Upper mesophotic reef fish assemblages at Bahía de Banderas, Mexico.

There is no information on the species associated with the mesophotic reefs of Banderas Bay, located in the central Mexican Pacific. This study analysed the reef fish assemblage from three depths (50, 60 and 70 m) in three sampling sites of the southern submarine canyon of the Bay: Los Arcos, Bajo de Emirio and Majahuitas. Several analyses were performed to test the hypothesis that there are important differences in fish abundance and species composition between sites and depths.

Species richness and biogeographical affinities of the marine molluscs from Bahía de Chamela, Mexico.

For more than 10 years (2007-2018), the benthic macroinvertebrates of Bahía de Chamela (Mexican Pacific) were sampled at 31 sites (0-25 m depth). A total of 308 species of the five main classes of benthic molluscs were obtained (106 bivalves, 185 gastropods, 13 polyplacophorans, two scaphopods and two cephalopods). This is a significant increase in the number of species (246 new records) compared to the 62 species previously recorded more than 10 years ago.

Tubicolous polychaete worms (Annelida) from Bahía de Chamela Islands Sanctuary, Mexico, with the description of a new bamboo worm.

Background: The islands and islets of Bahía de Chamela, in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, were declared as the first marine sanctuary in Mexico and has been protected since 2002. Their marine biodiversity has been documented in a series of papers in the last decade, but only three species of polychaete worms have been reported.

New Information: Sixteen species of sedentary polychaete worms belonging to the families Maldanidae, Oweniidae, Sabellariidae, Sabellidae and Serpulidae are reported to the Bahía de Chamela Islands Sanctuary, 15 of these species constituting the first records in the area.

Lissothuria imbricata sp. nov., a new species of sea cucumber (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the central-eastern Pacific Ocean.

A new species of sea cucumbers of the genus Lissothuria Verrill, 1867 is described. Lissothuria imbricata sp. nov.

Annotated checklist of marine fishes from the Sanctuary of Bahía Chamela, Mexico with occurrence and biogeographic data.

An annotated checklist of marine fishes of the Sanctuary of Islands and Islets of Bahía Chamela in the central Mexican Pacific is presented. Records of fish species were obtained by different methods including visual census, sampling with anesthetics, fisherman-nets, and trawling with a biological dredge. Additional records were obtained from natural history collections and publications.

A new species of the genus Typton Costa (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae: Pontoniinae) from the eastern tropical Pacific.

A new species of commensal shrimp of the genus Typton from holothurians is described and illustrated. The specimens were collected from a single specimen of Holothuria (Halodeima) inornata Semper, 1868 at a depth of 7 m. This is the first record of an association between a shrimp of the genus Typton and echinoderms.

Species composition, richness, and distribution of marine bivalve molluscs in Bahía de Mazatlán, México.

We describe the composition and distribution of bivalve molluscs from the sandy and rocky intertidal and the shallow subtidal environments of Bahía de Mazatlán, México. The bivalve fauna of the bay is represented by 89 living species in 28 families, including 37 new records and four range extensions: Lithophaga hastasia, Adula soleniformis, Mactrellona subalata, and Strigilla ervilia. The number of species increases from the upper (44) and lower intertidal (53) to the shallow subtidal (76), but only 11 (17%) have a wide distribution in the bay (i.

The tourism carrying capacity of underwater trails in Isabel Island National Park, Mexico.

The popularity of ecotourism in the marine protected areas of Mexico has increased over the last 10 years; in particular there is a large development of a SCUBA diving industry in the Mexican Pacific including Isabel Island. Given the risks associated with human activity in the marine environments around this island, we propose two ecotourism management strategies: (1) the creation and use of underwater trails, and (2) the estimation of the specific tourism carrying capacity (TCC) for each trail. Six underwater trails were selected in sites that presented elements of biological, geological, and scenic interest, using information obtained during field observations.