Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Taxonomic list of the Echinoderms (Echinodermata: Asteroidea and Echinoidea) from the coast of Oaxaca in the south Pacific of Mexico. We present a systematic list of the echinoderms (Asteroidea, Echinoidea) from the coast of Oaxaca in the Southern Mexican Pacific, based on museum specimens of the Colección Nacional de Equinodermos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and fieldwork. A total of 27 echinoderm species is recorded: 23 genera, 17 families and 9 orders. We include 11 new records for the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 75-81. Epub 2009 January 05.

Echinoderms (Echinodermata) from western Archipelago Sabana-Camagüey, Cuba. The Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, central north region of Cuba, has been submitted to a significant tourist development, with the corresponding increase of hotel infrastructure and highways. We sampled 20 stations considering biotope variation in the macrolagoon and the external areas. The samplings were carried out in March - April and October - November, 2001 (20 days per sampling). Towards the external area - where there is a minor human impact, a better development of the marine grasslands and more saline stability, there were more species, moderate population densities and a lower proportion of species that feed on suspended material, while towards the interior of the macrolagoon we found the opposite pattern. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 19-35. Epub 2009 January 05.

Isla del Coco is the summit of a seamount 500 km southwest of Costa Rica’s mainland. The island is surrounded by a platform about 18 km long that trends in a southwest-northeast direction with a break in slope at around 180 m deep. Since 2006 the DeepSee submarine, with a 450 m depth capability, has been exploring the deep-water environments of Isla del Coco. Videos have been taken and several preliminary conclusions reached about the deep-water fauna of the island. First, the fauna changes rapidly at about 50 m depth; second, the fauna is highly diverse, with many new species likely; third, even though the distance between the north and south sides of the island is less than 8 km, the faunas seem to be different, possibly due to the influence of differing deep-water currents on each side of the island; and fourth, groups of organisms that where thought to be absent in the eastern Pacific Ocean have now been photographed. DeepSee has opened a new window to a very little known world of Isla del Coco. More studies are necessary to understand the deep-water faunas, and their relation to shallow water organisms and environments. This information will be important for management and conservation of the marine biodiversity of Isla del Coco. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 2): 189-206. Epub 2008 August 29.

Ophiuroids (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico. We report 68 species of ophiuroids distributed in two orders, 13 families, and 34 genera for the Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Diagnosis, taxonomic description, type material, type localities, geographic distribution and comments are given for each of the analyzed species. New bathymetric distribution data for 24 species, and new geographic distribution data for 32 species are given. The order Ophiurida is the best represented with nine families, 27 genera and 61 species. The best represented families in the study area are: Ophiuridae and Amphiuridae. Thirteen new records are given for the Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 83-167. Epub 2009 January 05.

Echinoderms (Echinodermata) from the Mexican Pacific. A systematic list of echinoderms of the Mexican Pacific, based on museum specimens of the Colección Nacional de Equinodermos, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., is presented. A total of 196 echinoderm species is recorded, distributed in 112 genera, 56 families and 20 orders. Eight new records for the Mexican Pacific are presented: one for Class Crinoidea: Hyocrinus foelli; six for Class Asteroidea: Echinaster (Echinaster) parvispinus, Henricia nana, Henricia seminudus, Rathbunaster californicus and Leptasterias pusilla, and one for Class Ophiuroidea: Amphiodia tabogae. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 57-73. Epub 2009 January 05.

Echinoderms (Echinodermata) from Central America Caribbean. We present a systematic list of the echinoderms from the Central American Caribbean, including the archipelago of San Andres, based on specimens deposited at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., the Invertebrate Zoology and Geology collections of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, the Museo de Zoología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica, the literature and internet. A total of 253 echinoderm species are recorded, distributed in 142 genera, 63 families and 27 orders. Ophiuroidea (79 species) and Asteroidea (56 species) are the most diverse classes. Panama (154 species) and Belize (131 species) have the highest reported echinoderm diversities. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 37-55. Epub 2009 January 05.

Legal aspects related to Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica. Cocos Island National Park was created by an executive decree, which was then ratified by law and its marine area has been increased in the past years, also by means of executive decrees. It is one of the Costa Rican national parks that integrate terrestrial, insular and marine areas. all the legislation in force that refers to national parks in general, the regulations regarding natural resources and more specific stipulations for this national park are applicable to this marine protected area. This article reviews current regulations applicable to this national park, from general legislation through particular stipulations. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 2): 207-214. Epub 2008 August 29.

