Occurrence of Holacanthus clarionensis (Pomacanthidae), Stegastes leucorus, and Stegastes acapulcoensis (Pomacentridae) at Magdalena Bay, B.C.S., Mexico

Abstract

Pomacanthids and Pomacentrids are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, and inhabit shallow rocky and coral reefs. Due to their colorful patterns and unusual body shapes, they have been widely targeted by aquarium fish trade; these species are of great commercial interest. Here we document the occurrence of one Pomacanthid (Holacanthus clarionensis), and two Pomacentrids (Stegastes acapulcoensis, and S. leucorus) north of their reported distribution range during the 2014 warm water period in the eastern Tropical Eastern Pacific. Sightings took place at Magdalena-Almejas Bay complex, located in the western margin of the Baja California Peninsula. Using a series of abiotic data for the Tropical Eastern Pacific, we created a maximum entropy model for each species and identified that high probability of occurrence at Magdalena-Almejas Bay complex was only denoted for S. leucorus. Here we report the occurrence of H. clarionensis, S. acapulcoensis and S. leucorus 70 km, 300 km, and 300 km north of the northernmost reported limits.

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

“…These studies have indicated that the distribution ranges of fish species have expanded, possibly due to climate change given the increase in water temperature that has been mainly reported for the central region of the Gulf of California (García-Morales et al 2017;Robles-Tamayo et al 2018). The presence of the clarion angelfish may have been due to a moderate El Niño during 2009 (https:// ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm) and to the resulting expansion of the distribution of this tropical species into temperate waters (Hernández- Velasco et al 2016). However, we assumed that this specimen either moved to another area in the Gulf of California with more tropical characteristics or died without being able to colonize the site.…”

Untapped Potential of Citizen Science in Mexican Small-Scale Fisheries

“…Finally, participation in scientific processes and the creation of trust between fishers and researchers means that fishers report unusual events. Seven papers have been published on range extensions or first sightings due to information provided by fishers (Martínez-Torres et al, 2014;Fernández-Rivera Melo et al, 2015aHernández-Velasco et al, 2016;López-Fuerte et al, 2018) and fishers were the first to detect hypoxia events in the Pacific Ocean due to shifts in the California Current (Micheli et al, 2012;Boch et al, 2018).…”