Diversidad y afinidades biogeográficas de los tiburones, rayas y quimeras (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii, Holocephali) de México

Abstract

The diversity of chondrychthyans in Mexico is described. The fauna is composed by 214 species (111 sharks, 95 rays and 8 chimaeras) and represents 17.3 % of the total number of species recorded worldwide. The families with the highest diversity comprise: Rajidae (14.5 %), Carcharhinidae (12.1 %), Pentanchidae, Triakidae, and Urotrygonidae (5.1 %). In terms of geographical distribution, the diversity on the Mexican Pacific slope reaches up to 56.1 % of those species inhabiting Mexican marine and brackish waters (120 species, 62 genera, 37 families and 14 orders); the diversity in the Atlantic slope resulted similar to that on the Mexican Pacific with 55.1 % of the species (118 species, 59 genera, 35 families and 13 orders). The biogeographical affinities of the Mexican chondrychthyan fauna are complex with 19.7 % of the species being circumglobal, 9.9 % transatlantic, 1.9 % transpacific, and 9.4 % endemic to the exclusive economic zone. Additionally, 36.6 % of the species recorded so far are endemic to the Eastern Pacific coast where the species are similar to those found in the Cortez biogeographic province (27.7 %), followed by the Californian (20.7 %), Panamanian (19.3 %), Galapagos (5.6 %) and Peruvian-Chilean (8.9 %). Likewise, 33.3 % are endemic of the Atlantic coast, where species are similar to those found in the Caribbean province (31.9 %), followed by the Carolinean (24.4 %) and the Brazilian (6.6 %).

Updated checklist of the extant Chondrichthyes within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Mexico

“…Field-specific books were consulted (e.g., Compagno 1999 , Castro 2011a , Ebert et al 2013 , Last et al 2016a ) for comparative purposes and several recent scientific publications were reviewed in a deliberate manner (e.g., Ruiz-Campos et al 2010 , Hoyos-Padilla et al 2013 , Del Moral-Flores et al 2015a , Del Moral-Flores et al 2016 , Villalobos et al 2016 , Weigmann 2016 , 2017 ). In this way, a clear, cumulative database was compiled with all existing records for species within the Mexican EEZ .…”

“…The current systematic checklist of chimaeras, sharks, rays, and skates from the Mexican EEZ , incorporates the newest taxonomic and systematic proposals for chimaeras and sharks ( Ebert et al 2013 , Weigmann 2016 , 2017 ), skates and rays ( Last et al 2016a , b , c , d , Weigmann 2016 , 2017 ) and follows, with some nomenclatural modifications, the Chondrichthyes classifications made by Weigmann 2016 . The present inventory also includes information provided since last century until last year regarding the chondrichthyans of Mexico and Mexican endemic species (e.g., Castro-Aguirre 1965 , Castro-Aguirre et al 1996 , Espinosa-Pérez et al 2004 , Palacios-Salgado et al 2012 , Del Moral-Flores and Pérez-Ponce de León 2013 , Del Moral-Flores et al 2015a , Del Moral-Flores et al 2016 ).…”

Biological notes on the reef stingray, Urobatis concentricus, an endemic species of Mexico

“…Urobatis concentricus inhabits rocky‐bottom habitats adjacent to reefs between 1 and 109 m depth (Weigmann, ). Published reports related to this species are scarce, being largely limited to a fishery assessment (Bizzarro et al ., ) and its inclusion in several taxonomic lists (Castro‐Aguirre & Espinosa‐Pérez, ; Mascareñas‐Osorio et al ., ; Del Moral‐Flores et al ., , b ; Del Moral‐Flores et al ., ). Thus, the species is classified as data deficient (DD) by the IUCN (Bizzarro, ).…”

“…lists (Castro-Aguirre & Espinosa-Pérez, 1996;Mascareñas-Osorio et al, 2011;Del Moral-Flores et al, 2015a, b;Del Moral-Flores et al, 2016). Thus, the species is classified as data deficient (DD) by the IUCN (Bizzarro, 2006).…”

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“…According to recent assessments, 36 species of elasmobranchs inhabiting Mexican waters are listed with some conservation status or control regime for their international trade (i.e. threatened, near threatened, critically endangered, and vulnerable) (Del Moral-Flores, Morrone, AlcocerDurand, Espinosa-Pérez, & Ponce de León, 2015). An initial step to mitigate adverse impacts on natural resources and to support the development of proactive resolution responses is the generation and diffusion of primary biological data.…”