up to 1,300 m above sea level For our field survey, we visited 16 sites during a six- (fig. 1). The geology, vegetation, and terrestrial fauna of day visit to the island in September 2008 (fig. 1). In each Guadalupe Island are well-studied and described else- location, we performed four underwater visual censuses where (Santos-del Prado and Peters 2005). There is no with hookah diving equipment: two “shallow” (0–10 m) significant coastal shelf, except on the south end where and two “deep” (10–20 m); all were conducted inside a shallow platform connects the island to a series of belt transects of 25 x 4 m, and the total surveyed area small islets, such as El Toro and El zapato (Castro et was 6,400 m2. In addition, during a second two-week al. 2005). Offshore, the depth increases with an aver- visit to Guadalupe in April 2009, we surveyed tide pools age slope of 70˚ to the ocean floor down to 3,600 m at the southern tip and on the west coast. All fishes (Gallo-Reynoso et al. 2005a). The rugged subtidal envi- observed in the field were identified on the basis of ronment consists of boulders and gray-black sandy bot- illustrations in Miller and Lea (1972), Eschmeyer et al. toms intermixed with blocks, basaltic dikes, pavements, (1983), Gotshall (2001) and Humann (2005). and walls with numerous caves and hollows that provide In the case of museum data, we reviewed records shelter to many species, including commercially impor- from eleven collections, either electronically or by tant invertebrates. direct visits to the following institutions: Universi- Guadalupe Island is home to a great variety of fauna dad Autónoma de Baja California (Ensenada); Scripps and flora, including many endemic species both in land Institution of Oceanography (San Diego); Los Angeles and in the sea, and for that reason it was declared as a County Natural History Museum (Los Angeles); Cali- Biosphere Reserve by the Méxican government (Garth fornia Academy of Sciences (San Francisco); National 1958; Ferreira 1978; Santos-del Prado and Peters 2005; Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Espinosa-Pérez and Hendrickx 2006). The weather and (Washington, DC); American Museum of Natural His- oceanic conditions at Guadalupe are influenced by the tory (New york); Santa Barbara Museum of Natural California Current system, which carries water from History (Santa Barbara); Academy of Natural Sciences high latitudes to the south (Castro et al. 2005). Monthly of Philadelphia (Philadelphia); Museum of Compara- average sea surface temperature range from 14˚C to tive zoology (Cambridge); University of Kansas Natural 22˚C (yearly average 18.7˚C); the warmest months are History Museum (Kansas City); and Tulane University August, September, and October when temperatures (New Orleans). We only used the information from are usually > 20˚C, and the coldest months are January, those specimens caught within 50 km of the island, February, and March when temperature is typically independent of the fishing method, depth or year; this < 17˚C (Hernández-de la Torre et al. 2005). It is inter- choice was done to have a better list of possible spe- esting to note that positive local temperature anomalies cies, because of the steep topography of the island, it is > 5˚C have been documented in El Niño South- common to observe pelagic species near the coastline ern Oscillation years (Durazo and Baumgartner 2002; (Gallo-Reynoso et al. 2005b). Durazo et al. 2005), and that the southern part of the Finally, to complete the checklist we made a litera- island is almost half a degree warmer than the north, ture review of refereed journals and technical books evidence of the cooling effect from the California Cur- from libraries at Universidad Autónoma de Baja Califor- rent (CONANP 2009). The water surrounding Guada- nia Sur (La Paz), Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias lupe Island has chlorophyll concentrations from 0.25 to Marinas (La Paz), Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas 0.50 mg/m3, with the highest production in Decem- del Noroeste (La Paz), Universidad Autónoma de Baja ber and January and the lowest in August and Septem- California (Ensenada), Centro de Investigación Cientí- ber (Venrick et al. 2003). Total primary productivity is fica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (Ensenada), remarkably affected in El Niño years, decreasing to very and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (San Diego).