Abstract

CHAVEZ VILLEGAS, José Francisco; ENRIQUEZ DIAZ, Martha  and  ALDANA ARANDA, Dalila. Abundance and larval diversity of gastropods in the Mexican Caribbean in relation with temperature, salinity and dissolve oxygen. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2014, vol.62, suppl.3, pp.386-391. ISSN 0034-7744.

Quintana Roo has over 500 species of gastropods but little is known of the larval stages. We sampled four sites monthly from January to December 2008 with plankton tows in triplicate and a conical net of 300μm mesh. Puerto Morelos had the highest records (41.26±63.23 larvae•10m^-3), followed by Mahahual (14.78±28.21 larvae•10m^-3); Sian Ka’an and Xel-Ha had the lowest densities (9.16±16.73 and 3.35±4.33 larvae•10m^-3, respectively). May and August had the highest records (33.66±67.39 and 31.78±25.92 larvae•10m^-3, respectively), March and December the lowest (1.70±1.88 and 3.18±5.27 larvae•10m^-3, respectively). There were differences in the spatial mean density (p <0.0001) and time (p= 0.0275). We identified 33 species, genera Strombus, Natica, Cerithium, Nassarius, Neritidae, Cerithiopsis, Nannodiela, Rissoina, Bulla, Bittium, Modulus and Prunum, of which 28 species were recorded in Puerto Morelos. Natica, Epithonium and Cerithium had the highest incidence in the four locations.

Keywords : larvae; gastropods; composition; Mexican Caribbean.

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