Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Biodiversity of littoral nematodes from two sites in the Gulf of California

  • Primary Research Paper
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Gulf of California, Mexico, consists of unique environmental conditions resulting in a rich array of biological diversity. Nematodes are present in most marine sediments and are probably the most abundant metazoans. This research analyses and compares nematode biodiversity in two shallow, littoral locations of the Gulf and compares the results with other Pacific and Atlantic faunae. Samples collected in Punta Estrella and Santa Clara were processed for nematode extraction by standard methods. A total of eighty genera were identified, sixty-seven occurring in coarser sediments at Punta Estrella and fifty-five in more silty sediments at Santa Clara. Nematode abundance was higher at the latter location, on average. The region was not especially high or low in diversity compared to other littoral sites, and was most similar to locations in Europe with a corresponding ecology but at temperate latitudes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvarez-Borrego, S., 2001. The Colorado River estuary and upper Gulf of California, Baja, Mexico. In Seeliger, U. & B. Kjerfve (eds), Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America. Springer, Berlin, 331-340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaxter, M. L., P. De Ley, J. R. Garey, L. X. Liu, P. Scheldeman, A. Vierstraete, J. R. Vanfleteren, L. Y. Mackey, M. Dorris, L. M. Frisse, J. T. Vida & W. K. Thomas, 1998. A molecular evolutionary framework for the phylum Nematoda. Nature 392: 71–75.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, J. G., S. A. Nadler & D. W. Freckman, 2000. Nematodes - pervading the earth and linking all life. In Raven, P. & T. Williams (eds), Nature and Human Society, the Quest for a Sustainable World. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 176–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, G. & P. J. D. Lambshead, 1995. Ecological biodiversity of marine nematodes in samples from temperate, tropical, and deep-sea regions. Conservation Biology 9: 1594–1604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, G., 1997. Structure and biodiversity of nematode assemblages in the SW lagoon of New Caledonia. Coral Reefs 16: 177–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brusca, R. C., L. T. Findley, P. A. Hastings, M. E. Hendrickx, J. T. Cosió, & A. M. van der Heiden, 2005. Macrofaunal diversity in the Gulf of California. In Cartron, J.-L. E., G. Ceballos & R. S. Felger (eds), Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Conservation in Northern Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York, 179–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartron, J.-L. E., G. Ceballos, & R. S. Felger, 2005. Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Conservation in Northern Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chazdon, R. L., R. K. Colwell, J. S. Denslow, & M. R. Guariguata, 1998. Statistical methods for estimating species richness of woody regeneration in primary and secondary rain forests of northeastern Costa Rica. In Dallmeier, F. & J. A. Comiskey (eds), Forest Biodiversity Research, Monitoring and Modeling: Conceptual Background and Old World Case Studies. Parthenon, New York, 285–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. A. & R. M. May, 2002. Taxonomic bias in conservation research. Science 297: 191–192.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colwell, R. K., 2005. Estimates: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 7.5. User’s Guide and application published at: http://purl.oclc.org/estimates.

  • De Ley, P. & M. L. Blaxter, 2002. Systematic position and phylogeny. In Lee, D. L. (ed.), The Biology of Nematodes. Taylor and Francis, London, 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Ley, P., I. Tandingan De Ley, K. Morris, E. Abebe, M. Mundo-Ocampo, M. Yoder, J. Heras, D. Waumann, A. Rocha-Olivares, A. H. J. Burr, J. G. Baldwin & W. K. Thomas, 2005. An integrated approach to fast and informative morphological vouchering of nematodes for applications in molecular barcoding. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. B: Biological Sciences 360: 1945–1958.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ellingsen, K. E. & J. S. Gray, 2002. Spatial patterns of benthic diversity: is there a latitudinal gradient along the Norwegian continental shelf? Journal of Animal Ecology 71: 373–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folk, R. L., 1974. Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Hemphill Publishing Co., Austin, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gheskiere, T., M. Vincx, B. Urban-Malinga, C. Rossano, F. Scapini & S. Degraer, 2005. Nematodes from wave-dominated sandy beaches: diversity, zonation patterns and testing of the isocommunities concept. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 62: 365–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez Noguera, S. E. & M. E. Hendrickx, 1997. Distribution and abundance of meiofauna in a subtropical coastal lagoon in the south-eastern Gulf of California, Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin 34: 582–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli, N. J. & R. K. Colwell, 2001. Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecology Letters 4: 379–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green-Ruiz, C. & F. Páez-Osuna, 2001. Heavy metal anomalies in lagoon sediments related to intensive agriculture in Alta-Ensenada del Pabellón coastal system (SE Gulf of California). Environment International 26: 265–273.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gutierrez, G. & J. I. Gonzalez, 1989. Predicciones de mareas de 1990: Estaciones mareograficas del CICESE. Available from CICESE, Ensenada, México. Informe Técnico OC−89-01.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heip, C., M. Vincx & G. Vranken, 1985. The ecology of marine nematodes. Oceanography and Marine Biology 23: 399–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holme, N. A. & A. D. McIntyre (eds), 1984. Methods for the study of marine benthos IBP Handbook no. 16, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayasree, K., 1976. Systematics and ecology of free-living marine nematodes from polluted intertidal sand in Scotland. Aberdeen University PhD Thesis, 1–179.