Diadema aff. antillarum performs a key role in organizing and structuring rocky macroalgae assemblages in the Canary Islands; increased sea urchin population density can result in the formation of rocky grounds covered with crustose algae. In the Canary Islands this type of system alternates with non-crustose macroalgal systems. However, understanding of the process controlling formation, persistence and alternation between states is still poor. Moreover, knowledge of spatial and temporal variations of this key herbivore populations are scarce. Here an extensive study of D. aff. antillarum populations throughout the Canarian Archipelago were presented, with particular emphasis on two main themes: firstly the influence of sea urchin population on non-crustose macroalgal assemblages. Secondly, the spatial variation of adult sea urchin populations at different scales: both on a large scale (between islands and sites with different wave exposure) and on a medium-small scale (between depths and habitats with different characteristics), and including comments regarding human influence on the observed spatial pattern between the studied islands. The main results were: (1) densities of D. aff. antillarum higher than 4 ind.m-2 drastically reduce non-crustose macroalgal cover to under 30%; (2) Tenerife Island comprises the highest urchin densities while El Hierro has been found to have the lowest; (3) wave exposure is a factor determining sea urchin density: more highly exposed sites present lower urchin density and vice versa; (4) rocky grounds covered with crustose algae can be found at greater depth in more highly exposed sites and at shallower depths in lesser exposed sites; (5) when sand percentage over the rocky substrate exceeds 20%, urchin density is limited to under 1 ind.m-2 and (6) high relief rocky substrate present higher urchin densities and hence a lower non-crustose macroalgal cover. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 229-254. Epub 2009 January 05.

The Natural Protected Area Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto, including five adjacent islands, was created in 1996. The park presents rocky and sandy shores, mangrove areas and small patches of reef corals, which have been used for fishing and ecotourism activities. The fishery of the brown sea cucumber Isostichopus fuscus is one of the most peculiar in the Gulf of California since early nineties and in the Park the fishery takes place since 2000 under special permits known as UMAS (units for wildlife management). However, little is known on the abundance of the resource in natural populations in México, crucial information to determine total allowable catch. The objective of this study was to assess the abundance of I. fuscus in the National Park Bahia de Loreto, Gulf of California, during the fishing season 2005-2006. Abundance was estimated through belt transects (25 x 2 m). A total of 29 sites or “banks” were visited, mostly sites where the fishery occurs. Data were analyzed to determine homoscedasticity and normality using the Levene and Kolmogorov-Smirnoff tests, respectively. To detect differences between the islands we used a one way ANOVA (model II; α=0.05) considering the islands as factors. We used linear regressions to detect geographic clines between population density and geographic location. The average abundance of I. fuscus in the PNBL was 1.41 + 0.02 individuals/transect, with an average density of 0.028 + 0.0004 ind/m2. Density was slightly higher in the southern banks. The lowest value was found at isla Montserrat, which is close to the coastline of the Baja California Peninsula, where most of the fishery occurs. No relationship was found between population density and latitudinal gradient, nor with the distance from the coastline. We concluded that even though density levels were low in PNBL, the situation of I. fuscus does not seem critical to populations. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 265-271. Epub 2009 January 05.

Sea urchins of the genus Diadema play an important role as controlers of algal growth in coral reef and rocky reef communities, but high densities cause bioerosion of the reef framework. Between January 2006 and February 2007 (except April, July and August), population densities and mean test diameter of Diadema mexicanum were determined at Isla Montosa, La Entrega, Isla Cacaluta and San Agustín, Bahías de Huatulco, Mexico. Mean density of the sea urchins was relatively constant through time at all localities: lowest at San Agustín (0.26±0.13 ind.m-2) and highest at La Entrega (4.17±1.4 ind.m-2). There were significant differences between La Entrega and other localities. Mean test diameter ranged between 4.41±0.88 cm (Isla Cacaluta) and 4.72±0.27 (San Agustin), and did no vary significantly between localities, but there were monthly variations. Test diameter agrees with other studies. The calculated amount of CaCO3 removed by D. mexicanum showed variations between localities. The lowest rate of bioerosion occurred at San Agustín (0. 25 kg.m-2.yr-1 ), and the highest at La Entrega (4 kg.m-2.yr-1). The recent urchin population decrease means a reduction in their removal of coral CaCO3: 5.55% to 2.36% at Isla Cacaluta, 5.08% to 1.40% at San Agustin and 16.59% to 3.08% at Isla Montosa. The only locality where bioerosion increased was La Entrega, from 27.04 % to 33.05 %. This reduction of urchin activities could be beneficial for coral reef growing and recovery from stress, nevertheless it could also signify an increase in algal biomass and competition with corals for light and space. We recommend a permanent monitoring and evaluation of population densities of D. mexicanum and fishes, as well as coral and algal cover at the area, to discern if changes in sea urchin densities in Bahias de Huatulco are a continuous phenomenon, or part of a natural cycle of increments and reductions. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (Suppl. 3): 255-263. Epub 2009 January 05.