Abundance and diversity of fishes in Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve, Campeche, Mexico: nycthemeral cycles and climatic seasons interrelationships

In the Mexican state of Campeche, the marine littoral portion of Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve (RBLP), integrates several ecological components such as the fish community as the more diverse and abundant aquatic macrofauna. The coastal marine fish structure and function is conditioned by the comprehension of the environmental dynamic in different scale. In the present study, nycthemeral samplings were carried out in three moments of year 2009 in a site located in the central region of the RBLP with the objective of describing environmental patterns and changes in abundance and diversity of the ichthyofauna and discuss their associations with the day-night cycles and with the times of cold fronts "nortes", dry and rain. The results show significant differences in the environmental behavior between the three climatic seasons but not between the day hours and the night hours. 31 species were identified, including the families Haemulidae, Sparidae, Lutjanidae, Sciaenidae, Monacanthidae and Tetraodontidae by their species richness. Twelve species were identified dominant being the most abundant Haemulon plumierii, Lagodon rhomboides, Orthopristis chrysoptera and Eucinostomus gula. The highest abundance was recorded in "nortes" climatic season and the lowest in "dry" one and in the latter ones were observed the greatest differences between day and night. The dominant species were associated in two groups that match by its abundance in hours of the day and of the night and with environmental variability.