Notas

 

Euapta godeffroyi (Holothuroidea: Synaptidae): Filling the distribution gap between Mexico and Costa Rica, eastern tropical Pacific

 

Euapta godeffroyi (Holothuroidea: Synaptidae): Completando su distribución entre México y Costa Rica, Pacífico oriental tropical

 

Rebeca Granja-Fernández,¹ Virgilio Antonio-Pérez² and Ramón Andrés López-Pérez^3,4

 

¹ Programa de Posgrado, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro. Av. de las ciencias s. n., Col. Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230. México.

² Buceo Huatulco. Ocotillo 206, La Crucecita, Bahías de Huatulco, Oaxaca, 70989. México.

³ Universidad del Mar, Instituto de Recursos. Ciudad Universitaria. AP 47. Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca, 70902. México.

⁴ Lab. Ecosistemas Costeros, Dpto. Hidrobiología. UAM-Iztapalapa. Av. San Rafael Atlixco # 186. Col. Vicentina. Del. Iztapalapa. México, Distrito Federal. 09340. México e-mail: beckygranja@gmail.com

 

Recibido: 23 de marzo del 2012.
Aceptado: 25 de octubre de 2012.

 

ABSTRACT

One specimen of the sea cucumber Euapta godeffroyi (Semper, 1868) is reported from La Entrega reef (15°44'34'' N, 96°07'35'' W), Southern Mexican Pacific. The specimen was observed feeding late at night, supporting the nocturnal habits of this species which is a deposit feeder. No specimens of this species had been previously reported for the area extending from Isla Isabel, Mexico (21°51'43'' N, 105°53'28'' W) to Golfito, Costa Rica (8°37'02'' N, 83°09'01'' W); the new record fills part of its distribution gap in the eastern tropical Pacific.

Key words: Coral reef, distribution, eastern tropical Pacific, Euapta godeffroyi, Mexico.

 

RESUMEN

Se registra la presencia del pepino de mar Euapta godeffroyi (Semper, 1868) en el arrecife La Entrega (15°44'34'' N, 96°07'35'' W), en el Pacífico sur mexicano. El organismo fue observado alimentándose durante la noche, lo cual sustenta los hábitos nocturnos de esta especie, que se alimenta filtrando el sedimento depositado en el fondo marino. No había reportes previos de la especie en el área comprendida entre isla Isabel, México (21°51'43'' N, 105°53'28'' W) y Golfito, Costa Rica (8°37'02'' N, 83°09'01'' W); el nuevo registro completa el vacío de distribución de esta especie en el Pacífico oriental tropical.

Palabras clave: Arrecife de coral, distribución, Euapta godeffroyi, México, Pacífico oriental tropical.

 

Among the Holothuroidea, the genus Euapta Östergren, 1898 is characterized by a calcareous ring without noticeable anterior projections, and by anchor-plates that do not abruptly contract at the posterior end but with a large, smooth hole on either side. They occur in shallow water and upon or near reefs in tropical areas (Clark, 1907). Only six known species of these apodous holothurians have been recorded in the world's oceans: E. lappa (J. Müller, 1850), E. polii (Ludwig, 1875), E. magna Heding, 1928, E. tobagoensis Heding, 1928, E. tahitiensis Cherbonnier, 1955, and E. godeffroyi (Semper, 1868), being the latter the only species recorded in the eastern tropical Pacific (Ríos-Jara et al., 2008; Alvarado et al., 2010).

Euapta godeffroyi was originally described from Samoa as Synapta godeffroyi (Semper, 1868) and has a wide geographic distribution in the Indo-Pacific region: Red Sea, Seychelles, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa, India, Maldive Islands, New Caledonia, Cocos Keeling Islands, Philippines, Palau Islands, China, Vietnam, Guam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji Islands, Comoro Islands, Australia, Hawaiian Islands, and Easter Island (Massin, 1999). In the eastern tropical Pacific, the species has been reported from several localities: Gulf of California, Baja California Sur, Mexico: Ensenada Blanca, isla Danzante, isla San José, isla Espíritu Santo, isla Roca Partida, isla El Gallo, Punta Colorada, bahía de La Paz, la Gaviota, Punta Perico, Cabo Pulmo (Solís-Marín et al., 2009; Cintra-Buenrostro et al., 1998; Holguín-Quiñones et al., 2000); Nayarit, Mexico: isla Isabel (Ríos-Jara et al., 2008); provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica: Golfito (Alvarado et al., 2010; Alvarado J.J., unpublished data); and Gulf of Chiriquí, Panama: Uva Reef, Coiba Island (Glynn et al., 2008; Alvarado et al., 2010; Alvarado J.J., unpublished data).

