Taxonomic Distinctness of the Intertidal Fish Community on the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur, México

Abstract

The intertidal zone is a complex coastal area exposed to a wide variety of environmental factors. During low tide, rocky pools are exposed to air for several hours throughout the day, and environmental conditions such as temperature and salinity are highly variable. Fish communities that inhabit these tide pools are also exposed to environmental variability; therefore it is important to look at fish community structure in relation to important environmental factors such as temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen on tide pools during spring tides, time of greater exposure to air. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the variation of the taxonomic distinctness of intertidal fish communities considering temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen of the water that remains trapped in the tide pools during low tide. Visual census surveys were carried out monthly, from January to December 2015, in the intertidal zone of El Faro during spring tides on full moon days, when fluctuations of environmental variables are significant. Total extension of the census surveys was 156 × 5 m (780 m2). A total of 145 tide pools were sampled and divided in three groups (small, medium and large) according to size and depths that ranged from 20 to 45 cm. Temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen fluctuate throughout the year of study. Thermal difference between open ocean and tide pools ranged from 3.5°C to 4.5°C. A total of 3757 organisms from 22 species, 12 families, four orders and one class were recorded. When comparing taxonomic distinctness and average taxonomic distinctness between months and tide pools of different sizes, values fell within the confidence intervals in the tunnel and were located close to the mean.