Abstract
An updated checklist of the benthic amphipods associated with soft bottoms in the SW Gulf of Mexico has been made and the areas of endemism have been identified. Amphipods were collected in a depth interval of 25 to 3700 m during six cruises from 1994 to 1999. A total number of 56 species were identified, 11 belonging to the suborder Caprellidea and 45 to the suborder Gammaridea. Thirteen species extended their geographical distribution within the Gulf of Mexico and four species were considered new records in the Gulf of Mexico. A biogeographic analysis based on the shared species and the parsimony criterion helped identify three areas of endemism in the SW Gulf of Mexico. They were named: area A, a small area on the continental shelf of the Bay of Campeche; area B, the continental slope of the Bay of Campeche; and area C, the lower continental slope of the Mexican ridges extending into the western Sigsbee abyssal plain. These areas are defined in terms of their complex topography that may help isolate habitats that promote endemicity.
Highlights
The first reports of amphipods from offshore habitats were documented during the last decades of the 19th century by Sars, Chevreux, and Stebbing (Thurston, 2000)
Our knowledge of the amphipod fauna has significantly increased in the last years; it remains limited for offshore habitats in most of the ocean regions
Caprella equilibra Say, 1818 This species is a dominant component, it occurs in muddy sediments of the Mexican ridges and Sigsbee abyssal plain (SBI cruise) within a depth range of 1231 to 3700 m
Summary
The first reports of amphipods from offshore habitats were documented during the last decades of the 19th century by Sars, Chevreux, and Stebbing (Thurston, 2000). A large number of amphipods have been recorded subsequently in diverse benthic habitats (Barnard, 1961, 1962, 1964). Endemicity to the generic level was analyzed by Barnard and Karaman (1991) and Bellan-Santini (1990) within different biogeographic regions. Our knowledge of the amphipod fauna has significantly increased in the last years; it remains limited for offshore habitats in most of the ocean regions. The benthic amphipod fauna of the Gulf of Mexico has been extensively documented in the coastal ecosystems including the continental shelf (Myers, 1981; Ortiz, 1991; Thomas, 1993; LeCroy, 1995, 2000, 2001)
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