Background:

Despite the importance of zooplankton communities as a link in the processes of energy flow and biogeochemical cycles, few studies have been conducted in the coastal lagoons of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, with only two previous formal works for these systems.

Objectives:

To contribute to the knowledge of the species richness of the coastal zooplankton communities of Veracruz, with particular reference to the La Mancha lagoon.

Methods:

Monthly samplings were conducted from May 2012 to April 2013, at a site near the mouth of the lagoon, taking diurnal and nocturnal samples in order to have a better representation of the community. Zooplankton samples were collected with a surface net (100 cm length, 150 µm mesh size) in 10 min, circular trawls.

Results:

Fifty-seven zooplankton components corresponding to 43 families, 25 orders and 6 phyla (Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Chaetognatha, Annelida, Arthropoda y Chordata) were identified. The main components were the crustaceans, within which the adult copepods were the most diverse with 17 species. Adult peracarids were also relatively well represented with 11 species, while the decapods were characterized mainly by larvae (Penaeidea and Brachyura). Ichthyoplankton was represented by 12 species and the rest of the zooplankton included cnidarians, ctenophores, chaetognaths and polychaetes. Eighteen taxa correspond to new records for the system, although only two represent an extension in their range of distribution (Leucon americanus y Microdesmus carri).

Conclusions:

The zooplanktonic richness recorded in the present study is relatively high, being dominated by copepods. The curve of the accumulation of species and the values of the non-parametric estimators of the richness, allowing us to determine that the number of components recorded in the present study is a good indicator of the zooplankton richness of the study area.