A late night visual prospection of marine invertebrate organisms was conducted in La Entrega reef, Oaxaca, Mexico (15°44'34'' N, 96°07'35'' W) in August 2011. Prospection was conducted by digital video censuses only, with no collection of organisms. La Entrega reef is a protected area located at the western end of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, in an area known as Bahías de Huatulco. The reef is composed of 11 reef-forming species (Reyes-Bonilla et al., 2005), and in virtue of its size, coral cover and extension, the reef is considered one of the best developed in western Mexico. Recently, due to intense public use, dredging since the early 1990's, and recurrent natural disturbances (ENSO), La Entrega is considered to be a severely disturbed coral system (López-Pérez & Hernández-Ballesteros, 2004).

One individual of E. godeffroyi was observed late at night in an anchorage surrounded by a monogeneric patch of Pocillopora at 5 m depth. The organism was actively feeding on deposited particles. This living specimen was approximately 60 cm in length, frequently contracting and expanding. Its color was creamy-white with transversal and brownish regularly spaced stripes on the dorsal side and uniformly light creamy-white (lighter than the general body color) on the ventral side. Five bright yellow longitudinal bands with a middle black line ran along the whole body's length. The tentacles were grayish (Fig. 1). This color pattern is quite characteristic of this species and has been recurrently mentioned by distinct authors in different geographic areas (e.g. Clark, 1907). We only used overall morphology and the color pattern to identify the organism nevertheless there are other morphological characteristics (see Semper, 1868; Massin, 1999; Solís-Marín et al., 2009) usually considered to distinguish the species.

Euapta godeffroyi inhabits the intermareal zone to about 80 m depth (Solís-Marín et al., 2009), and is associated with sand, seagrass beds, rock (pebbles), calcareous material, coral rubble, and coral reefs (Fisher, 1907; Xiaoping et al., 2006). Since 2003 diurnal censuses have been conducted periodically in Guerrero and Oaxaca's reef systems in the tropical Mexican Pacific, but without further record of this species. The late night record in La Entrega reef supports that E. godeffroyi is active and visible only at night as previously reported by Massin (1996) and Conand et al. (2010). The only other Euapta observed at night is E. lappa. A dietary analysis, conducted by Hammond (1982), demonstrated that the stomach of this species is completely full at night, suggesting a nocturnal feeding activity. We observed E. godeffroyi actively feeding on deposited particles by extending their bucal tentacles into the sediment, thus confirming that the species is a deposit feeder as suggested by Glynn (2008).

Present report implies a range extension of almost 1300 km south of its nearest known locality in Mexico (isla Isabel, 21°51'43'' N, 105°53'28'' W) (Ríos-Jara et al., 2008) and almost 1500 km north of its nearest locality in Central America (Golfito, Costa Rica; 8°37'02'' N, 83°09'01'' W) (Alvarado et al., 2010; Alvarado J.J., unpublished data). The absence of records of this species between isla Isabel and Golfito is probably related to the lack of nocturnal surveys in reefs and coral reefs habitats, which are commonly found throughout. The known distribution of Euapta godeffroyi in eastern tropical Pacific reef areas (Cortés, 2003; Alvarado et al., 2010), and future nocturnal prospection might indicate that E. godeffroyi could be more abundant in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador than previously thought.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Dr. Francisco Solís Marín (ICMyL, UNAM, Mexico), and Dra. Dinorah Herrero (CICIMAR, IPN, Mexico) for kindly confirming the species identification based on live photographs; M. en C. Juan José Alvarado for sharing unpublished data (CIMAR, Costa Rica; UABCS, Mexico); M. Ed. Erika Ontiveros Alemán (UMAR, Mexico) for proofreading the text; and the reviewers for commenting on the manuscript. Fieldwork was founded by CONABIO (HJ029) and CONACYT (80228). While this work was done, RGF was supported by a scholarship for CONACYT.

 

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