Knowledge about ophiuroids from Chiapas, Mexico, is still limited; only Diopederma daninana was previously recorded in the state. In order to contribute to the knowledge of their diversity in the region, ophiuroids were collected in four localities of Puerto Chiapas, in different substrata and at different depths. Three species were identified: Ophiothrix (Ophiothrix) spiculata, Ophiactis savignyi, and Ophiactis simplex. O. simplex was the most abundant and well distributed. With these additions, we updated the checklist of ophiuroids from Chiapas to five species.
Resumen. Producto de la revisión de literatura científica especializada, visitas a colecciones de referencia y trabajo de campo, se presenta el listado de corales pétreos (10 especies), equinodermos (32 especies) y peces (150 especies) que habitan el Parque Nacional Huatulco (PNH). Las 192 especies aquí registradas representan un incremento de ~ 66.9% respecto a estudios previos. En cuanto a otras áreas naturales protegidas (ANP) en México, el PNH alberga una riqueza de especies mayor con relación a las ANP localizadas en el Pacífico central mexicano, aunque debajo de aquella presente en ANP del Caribe y golfo de México. De acuerdo con el análisis de diversidad y variación de la diversidad taxonómica, la representatividad taxonómica de corales y peces del PNH es baja respecto a la fauna de aguas someras del Pacífico tropical americano, en tanto que protege mayoritariamente especies que se encuentran filogenéticamente relacionadas, por lo que es taxonómicamente poco diversa. El manejo del PNH es estratégico para el mantenimiento de las comunidades marinas costeras del sur y centro del Pacífico mexicano, pues representa la
Introduction: The echinoderms from the Central Mexican Pacific are of high scientific interest and, prior to this present work, there was a lack of basic information that included incomplete checklists with inconsistencies in systematics and spatial distribution. Objective: To provide a historical review, and an updated checklist with a more complete richness of echinoderms for each state and island of the region. Methods: A checklist was elaborated based on an exhaustive literature search of the Echinodermata, and was complemented with taxonomical revisions of Ophiuroidea scientific collections. All the geographical coordinates of the records were validated. Results: The region harbors 187 species of Echinodermata: three Crinoidea, 35 Asteroidea, 67 Ophiuroidea, 32 Echinoidea, and 50 Holothuroidea. We detected 52 records in the literature that must be considered as invalid and five as doubtful. We provide 16 new records of Ophiuroidea from different states and islands; of them, four are new records for the region. Jalisco presented the highest number of species (84), followed by the coast of Nayarit (74), Michoacán (63), and Colima (55); among the islands, Revillagigedo showed the major number of species (85) followed by Marías (81), Marietas (48), and Isabel (44). Conclusions: The numbers of species known in the region are mostly related to both sampling effort and environmental characteristics that promote high biodiversity. The Central Mexican Pacific is an oceanographic region with mixed conditions from the North and South of the Mexican Pacific, and therefore, with a biogeographical importance reflected in its species richness.
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