Abstract
An annotated checklist of marine fishes of the Sanctuary of Islands and Islets of Bahía Chamela in the central Mexican Pacific is presented. Records of fish species were obtained by different methods including visual census, sampling with anesthetics, fisherman-nets, and trawling with a biological dredge. Additional records were obtained from natural history collections and publications. The list comprises 196 species in 64 families and 141 genera. The Carangidae is the most speciose family with 11 species, followed by the Labridae with 10 and the Pomacentridae with nine. Fourteen species are endemic in Mexican Pacific waters, but none is restricted to Bahía Chamela. The most dominant species recorded during underwater surveys were Epinephelus labriformis, Stegastes flavilatus, and Halichoeres dispilus. Most species are of tropical affinities distributed throughout the tropical eastern Pacific (123), eastern Pacific (23), and Mexican Pacific (14). Other species are known from the eastern and Indo-Pacific regions (18), eastern Pacific and western Atlantic oceans (2), and some are circumtropical (9). A new record of the Gulf Brotula Ogilbia ventralis is provided for the Bahía Chamela and its geographical distribution is extended to Mexican central Pacific.
Highlights
The study of fish diversity along the Mexican Pacific coasts started two centuries ago by naturalists and scientists who studied rich collections from some now-memorable expeditions (Gilbert 1890, Jordan et al 1895, Breder 1926, 1927, 1928, 1936, Fowler 1944)
The Bahía Chamela is located in the middle coastline area of Jalisco state on the central Mexican Pacific (19°32'N; 105°06'W) (Figure 1)
The bay is located between two major oceanic systems: the Gulf of Tehuantepec and the Gulf of California
Summary
The study of fish diversity along the Mexican Pacific coasts started two centuries ago by naturalists and scientists who studied rich collections from some now-memorable expeditions (Gilbert 1890, Jordan et al 1895, Breder 1926, 1927, 1928, 1936, Fowler 1944). Two previous lists of fishes of this bay are found reporting 59 and 80 species for the mainland coastline and for the Annotated checklist of marine fishes from the Sanctuary of Bahía Chamela, Mexico... A comprehensive checklist of fish species from the Sanctuary of Bahía Chamela Islands has been compiled based on sampling work from 2007 to 2014, review of material from ichthyological collections, and critical analysis of selected references.
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