Polychaete diversity in lagoons and estuaries of the southern gulf of Mexico
Por:
Hernández-Alcántara P., Cortés-Solano J.D., Solís-Weiss V.
Publicada:
1 ene 2011
Resumen:
Coastal lagoons and estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems in the world and are used as areas of shelter, breeding, growth and feeding by many species commercial or not. In the southern Gulf of Mexico, the lagoon-estuarine areas cover about 623,600 Ha. However, the invertebrates that populate their waters are scarcely known and information about them exists only in ten such systems. The polychaetous annelids are usually the most abundant and diversified group in the macrobenthic communities and, as such, can be used to address biodiversity changes on large spatial and temporal scales. This requires the integration of the results of currently ongoing research projects as well as those of past records. For this reason, the aim of this study is to present an overview of the biodiversity of the polychaetes known in those ecosystems in the southern region of the Gulf of Mexico, as a starting point for regional biodiversity monitoring. The taxonomic identifications of those organisms collected as part of our projects in the area, in addition to the compilation and synthesis of all the published information available, showed that this fauna is very diverse with 220 species of polychaetes included in 38 families. The families Spionidae (22 spp.), Nereididae (22 spp.) and Orbiniidae (14 spp.) were the richest in species, while 30 families (81%) were represented by less than 10 species. Despite the differences in sampling effort in the different lagoons and estuarine zones, the Términos Lagoon is clearly the most diversified with 145 species, followed by the Tamiahua Lagoon (66 spp.), while in each of El Cocal Estuary, Mandinga Lagoon and El Carmen lagoon only one species is recorded. Biodiversity studies on lagoon-estuarine systems are seldom carried out in marine tropical areas, mainly due to lack of infrastructure and expertise in monitoring and conservation, but this kind of studies should be a priority before irreversible damage occurs.
Filiaciones:
Hernández-Alcántara P.:
Laboratorio de Ecología Y Biodiversidad de Invertebrados Marinos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar Y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cdad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, México, D.F., Mexico
Cortés-Solano J.D.:
Laboratorio de Ecología Y Biodiversidad de Invertebrados Marinos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar Y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cdad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, México, D.F., Mexico
Solís-Weiss V.:
Laboratorio de Ecología Y Biodiversidad de Invertebrados Marinos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar Y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cdad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, México, D.F., Mexico
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