Ichthyological Survey on the Yucatan Coastal Corridor (Southern Gulf of Mexico)

Ichthyological Survey on the Yucatan Coastal Corridor (Southern Gulf of Mexico)

Rev. Biodivers. Neotrop. ISSN 2027-8918 e-ISSN 2256-5426 Julio-Diciembre 2015; 5 (2): 145-55 145 DOI: 10.18636/bioneotropical.v5i2.167 Ichthyological survey on the Yucatan Coastal Corridor (Southern Gulf of Mexico) Evaluación ictiológica en el Corredor Costero de Yucatán (Sureste del Golfo de México) Sonia Palacios-Sánchez*, María Eugenia Vega-Cendejas*, Mirella Hernández* Abstract It is provided a systematic checklist of the ichthyofauna inhabiting the Yucatan coastal corridor, as part of the Mesoamerican Corridor which connects two of the most important reserves in Yucatan Peninsula Mexico: Celestun and Ria Lagartos. Fish specimens were collected bimonthly, from January 2002 to March 2004, in 24 localities along the coast (140 km). The systematic list includes 94 species belonging to 44 families and 19 orders. The best represented families by species number were Sciaenidae (10), Carangidae (9) and Engraulidae (5). Information about size range, number of specimen per species and zoogeographic affinities are included. The species with the highest occurrence (100%) were Harengula jaguana and Trachinotus falcatus. It is confirmed the presence ofRypticus maculatus (Serranidae) in the southern Gulf of Mexico and of three brackish species into the marine environment. Keywords: Biodiversity, Coastal fishes, Gulf of Mexico, Ichthyofauna, Yucatan. Resumen Se presenta un listado sistemático de la ictiofauna que habita el corredor costero de Yucatán, el cual forma parte del Corredor Mesoamericano que conecta dos de las reservas más importantes en la Península de Yucatán (México): Celestún y Ría Lagartos. Los especímenes se colectaron bimensualmente entre enero 2002 a marzo 2004 en 24 sitios a lo largo de los 300 km de costa. El listado sistemático contiene 94 especies incluidas en 44 familias y 19 órdenes. Las familias mejor representadas por número de especies fueron Sciaenidae (10), Carangidae (9) y Engraulidae (5). Para cada especie se incluye el número de ejemplares, intervalo de tallas y afinidades zoogeográficas. Las especies con la mayor ocurrencia (100%) fueron Harengula jaguana y Trachinotus falcatus. Se confirma la presencia deRypticus maculatus (Serra- nidae) en el sureste del Golfo de México y de tres especies salobres en el ambiente marino. Palabras clave: Biodiversidad, Golfo de México, Ictiofauna, Peces costeros, Yucatán. Introduction assessments, as well biogeographic and phylogenetic studies, among others (Karr 1981, Moncayo-Estrada Taxonomic inventories (or species censuses) are et al. 2006). The basic knowledge of diversity alpha the most elementary data in biogeography, macro- through species discovery and description is mostly ecology and conservation biology. They play funda- complete for some areas of the world and for many mental roles in the construction of species richness families of fishes, but important gaps remain (Esch- patterns, delineation of species ranges, quantification meyer et al. 2010). Remarkably, tropical areas that of extinction risk and prioritization of conservation are well known for their diversity have among the efforts in hot spot areas (Gaston and Blackburn lowest completeness of all taxonomic inventories. 2000). It is recognized that this knowledge is the These data gaps occurred regardless of habitat (Mora starting point for subsequent studies and analysis for et al. 2008). fisheries research, fish management, environmental In Yucatan Peninsula (YP) because of karst con- * Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN. Unidad Mérida, km. 6 Antig. Carr. Progreso. AP 73 Cordemex, Mérida, Yucatán, México, CP 97310. e-mail: [email protected] Date received: May 12, 2014 Date approval: Diciembre 16, 2014 Associated Editor: Mantilla H. © Rev. Biodivers. Neotrop. 2015; 5 (2): 145-55 146 Palacios-Sánchez S et al. ditions, soils are porous with rapid infiltration of ra- Caballero-Vázquez and Vega-Cendejas 2012), while inwater and absence of surface drainage (Southworth littoral species have been little studied. In the particu- 1984). The water flow is mostly underground, where lar case of the northwestern coast of the YP, there is a drainage is discharged into the direction of the coast. lack of systematic information. The present research The absence of rivers and freshwater discharges provides the first checklist of the coastal biological develop in coastal and, heterogeneous habitats (man- corridor of the Yucatan (CBCY), whose function is groves, petenes, seagrass) for fishes (Toledo-Ocampo to maintain the physical and biological connection 2005, Yáñez-Arancibia et al. 2009), where marine between two of the most important biosphere and fish species migrate to and from coastal lagoons and ecological reserves of Mexico: Celestun and Ria wetlands for feeding, reproduction and protection Lagartos (Smardon 2009). (Arceo-Carranza et al. 2013). In these environments fish