Abstract

HERNANDEZ, Luis; REYES-BONILLA, Héctor  and  BALART, Eduardo F.. Effect of coral bleaching induced by low temperature on reef-associated decapod crustaceans of the southwestern Gulf of California. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2010, vol.81, suppl., pp.113-119. ISSN 2007-8706.

Coral reef bleaching is a common stress response to natural or anthropogenic events. In the Tropical East Pacific, coral reef bleaching has been commonly associated to temperature increase of the sea surface, but it can also occur with low temperatures. In early 2008, an abnormality of very low temperature was recorded, up to 1.8 °C lower than the average temperature in the last 25 years, and a severe coral bleaching was observed in numerous localities in the southern part of the Gulf of California, which rose up to 90% of coral bleaching in some places. The aim of this work was to describe changes in decapod assemblages associated to coral reefs in the affected region. La Paz (24°N) and Loreto (26°N) bays were monitored before, during, and after the event by carrying out visual censuses at 6 sites in each bay. The results have shown that decapod richness and dominance changed because of coral bleaching. The effect was different between both localities, coralline fauna of the Loreto region was more damaged than that of La Paz bay and decapod assemblages were different.

Keywords : marine invertebrates; co-occurrence; visual censuses; La Paz bay; Loreto bay; Mexico.

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