Evaluating the Fish Community of “Los Petenes” Biosphere Reserve, Campeche, Mexico, through the Characteristics of the Environment and Indicators of Taxonomic Diversity

• Published in: Thalassas : revista de ciencias del mar 2021-04, Vol.37 (1), p.331-346
• Main Authors: Can-González, M. J., Ramos-Miranda, J., Ayala-Pérez, L. A., Flores-Hernández, D., Gómez-Criollo, F. J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biosphere; Breeding; Coastal Sciences; Coastal zone; Coastal zones; Coasts; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fish; Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management; Fishing; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Genera; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Mathematical analysis; Oceanography; Rainy season; Sampling; Species diversity; Species richness; Taxonomy; Tourism; Variation; Wet season
• ISSN: 0212-5919; 2366-1674
• DOI: 10.1007/s41208-020-00250-8

The coastal zone of Los Petenes” Biosphere Reserve, is a critical breeding habitat for many species, particularly fish. Despite its low anthropic impact, development on the coastal area around the reserve is gradually increasing and fishing activities continue to grow; however, there are few studies on fish communities and the characteristics of their environment. In addition, there are no reference indexes to measure possible future impacts on the fish community. In order to obtain a baseline index, we carried out 12 monthly campaigns at 24 sampling sites between May 2013 and April 2014 in the coastal area of the reserve. Through these months we analysed water environmental variables, and calculated various diversity indexes: species richness ( S ), evenness ( E 1/D ), importance index ( IV ), and indexes of taxonomic distinctiveness (Δ*, Δ + , Ʌ + ). There are significant environment variations through these months, but there is no evident variation between sampling sites. We identify 45 species of fish grouped into 44 genera, 20 families, 15 suborders, 13 orders, 2 subclasses and 2 classes. According to index IV (> 10), 12 species are important. Taxonomic diversity indexes are sensitive to environmental variation, mainly during the rainy season. We establish the preferred environmental characteristics of all 45 species. This study allows for the establishment of baseline index values for the state of the Reserve that can be reassessed in future research regarding the impact of developing fishing, tourism and urban activities in the region.