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on the community structure of macrofauna, in the subtidal rocky reef from the southwestern Gulf of California. The composition and abundance of epibenthic invertebrates was estimated from February to August 2008 in twenty fixed quadrats of 1 m2 with the presence of Sargassum and without Sargassum and other seaweeds (experimental removed) inside the forest. We also studied the fish composition from August 2007 to August 2008 in presence and natural absence of Sargasum forest in the locality. Fifty four taxa of epibenthic invertebrates and forty seven fish species were founded in the rocky reef. The community structure of epibenthic invertebrates in quadrats with Sargassum did not show a significant variation compared with quadrats without Sargassum. However, we found high values of mean richness of species, abundance and diversity of epibenthic invertebrates in quadrats with Sargassum plus other seaweeds. The mean richness of fish species in presence of the Sargassum forest show a significant variation compared in absence of the forest in the locality. The results showed that the presence of Sargassum adds complexity to rocky reef, increases the number of ecological niches and providing habitat for the macrofauna community in this region. Therefore, this is a critical habitat for maintaining thebiodiversity. Finally, on base a bibliographic review we could identify the presence of species associated to Sargassum forest with economic importance and ecological role with neighbor communities.

Palabras clave: La Paz; Sargassum; fauna; Goulf of California; rocky reef.

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