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Coral reef ecosystem–associated echinoderms (Echinodermata) at the Southern Mexican Pacific: species richness, distribution, and composition

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Abstract

Despite the high relevance of echinoderms in the Southern Mexican Pacific coral reef systems, there is no detailed analysis of their regional diversity. Based on records from field surveys and literature, this work analyzed for the first time the echinoderm species composition in coral reef systems in the Southern Mexican Pacific, evaluating their richness and distribution patterns. Fifty-two species represent the region (six Asteroidea, eight Echinoidea, 15 Ophiuroidea, and 23 Holothuroidea), a more significant number than other coral reef systems in the Mexican Pacific and Central America. New records are presented at the region, zone, and site level. At the zone level, the highest species richness occurred in Huatulco (52 species), followed by Ixtapa (45), Acapulco and Puerto Ángel (33), and Puerto Escondido (23). At the site level, La Entrega had the highest number of species (32), while various sites in Acapulco had <10 species. The species richness in the region showed considerably high representativeness since the non-parametric estimators suggested a potential increase of ~10% more species; a more significant percentage is expected in the Acapulco zone (47.5%). All echinoderms had 100% representativeness at the class level, except for Holothuroidea. It is recommended to use as many sampling methods and as many substrates as possible during different seasons and time days to contribute to increasing representativeness. Acapulco had an average taxonomic distinctness different from that predicted by regional models and an echinoderm assemblage more dissimilar from the other areas. The latter may be the product of the scarce sampling effort carried out in Acapulco and probably because it has one of the most degraded coral reef systems within the study area.

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Acknowledgements

This study is part of the postdoctoral research of RGF advised by FARZ, at Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, CONACYT 332289. This is a contribution of Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Microbiología y Taxonomía (LEMITAX) and Laboratorio de Arrecifes y Biodiversidad (ARBIOLAB). The authors express their gratitude to the numerous students and colleagues that help us to collect and sort the biological material. Permits for sampling and observational field study have been obtained from the competent Mexican authorities and procedures (PPF/DGOPA-116/17, PPF/DGOPA-035/21). The authors are thankful to Cuauhtémoc Aparicio Cid for drawing the map. We would like to thank anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments to improve the manuscripts.

Funding

This work was funded by the Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (HJ029, JF047) and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (80228, 236654) and Programa para el Desarrollo Profesional (UAM-PTC-509) granted to ALP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Posdoctoral Researcher (CONACYT) associated with Programa de Maestría en Biosistemática y Manejo de Recursos Naturales y Agrícolas (BIMARENA), Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Camino Ramón Padilla Sánchez No. 2100, Nextipac, Zapopan, Jalisco, 45200, México

    Rebeca Granja-Fernández

  2. Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Microbiología y Taxonomía (LEMITAX), Departamento de Ecología, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Camino Ramón Padilla Sánchez No. 2100, Nextipac, Zapopan, Jalisco, 45200, México

    Rebeca Granja-Fernández & Fabián Alejandro Rodríguez-Zaragoza

  3. Laboratorio de Arrecifes y Biodiversidad (ARBIOLAB)/Laboratorio de Ecosistemas Costeros, Departamento de Hidrobiología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, México

    Andrés López-Pérez

  4. Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Carr. Tijuana-Ensenada 3918, Zona Playitas, Ensenada, B.C., 22860, México

    Daniel Alberto López-López

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  1. Rebeca Granja-Fernández
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Correspondence to Andrés López-Pérez.

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All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgments.

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RGF, DALL, ALP accomplished fieldwork; RGF, ALP, FARZ analyzed data; RGF, FARZ, ALP, DALL wrote the manuscript.

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Granja-Fernández, R., Rodríguez-Zaragoza, F.A., López-Pérez, A. et al. Coral reef ecosystem–associated echinoderms (Echinodermata) at the Southern Mexican Pacific: species richness, distribution, and composition. Mar. Biodivers. 52, 65 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01305-0

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