Peces del Corredor Arrecifal del Suroeste del Golfo de México

Within the Reef Corridor of the Southwest Gulf of Mexico (rcsgm), various studies have been carried out that address one of its most important biological components: fish; however, there are still gaps in information about the group in this corridor. Although lists of fish species exist, these have not been compiled for the rcsgm reefs. Likewise, the degree of connectivity and similarity of the ichthyofaunistic assemblages present in this large corridor is unknown. The present study addresses these issues by compiling and analyzing the published literature, to know the degree of connectivity and dynamics of community assemblages throughout the northern, central and southern regions of the rcsgm. Taxonomic updating of the reported species was performed with the Fricke criterion, connectivity was addressed using the modified Whittaker beta diversity index (β) and community assemblages were addressed through partial canonical analysis (cca). Based on the information collected, the fish diversity of the rcsgm amounts to 525 species grouped into 34 orders, 102 families and 270 genera. The most important families that together represent 50% of the fish wealth were Serranidae (51 spp, 9.7%), Labridae (30 spp, 5.7%; Labrinae: 16 spp. and Scarinae: 14 spp), Gobiidae (30 spp, 5.7%), Carangidae (23 spp, 4.4%), Scianidae (19 spp, 3.6%), Haemulidae (18 spp, 3.4%), Pomacentridae (15 spp, 2.9%), Labrisomidae (12 spp, 2.3%), Lutjanidae (12 spp, 2.3%), Ophichthidae (11 spp, 2.1%), Paralichthyidae (11 spp, 2.1%) as well as Muraenidae, Clupeidae and Sparidae who presented 10 species (1.9%). At the regional level, the central region stands out, which includes the Veracruzano Reef System (sav) with 494 species, followed by the northern region that includes the Lobos-Tuxpan Reef System (salt) with 326 species and finally the southern region that houses the Los Tuxtlas reefs (at) with 128 species. At the reef level, Lobos stands out in the northern region with 259 spp, Verde reef in the central region with 144 spp and the Palo Seco reef in the southern region with 106 spp. Through β diversity, it was estimated that the regions that maintain greater connectivity are the northern region with the central region (β: 0.28), and to a lesser extent the central region with the southern region (β: 0.59). The cca analysis detected that fish community assemblages are particular to each region, that is, they differ among them; However, there are submerged reefs that show changes in their community structure in both the northern and central regions, which could be attributed to their origins (coral, non-coral). In the central region, the Negrillo and Resuella reefs (sedimentary rocky reefs) tend to separate from the emerging coral reefs; while the submerged coral reefs Piedras Altas, Cabo Nuevo and Corazones are separated from the emerging coral reefs of the northern region. The present study updates the information on fish in the rcsgm and provides guidelines to understand connectivity, as well as changes in community assemblages within and between the broad regions and reef systems that make up this corridor. Key words: Ichthyofauna, diversity, richness, connectivity, coral reefs, Veracruz.