species are represent by freshwater, estuarine, Materials and methods euryhaline and estenohaline marine components, some of them of endemic nature. Fish collections were conducted monthly during a Coastal fishes of the northwest coast of YP, biannual period (January 2002-March 2004) in twenty are of particular interest because they share fauna four sites along the coast (Figure 1, Table 1). Tempe- elements with the Caribbean Province and Western rature and salinity were recorded using a multipara- Tropical Atlantic region; about 6.4% of fish species metric probe (Yellow Springs Instrument, model 85). recorded in the Gulf of Mexico (GM), are restricted Fish specimens were caught with a beach seine (15 to the southeast subregion (i.e. Cape Rojo, Veracruz; m long, 2 m high, 2.5 cm mesh size), approximately Cape Catoche, Quintana Roo), and although most of at 30 m from the coastline (Figure 2). A total of forty them occur in the Caribbean, some are endemic to meters were trawled, covering an estimated area of the YP, like the giant killifishFundulus grandissimus 264 m2 with two replicas per station. Specimens were (Miller 2005). preserved in 15% formalin solution and subsequently The YP separates the Caribbean Sea from the GM, transferred to ethyl alcohol. with 1,100 km of coastline. It is the exposed portion Each individual was identified to species, measu- of the larger Yucatan Platform, which is composed red (standard length to the nearest 0.1 cm), and wei- of carbonate and soluble rock with a shallow depth ghed (to the nearest 0.1g). Species identification was and an unconfined flat lying karst landscape. The based on several taxonomic sources (Fischer 1978, northwestern coast comprises the not protected area with 140 km2 of coastline from El Palmar (21° 0.3’ - 90° 16.0’) to Chabihau (21° 21.0’- 89° 7.0’). In this biological corridor diverse economic activities are realized, as fishing, aquaculture, tourism and port trade. The predominant climate of this region is the driest of the subhumid type with summer rains and a low proportion of winter precipitation (Batllori et al. 2000). In general, fish research in the southern GM has been concentrated in the coastal lagoons from Veracruz to Yucatan (Reséndez-Medina 1983, Salva- dores-Baledón and Reséndez 1990, Yáñez-Arancibia et al. 1993, Obregón-Barboza et al.1994, Pérez-Her- nández and Torres-Orozco 2000, Ayala-Pérez et al. 2003, Vega-Cendejas 2004, García-Hernández et al. 2009, Arceo-Carranza et al. 2010, Palacios-Sán- Figure 1. Study area indicating the sampling sites in the chez y Vega-Cendejas, 2010, Peralta-Meixuero and northwestern coast of Yucatan Peninsula (Southern Gulf Vega-Cendejas 2011, Vega-Cendejas et al. 2012, of Mexico). Rev. Biodivers. Neotrop. 2015; 5 (2): 145-55 147 Table 1. List of sampling sites in the northwest coast of Yucatan Peninsula with their code number Station Position % N S El Palmar (1) Faro M 21º3.49’, 90º15.93’ 4.4 27 Reserve (2) Faro I-M 21º3.05’, 90º16.46’ 21.8 38 Western zone (3) Cahuich 21º4.46’, 90º15.02’ 2.0 21 (4) Punta Pantera 21º5.36’, 90º12.71 13.5 33 (5) La tabla 21º6.80’, 90º10.81 5.3 35 El Palmar Reserve (6) Punta Elefante 21º8.04’, 90º9.55’ 10.3 36 Eastern zone (EPR) (7) Punta Piedra 21º9.46’, 90º5.74’ 1.1 33 (8) Yaxantún 21º 9.69’, 90º 4.31’ 1.6 36 (9) Pecis-M 21º10.65’, 89º59.91’ 1.2 31 (10) Bocana-M 21º13.73’, 89º54.35’ 7.8 37 (11) Chuburná 21º15.40’, 89º49.34’ 2.5 27 Progreso (PG) (12) Chelem 21º16.02’, 89º46.78’ 0.8 16 (13) Progreso 21º17.25’, 89º40.10’ 4.4 37 (14) Chicxulub 21º14.55’, 89º37.73’ 1.6 25 (15) Uaymitun 21º17.99’, 89º35.13’ 0.8 33 (16) San Bruno II 21º18.72’, 89º32.33’ 2.4 40 Ixil (IX) (17) San Benito 21º19.41’, 89º29.04’ 1.2 36 (18) San Bruno 21º19.56’, 89º26.55’ 1.0 30 (19) Telchac I 21º20.61’, 89º18.33’ 1.3 24 Telchac (TC) (20) Telchac II 21º20.61’, 89º16.70’ 3.2 33 (21) San Crisanto I 21º20.92’, 89º13.64’ 2.6 37 Sinanche (SC) (22) San Crisanto II 21º21.27’, 89º10.56’ 1.3 36 (23) Chabihau I 21º21.44’, 89º7.62’ 5.9 34 Yobaín (YB) (24) Chabihau II 21º21.47’, 89º7.13’ 2.1 32 Geographic coordinates (Latitude N, Longitude W), relative numerical abundance (% N) and species richness (S) are specified. Whitehead 1985, Hoese and Moore 1998, McEachran Results and Fechhelm 1998, 2005, Schmitter-Soto 1998, Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999, Carpenter 2002a, 2002b), As a tropical region, the study area showed little and systematic classification according to Nelson variations in temperature and salinity, with average (2006). The name, author and description year were values of 27.02 (±2.31) ºC and 35.84 (±1.71), respec- checked against Eschmeyer (2015). A representative tively. A total of 94 species included in 81 genera, 44 sample of each species was deposited and catalogued families and 19 orders were sampled during the study. in the ichthyological collection of CINVESTAV-IPN, From this total, the Eslasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes) Merida (YUC.PEC.084.0999 key).

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