Abstract
Abstract The San Ignacio Lagoon is part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, a location that has been declared a critical area for the conservation of marine mammals and fish that use it for breeding, feeding and refuge. The present paper has as its main focus to determine the impact of a large-scale oceanographic phenomenon (El Nino/La Nina) on the zoogeographic composition of the community of soft-bottom fish of the San Ignacio Lagoon. During the warm El Nino period of spring and fall 1998, the average water temperatures in San Ignacio Lagoon were between 20.9 and 21.1°C (± 0.2°C), while during the summer of 1998 average temperatures were higher (24.3°C), and during the cold La Nina period of the 1999 winter a 13.4°C average temperature was recorded. Eight species were present during all seasons: Eucinostomus dowii, Hippocampus ingens, Hypsopsetta guttulata, Paralabrax maculatofasciatus, Paralichthys californicus, Sphoeroides annulatus, Sphoeroides lispus and Urobatis halleri. The species with the highest abundance during El Nino were: Paralabrax maculatofasciatus, Eucinostomus dowii; whereas during La Nina the most abundant species were: Sphoeroides lispus, Paralabrax auroguttatus and Sphoeroides annulatus. The recorded fishes had zoogeographic affinity for the following provinces: Panamic (36%), Californian (32%), Eastern Pacific (18%) and Mexican (11%). Eleven fish species of tropical affinity that were recorded during El Nino event of 1997-1998.
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