Fish larvae from the Gulf of California to Colima, Mexico: an update

Abstract

An updated taxonomic list of marine fish larvae from the Gulf of California to Colima, Mexico is presented. A total of 579 taxa belonging to 119 families, 256 genera, and 423 species were recorded. The list was compiled using 14 publications on fish larvae research (1974-2012), and the fish larvae identified from 315 samples collected with Bongo nets during 10 oceanographic cruises made from the Gulf of California to Bahía de Banderas, Mexico, from 2003 to 2007 (this study). The most important families in this study were the Myctophidae (28.3%), Engraulidae (25.0%), and Clupeidae (15.4%). The most abundant species were Cetengraulis mysticetus (18.2%), Benthosema panamense (13.9%), and Opisthonema libertate (12.7%). The compiled taxonomic list shows the addition of 296 new taxa to the previous list published 10 years ago, and also the need of an increase in the effort on the taxonomy of fish larvae forms not identified to species level.