  • Kotta, J. & G. Boucher, 2001. Interregional variation of free-living nematode assemblages in tropical coral sands. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 42: 315–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotwicki, L., M. De Troch, B. Urban-Malinga, T. Gheskiere & J. M. Weslawski, 2005. Horizontal and vertical distribution of meiofauna on sandy beaches of the North Sea (The Netherlands, Belgium, France). Helgol Marine Research 59: 255–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead, P. J. D., 1986. Sub-catastrophic sewage and industrial-waste contamination as revealed by marine nematode faunal analysis. Marine Ecology - Progress Series 29: 247–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead, P. J. D., 1993. Recent developments in marine benthic biodiversity research. Océanis 19: 5–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead, P. J. D., 2004. Marine nematode biodiversity. In Chen, Z. X., S. Y. Chen & D. W. Dickson (eds), Nematology: Advances and Perspectives Vol. 1: Nematode Morphology, Physiology and Ecology. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK, 438–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead, P. J. D. & G. Boucher, 2003. Marine nematode deep-sea biodiversity – hyperdiverse or hype? Journal of Biogeography 30: 475–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead, P. J. D. & G. L. J. Paterson, 1986. Ecological cladistics: an investigation of numerical cladistics as a method for analyzing ecological data. Journal of Natural History 20: 895–909.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambshead, P. J. D., C. J. Brown, T. J. Ferrero, N. Mitchell, L. E. Hawkins, C. R. Smith & N. J. Mitchell, 2003. Biodiversity of nematode assemblages from the region of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, an area of commercial mining interest. BMC Ecology 3:1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzen, S., 1981. Entwurf eines phylogenetischen Systems der freilebenden Nematoden. Veröffentlichungen des Institut für Meeresforschungen Bremerhaven, Supplement 7: 1–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzen, S., 1994. The Phylogenetic Systematics of Freeliving Nematodes. The Ray Society, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Páez-Osuna, F. S., M. J. Ochoa-Izaguirre, H. Bojórquez-Leyva & I. L. Michel-Reynoso, 2000. Macroalgae as biomonitors of heavy metal availability in coastal lagoons from the subtropical Pacific of Mexico. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 64: 846–851.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ragot, C., 1999. Structure des peuplements de nématodes de la Mangrove de l’estuaire de Kaw (Guyane Française). Rapport de DEA d’Oceanographie Biologique, 28 pp.

  • Seinhorst, J. W., 1959. A rapid method for the transfer of nematodes from fixative to anhydrous glycerin. Nematologica 4: 67–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanaverbeke, J., T. Gheskiere, M. Steyaert, & M. Vincx, 2002. Nematode assemblages from subtidal sandbanks in the Southern Bight of the North Sea: effect of small sedimentological differences. Journal of Sea Research 48: 197–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warwick, R. M. & R. Price, 1979. Ecological and metabolic studies on free-living nematodes from an estuarine mud-flat. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 9: 257–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warwick, R. M., D. M. Dexter & B. Kuperman, 2002. Freeliving nematodes from the Salton Sea. Hydrobiologia 473: 121–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by US National Science Foundation grants DEB 0315829, DEB 02282692, by Mexican SEMARNAT-CONACyT 2004-C01-300 grant and a collaborative grant between the University of California and Mexico (UC MEXUS-CONACyT).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nematology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521-0415, USA

    Manuel Mundo-Ocampo, Ian W. King, Paul De Ley, James G. Baldwin & Irma Tandingan De Ley

  2. Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    P. John D. Lambshead, Nicola Debenham & Margaret Packer

  3. UMR-CNRS 5178 BOME Département Milieux et Peuplements Aquatiques, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Guy Boucher

  4. Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada, Apdo. Postal 2732, Ensenada, Baja California, C.P. 22860, Mexico

    Axayacatl Rocha-Olivares

  5. Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Apdo. Postal 453, Ensenada, Baja California, C.P. 22800, Mexico

    Dora Waumann

  6. Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, University of New Hampshire, 35 Colovos Rd., Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    W. Kelley Thomas

Authors
  1. Manuel Mundo-Ocampo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. John D. Lambshead
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nicola Debenham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ian W. King
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paul De Ley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. James G. Baldwin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Irma Tandingan De Ley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Axayacatl Rocha-Olivares
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Dora Waumann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. W. Kelley Thomas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Margaret Packer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Guy Boucher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuel Mundo-Ocampo.

Additional information

Handling editor: K. Martens

Electronic supplementary material

Below are the electronic supplementary materials.

ESM (PDF 130 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mundo-Ocampo, M., Lambshead, P.J.D., Debenham, N. et al. Biodiversity of littoral nematodes from two sites in the Gulf of California. Hydrobiologia 586, 179–189 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0624-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0624-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation