Abstract

SILVA-SEGUNDO, Claudia A. et al. Larval fish associations related to environmental changes in Bahía Chamela, Jalisco and Santiago-Manzanillo, Colima (2001-2002). Hidrobiológica [online]. 2008, vol.18, suppl.1, pp.89-103. ISSN 0188-8897.

Spatial and temporal structure of fish larvae associations and their relationship to the environmental variability were studied at Bahía Chamela, Jalisco, and Santiago-Manzanillo complex, Colima, during 2001-2002. Two spatial aggregations were found, related to the coastal physiography and to the adult habitat. The first was observed at Bahía Chamela, which integrated a combination of species belonging to coastal, demersal and inshore habitats (Bregmaceros bathymaster, Bairdiella sp., Cynoscion sp., Engraulis mordax, and Labrisomidae type 1) and the other in Santiago-Manzanillo composed by species from lagoon and inshore areas (Eucinostomus sp., Abudefduf troschelii, Haemulidae type 2 and 3, and Enneanectes sexmaculatus). Temporal organization was influenced by the environmental shift between two periods (warm and temperate) defined by the regional environmental variability. The warm period was characterized by tropical species (Harengula thrissina, Eucinostomus sp., Auxis sp., and Haemulidae type 3), related to high temperature and rainfall, while temperate period was dominated by species with a tropical-subtropical affinity (B. bathymaster, Bairdiella sp., Cynoscion sp., and £ mordax) and related to lower temperature and elevated nutrients, chlorophyll a and plankton concentrations.

Keywords : Fish; larvae; assemblages; Jalisco; Colima.