Blue button (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) distribution and trends in the Mexican Atlantic, based on field surveys and open-access data

Abstract

Access to digital technology and software allows the production of a significant amount of biodiversity data, including citizens' species records, combined with field monitoring and standardized surveys, which are valuable to biological sciences; these data can help to know the distribution of organisms like medusozoans. We compiled records of the presence of Porpita porpita from open-access databases, scientific articles, and field observations to know their current distribution on the Mexican Atlantic for the first time. The yearly records of P. porpita increased over time, adding up to 22 records, of which 18 were assigned to citizen science. Most records correspond to 2011-2022, from April to May, and the Veracruz and Quintana Roo states. The records of the species in warm months and states with long shores can be related to an increase in touristic activities and observations by citizens. On the Mexican Atlantic, it is suggested that the use of digital technological devices under citizen science practices for recording P. porpita and its compilation in open-access databases acts as the principal method for tracking the distribution of this species. This work evidenced the need for a solid research framework of knowledge for P. porpita in the Mexican Atlantic, and future research could combine citizen science records and fieldwork records and improve the relationship between biological and oceanographic data to understand their spatial-temporal distribution patterns.