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Overfishing is a key stressor in many coral reefs, affecting their function and ecosystem services. In the Gulf ofCalifornia, 50 years of artisanal and recreational fishing have removed most of the largest and most vulnerablefish species, the Espiritu Santo Archipelago (ESA) is a marine protected area (MPA) where artisanal and recre­ational fishing are allowed in most of the natural reefs, while the artificial reefs (wrecks) are fully protected. Animportant question under such circumstances is whether artificial reefs can serve as surrogate habitats for thenatural reefs. To address this question, we characterized the fish community (species richness, abundance, dif­ferences in taxonomic structure) and analyzed the obtained data by multivariate ordination and similarityanalysis. The highest species richness was found in the artificial reefs, with total of 83 species, of which 21species were exclusive. Contrary to the species richness, the total fish abundance was 20% higher at the naturalreefs. The fish assemblages of the artificial reefs differ significantly from those of the natural reefs. The naturalreefs of the ESA are dominated by few fish species from families of lower trophic levels. In contrast, the studiedshipwrecks provide refuge to commercially important fish species (such as Snappers, Triggerfish, Jacks, andGroupers) including threatened species. The different fish compositions on the natural and artificial reefs is likelyto be the outcome of differential fishing pressure. The non-fished areas (wrecks) of the ESA may represent a goodstrategy for reef restoration, enhanced fishing grounds (via spillover) and fishing management. However, the fishcommunity structure of the artificial reefs differs from natural rocky reefs of the ESA, and therefore, should notbe considered as surrogate habitats for natura

Palabras clave: Artificial reefs; Marine protected area; No-take areas; reef fish; Gulf of California; Espíritu Santo Archipelago

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