Abstract
The survey of new benthic substrata is expected to yield new records of diatom taxa. A particular type of substratum is the skin of the Stone scorpionfish Scorpaena mystes Jordan & Starks, 1895 that, because of its benthic form of life, represents a potential colonizing surface for various organisms, including epizoic and opportunistic diatom taxa (epibiotic community). Thus, a floristic survey of diatoms was carried out by sampling the epibiotic community from S. mystes specimens collected in the east coast of Baja California Sur (Gulf of California). Thirty diatoms are new records for Mexican littorals. Twelve of these taxa had not been hitherto recorded for American coasts. Micrographs, and morphometric and distribution data on these taxa are provided.
Highlights
IntroductionBasis of ex-professo studies, for the Mexican northwestern [2] [3]
The relative high number of new records for Mexican littorals and those that are new for the whole American continent (12), indicate that much work is yet to be done on floristics of benthic marine diatom
A balance between these findings and an analysis of the overall species richness currently underway, will surely permit addressing questions such as, are exclusively epizoic diatom aggregations lacking on these fish? What characteristics favor the establishment of unique epizoic diatom aggregations? And, how do these rich diatom aggregations compare floristically with hosts from other localities?
Summary
Basis of ex-professo studies, for the Mexican northwestern [2] [3] In this way, the survey of new substrata in the Mexican coasts promises still more new records of benthic diatom taxa. Live substrata represent a rich source of epiphytic and epizoic diatoms. The latter comprises a wide array of host species that include invertebrates such as copepods, ciliates, bryozoans, hydrozoans, holothurians and vertebrates such as dolphins, whales, manatees and turtles [4] [5]. In particular for epizoic algae on fish, Ballantine et al [11] carried out the only study with three species of scorpaenids, recording only ten diatom taxa
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