Resumen

BELTRAN-TORRES, Aurora U  y  CARRICART-GANIVET, Juan P. Lista revisada y clave para los corales pétreos zooxantelados (Hydrozoa: Milleporina; Anthozoa: Scleractinia) del Atlántico mexicano. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 1999, vol.47, n.4, pp.813-829. ISSN 0034-7744.

A revised and annotated checklist of fifty-seven zooxanthellate stony coral species (three milleporids and fifty-four scleractinian) is presented for the Mexican East Coast. This report includes synonyms and a simplified key to species on the list. Morphological and taxonomic observations are included when authors disagree in the taxonomic position and/or identification of the species, as well as when taxonomic information is pertinent, or when distribution data are relevant for some species in the Mexican Atlantic. A qualitative analysis of species abundance and geographic distribution, and bathymetric range data are presented. There is a reduction in the genera and species numbers from the Mexican Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico and there, from the Campeche Bank to Veracruz. Furthermore, the number of abundant species is lower in the Gulf of Mexico than in the Mexican Caribbean, and the common species for all reef zones have a wider bathymetric range in the Mexican Caribbean.

Palabras clave : Coral reefs; diversity; Gulf of Mexico; Mexican Caribbean; Campeche Bank; Veracruz.