Latitudinal variation in structure and function of conspicuous reef fish assemblages along the western Gulf of California

Melo, Francisco J. Fernández-Rivera; Reyes‐Bonilla, Héctor; Ramírez‐Ortiz, Georgina; Álvarez‐Filip, Lorenzo

doi:10.22201/ib.20078706e.2018.4.2231

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…Studies on community ecology of fishes have evidenced three faunistic zones in the gulf of California: North, Central and South (Figure 1; Brusca et al, 2005;Hastings et al, 2010;Thomson et al, 2000) and a latitudinal gradient in species composition (Fernández-Rivera Melo et al, 2018;Olivier et al, 2018).…”

Section: Study Area: Gulf Of Californiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating eDNA metabarcoding and simultaneous underwater visual surveys to describe complex fish communities in a marine biodiversity hotspot

Valdivia-Carrillo

Rocha‐Olivares

Reyes‐Bonilla

et al. 2021

Molecular Ecology Resources

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Marine biodiversity can be surveyed using underwater visual censuses and recently with eDNA metabarcoding. Although a promising tool, eDNA studies have shown contrasting results related to its detection scale and the number of species identified compared to other survey methods. Also, its accuracy relies on complete reference databases used for taxonomic assignment and, as other survey methods, species detection may show false-negative and false-positive errors. Here, we compared results from underwater visual censuses and simultaneous eDNA metabarcoding fish surveys in terms of observed species and community composition. We also assess the effect of a custom reference database in the taxonomic assignment, and evaluate occupancy, capture and detection probabilities, as well as error rates of eDNA survey data.We amplified a 12S rRNA fish barcode from 24 sampling sites in the gulf of California.More species were detected with eDNA metabarcoding than with UVC. Because each survey method largely detected different sets of species, the combined approach doubled the number of species registered. Both survey methods recovered a known biodiversity gradient and a biogeographic break, but eDNA captured diversity over a broader geographic and bathymetric scale. Furthermore, the use of a modest-sized custom reference database significantly increased taxonomic assignment. In a subset of species, occupancy models revealed eDNA surveys provided similar or higher detection probabilities compared to UVC. The occupancy value of each species had a large influence on eDNA detectability, and in the false positive and negative error.Overall, these results highlight the potential of eDNA metabarcoding in complementing other established ecological methods for studies of marine fishes. K E Y W O R D Sbiodiversity monitoring, detection probability, eDNA metabarcoding, fish community, occupancy model, reference database, underwater visual census | INTRODUC TI ONUnderstanding spatial patterns and drivers of species presence is a primary task in ecological and evolutionary applications (Guillera-Arroita et al., 2017). However, identifying the complete species components in a particular ecosystem is arduous, especially in hotspots of biodiversity in the marine realm, where fish species represent one of the best-studied groups.Significant advances in the study of fish communities have been achieved through underwater visual censuses (UVC) and, more recently, with environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding (MacNeil et al., 2008;West et al., 2020). UVC relies on multiple trained observers for recording the presence of individual fish within a fixed area. It is a survey method biased against wary, highly mobile organ-

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Section: Study Area: Gulf Of Californiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating eDNA metabarcoding and simultaneous underwater visual surveys to describe complex fish communities in a marine biodiversity hotspot

Valdivia-Carrillo

Rocha‐Olivares

Reyes‐Bonilla

et al. 2021

Molecular Ecology Resources

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Marine diversity in the biosphere reserve of the most oceanic island in the Gulf of California: San Pedro Mártir

Amador-Castro¹,

Melo²,

Torre³

2021

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San Pedro Mártir island is of high biological, ecological, and fishery importance and was declared a biosphere reserve in 2002. This island is the most oceanic in the Gulf of California, and information on its rocky reefs is scarce. The present study aimed to generate the first list of conspicuous invertebrate and fish species based on in situ observations and to examine the community structure of the shallow rocky reefs of the reserve. In addition, we estimated the ecological indicators of richness, abundance, Shannon diversity, and Pielou evenness to evaluate the conservation status of the biosphere reserve. Data were collected annually from 2007 to 2017 through 2,192 underwater SCUBA transects. A total of 35 species of invertebrates and 73 species of fish were recorded. Most of the species are widely distributed along the eastern Pacific. Overall, 64% of the species found in this study are commercially important, and 11 species have been listed as protected. The abundance of commercially important invertebrate species (i.e., the sea cucumber Isostichopus fuscus and the spiny oyster Spondylus limbatus) is decreasing, while commercially important fish species have maintained their abundance with periods of increase. The ecological indicators and the abundance and size of the commercial species indicate that the reserve is in good condition while meeting its conservation objectives.

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Latitudinal variation in structure and function of conspicuous reef fish assemblages along the western Gulf of California

Abstract: Latitudinal variation in structure and function of conspicuous reef fish assemblages along the western Gulf of California Variacion latitudinal en la estructura y función de la comunidad íctica conspicua arrecifal en el oeste del golfo de California

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

Integrating eDNA metabarcoding and simultaneous underwater visual surveys to describe complex fish communities in a marine biodiversity hotspot

Integrating eDNA metabarcoding and simultaneous underwater visual surveys to describe complex fish communities in a marine biodiversity hotspot

Marine diversity in the biosphere reserve of the most oceanic island in the Gulf of California: San Pedro Mártir

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