Coral colonies in the eastern tropical Pacific: predation by Acanthaster cf. solaris

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 419
Author(s):  
J. C. Rodríguez-Vilalobos ◽  
A. Ayala-Bocos
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
National Park ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Scleractinian Corals ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific

The crown of thorns (CoTS; Acanthaster cf. solaris) have not been reported as an actual threat to reefs in the Gulf of California; however, in the Espiritu Santo Archipelago National Park, we have evidenced massive predation over scleractinian corals. Its abundance is now over outbreaks threshold value and it is higher than historical records

scholarly journals A new Lepeophtheirus (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Caligidae) from Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica, Eastern Tropical Pacific

2017 ◽  
pp. 235-242
Author(s):  
Eduardo Suárez-Morales ◽  
Rebeca Gasca
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
National Park ◽  
Relative Length ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Tropical Region ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Genital Complex

Among the several groups of copepods that are teleost parasites, the siphonostomatoid family Caligidae is by far the most widespread and diverse. With more than 108 nominal species, the caligid genus Lepeophtheirus von Nordmann is one of the most speciose. There are no reports of this genus in Costa Rican waters. A new species of Lepeophtheirus is herein described based on female specimens collected from plankton samples in waters off Bahía Wafer, isla del Coco, an oceanic island in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The new species, L. alvaroi sp. nov., has some affinities with other congeners bearing a relatively short abdomen, a wider than long genital complex and a 3-segmented exopod of leg 4. it differs from most of these species by the presence of an unbranched maxillular process and by the relative lengths of the terminal claws of leg 4, with two equally long elements. it is most closely related to two other Eastern Pacific species: L. dissimulatus Wilson, 1905 and L. clarionensis Shiino, 1959. it differs from these species by the proportions and shape of the genital complex, the shape of the sternal furca, the relative length of the maxillar segments, the absence of a pectiniform process on the distal maxillar segment, the length of leg 4 and the armature of leg 5. The new species represents the first Lepeophtheirus described from Costa Rican waters of the Pacific. The low diversity of this genus in this tropical region is explained by its tendency to prefer hosts from temperate latitudes. Until further evidence is found, the host of this Lepeophtheirus species remains unknown. Citation: Suárez-Morales, E. & R. Gasca. 2012. A new Lepeophtheirus (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Caligidae) from isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica, Eastern Tropical Pacific. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 3): 235-242. Epub 2012 Dec 01.

scholarly journals First record of Coronida glasselli (Stomatopoda: Coronididae) for Costa Rica (Isla del Coco National Park, Eastern Tropical Pacific)

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Salas-Moya ◽  
Rita Vargas-Castillo
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
First Record ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Shallow Waters ◽  
Rocky Reef ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Intertidal Zones ◽  
Reef Environments

<p><strong>S</strong>tomatopods are a small group of marine and estuarine crustaceans that inhabit several marine ecosystems including deep, shallow waters, and intertidal zones. Six species from five families have been reported from the Park. We add <em>Coronida glasselli</em> Manning, 1976 from rocky reef environments at Isla del Coco. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific the species was reported only from Isla Gorgona, Colombia. There are species from Isla Uva, Panamá in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC.</p><div> </div>

scholarly journals New species of the genus Mesocletodes Sars, 1909 from the deep Gulf of California (Copepoda, Harpacticoida)

ZooKeys ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 751 ◽  
pp. 75-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Gómez
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Minimum Zone ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
Three New Species ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Oxygen Minimum

Investigations on the effects of the oxygen minimum zone on the distribution, abundance, and diversity of deep-sea benthic and pelagic fauna of the Gulf of California and Eastern Tropical Pacific has received attention recently. However, very little is known about the diversity of deep-sea benthic harpacticoids from this region, and only three species,AncorabolushendrickxiGómez &amp; Conroy-Dalton, 2002,CeratonotuselongatusGómez &amp; Díaz, 2017 andDendropsylluscaliforniensisGómez &amp; Díaz, 2017, have been described so far. The genusMesocletodesSars, 1909 is one of the most common and abundant genera of deep-sea harpacticoids. This genus has been traditionally subdivided into two species groups, theabyssicolaand theinermisgroups, based on the presence/absence of a dorsal cuticular process on the cephalothorax and anal somite, but some species have been reported to deviate from this scheme. As a result of their investigations, other researchers proposed the monophyly of theabyssicolagroup, and suggested the probable monophyly of two other species-groups. In this paper, the descriptions of three new species of the genusMesocletodesfrom the deep sea of the Gulf of California are presented with some notes on their relationships with other species. Some comments on the monophyly of the genus are given.

scholarly journals New records of heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly García-Méndez ◽  
Yolanda E. Camacho-García
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
National Park ◽  
New Records ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Sea Slugs ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Molluscan Fauna ◽  
First Time

<p>The molluscan fauna of Isla del Coco has recently been well documented, but the heterobranch sea slugs, traditionally called “opisthobranchs”, remain poorly known. We report 13 new records, increasing the total to 40 species. Of the 13 newly discovered species, the following species had not been previously recorded along the Pacific Costa Rican mainland: <em>Berthella californica </em>(Dall, 1900), <em>Peltodoris rubra</em> (Bergh, 1905), <em>Dendrodoris albobrunnea </em>Allan, 1933, <em>Doriopsilla</em> cf. <em>spaldingi </em>Valdés &amp; Behrens, 1998, <em>Glaucus</em> cf. <em>marginatus</em> (Reinhardt &amp; Bergh, 1864), and <em>Flabellina</em> sp. Additionally, we report <em>Peltodoris rubra</em>, previously known from the Indo-Pacific, for the first time in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.</p><div> </div>

scholarly journals Regional and species specific sexual reproductive patterns of three zooxanthellate scleractinian corals across the Eastern Tropical Pacific

