Abstract

MORAL-FLORES, Luis Fernando Del et al. Annotated checklist of the ichthyofauna from the islands of the Gulf of California, with comments on its zoogeographic affinities. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2013, vol.84, n.1, pp.184-214. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.27335.

An annotated checklist of the fish fauna associated to insular ecosystems in the Gulf of California is presented, which is composed of 615 species included in 3 classes, 37 orders, 121 families, and 338 genera. The list is based on fish collections and a critic analysis of related literature. The number of fish species associated to islands in the Gulf of California represents 67.5% of all species known for the entire Gulf (911 spp.) as well as 22.8% of the fish fauna from Mexico (2 692 spp.) and 50.3% for the Tropical Eastern Pacific (1 222 spp.). Zoogeographically, the fish species showed a higher affinity to the Sinuscalifornian (Cortez) province (71.2%), followed by the Mexican (60%), Panamic (54.8%) and Sandiegan (43.3%) provinces. Based on their distributional patterns, 10.2% of the species are endemic to the Gulf of California, 10.1% are circuntropical, 7.0% amphipacific, and 1.6% amphiamerican. Because of its great fish diversity, the insular area in the Gulf of California represents the richest insular complex in the Eastern Pacific.

Keywords : Gulf of California; island; ichthyofauna; fish diversity; Tropical Eastern Pacific.