Abstract

ALVAREZ, Fernando et al. Biodiversity of decapod crustaceans (Crustacea: Decapoda) in Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2014, vol.85, suppl., pp.S208-S219. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.38758.

A brief synopsis on the characteristics of decapod crustaceans and on recent classification proposals is presented. Through an exhaustive compilation of decapod crustacean records from Mexico, a species list was built for the continental, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific regions. A total of 1 775 species was obtained in 537 genera and 115 families. The Mexican decapod fauna represents 11.9% of the world's total. The most species rich families are Alpheidae (7.4%) and Palaemonidae (5.5%), while a total of 23 families have only one known species in Mexico. Out of the total number of species, 1 597 (89.9%) are marine and 178 freshwater (10.1%); in turn, 46.7% of the marine species occur in the Pacific , 31.4% in the Gulf of Mexico and 21.8% in the Caribbean, with an important proportion of species occurring in more than one of these regions. Due to the fact that the marine decapod fauna of Mexico is, in general, shared with neighboring countries levels of endemism are low. In contrast, there is a very high level of endemism in the freshwater fauna, considering for example freshwater crabs and crayfishes. Based on projections proposed by other authors it is estimated that we now know only half of the species of decapods that occur in Mexico.

Keywords : decapod crustaceans; species catalogue; diversity.

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