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. e12497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeimy D. Santiago-Valentín ◽  
Susan B. Colley ◽  
Peter W. Glynn ◽  
Amilcar L. Cupul-Magaña ◽  
Ramon A. López-Pérez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Scleractinian Corals ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Reproductive Patterns ◽  
Species Specific

Notes on Chasmocarcinus latipes Rathbun, 1898 (Brachyura, Goneplacoidea, Chasmocarcinidae) from the Gulf of California, Mexico

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4471 (1) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
MICHEL E. HENDRICKX ◽  
MARGARITA HERMOSO-SALAZAR
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Mexican Pacific ◽  
Western Mexico ◽  
Brachyuran Crabs ◽  
Surrounding Areas

Brachyuran crabs from the Mexican Pacific and surrounding areas are well known and have been treated in several monographs (e.g., Garth 1958; Hendrickx 1997, 1999). Checklists of species occurring off western Mexico and the eastern tropical Pacific are also available (e.g., Hendrickx 1993, 1995, 2005). In many cases, particularly in species inhabiting the continental shelf or deeper waters, however, there is a significant lack of records due to sampling difficulty and cost. 

A new species of Paguristes Dana, 1851 (Anomura, Paguroidea, Diogenidae) from the Mexican Pacific

Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1470 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
MANUEL AYÓN PARENTE ◽  
MICHEL E. HENDRICKX
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Mexican Pacific ◽  
A New Species

A new species of the hermit crab genus Paguristes, P. haigae n. sp., is described and illustrated from material collected in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Paguristes haigae n. sp. closely resembles P. tortugae Schmitt, 1933, from the western Atlantic and P. aztatlanensis Glassell, 1937 and P. oculiviolaceous Glassell, 1937, both previously known from the eastern tropical Pacific. Paguristes aztatlanensis features a proportionally much longer shield than P. haigae n. sp., an acute rostrum, longer than in P. haigae n. sp, and its ocular peduncle is proportionally shorter than in the new species; pereopods 2 and 3 are proportionally longer in P. aztatlanensis than in P. haigae n. sp. and third maxilliped of P. haigae n. sp. is armed while it is unarmed in P. aztatlanensis. P. oculiviolaceous posseses a relatively much longer antennule than P. haigae and the armature of the carpus of chelipeds varies in these two species. Paguristes haigae n. sp also shows somewhat resemblance to P. bakeri Holmes, 1900 and P. holmesi Glassell, 1937, but these two species have the anterior lobules of the telson unarmed while it is armed with 2–4 spines in P. haigae n. sp.

scholarly journals Estudios de zooplancton marino en Costa Rica: una revisión y perspectivas a futuro

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1-1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Álvaro Morales-Ramírez ◽  
Marco Corrales-Ugalde ◽  
Octavio Esquivel-Garrote ◽  
Allan Carrillo Baltodano ◽  
Karina Rodríguez-Sáenz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Production ◽  
National Park ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Zooplankton Abundance ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Caribbean Coast ◽  
Ecological Features ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Gulf Of Nicoya

This review summarizes marine zooplankton research performed in the Costa Rican Pacific and Caribbean coasts and at Isla del Coco National Park. Composition, abundance, biomass, distribution and some ecological features of the zooplankton for each system is discussed. Pacific coastal zooplankton composition has been described in Bahía Salinas and Bahía Culebra. The local oceanography of these bays is heavily influenced by the Papagayo wind jet, which produces seasonal coastal upwelling and most likely drives the seasonal changes in zooplankton abundance and biomass. Copepods and ostracods were the dominant taxonomic groups throughout the year with a strong seasonality, furthermore 53 hydromedusae species has been found, where Liriope tetraphylla (Chamisso & Eysenhardt, 1821), Solmundella bitentaculata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833) and Aglaura hemistoma (Péron & Lesueur, 1810), were the most abundant species. Zooplankton herbivory rates at Gulf of Nicoya estuary was estimated over 50 % removal of primary production. This is a typical value for tropical productive environments. Copepods numerically dominated zooplankton community from the Gulf of Nicoya. Other dominant taxa includes merozooplanktonic decapod larvae and ichthyoplankton. Biomass is high and there are strong crossshelf gradients in the Gulf. Zooplankton collected in the southern Pacific coast (close to Isla del Caño) is also dominated by copepods, while Bahía Coronado has a mixed zooplankton composition of oceanic and coastal transition waters. In Golfo Dulce, zooplankton is highly diverse and dominated by copepods, appendicularians, and ostracods. About 35 % of daily primary production is consumed by microzooplankton, and zooplankton adapt to anomalous conditions of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Coco´s Island, and other oceanic islands in the Eastern Tropical Pacific are “hot spot” of zooplankton diversity, where > 160 zooplankton species have been reported (predominantly copepods). The biomass is dominated by mesozooplankton, and new species records for the Eastern Tropical Pacific have been found in this insular ecosystem. In the other hand, early works of 1980 carried out at Caribbean coast (Cahuita National Park), show a considerably low zooplankton diversity and abundance while research at the end of the 2000 decade recognized a significant increase in zooplankton diversity, specially fish larvae. Recent zooplankton studies have added six new copepod species and several new records of species from different taxonomic groups such as appendicularians, amphipods, chaetognats, euphausiids, gastropods, and polychaetes. Future work should focus on monthly long-term monitoring programs to investigate the effects of ocean acidification and the trophic dynamics associated with fisheries. Alike, longterm studies are needed to see trends of change in planktonic communities, especially comparing areas under human activity in the coastal zone (tourism, port, urban development) with protected areas as targets for study. An increase of sampling efforts must be done in the relatively understudied Northern Caribbean coast.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document