Palomares-García, J.R., R., De Silva-Dávila & J.M., Guerrero-Ruíz (2023). Jellyfish and Siphonophores as indicator species in the Gulf of California. XXIII Reunión Nacional de la Sociedad Mexicana de Planctología A.C. y XVI International Meeting of the Mexican Society Of Planktology A.C.. Cozumel, Quintana Roo, México, mayo 29 - junio 2, 2023, 223-224.
José Ricardo Palomares-García 1, Roxana De Silva-Dávila 1 y José Manuel Guerrero-Ruíz 1
Jellyfish and siphonophores are ecologically important as predators in the food web, and can reach high densities under certain environmental conditions. High abundances can generate logistical and economic problems in the coastal zone. In the Gulf of California, during the summer of 2014, zooplankton samples were collected at 61 sampling stations using a standard Bongo structure. The environment was analyzed using data from CTD sets, estimates of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in situ, and from satellite images. The structure of the community of jellyfish and siphonophores was determined based on environmental variability, establishing the possible indicator species of water masses. Pelagia noctiluca was the most abundant jellyfish among the 16 species identified with an average abundance of 1,062 org/1,000 m3. Muggiaea atlantica was the most abundant siphonophore species of the 29 identified. Their average abundance was low (937 org/1,000 m3), but diversity (2.5 bits/individual) and evenness (0.7) were higher than in jellyfish. The vertical profiles showed the advance, towards the interior of the gulf, of the mass of Tropical Surface Water (TSW) along the continental coast and the outgoing flux of the Gulf of California Water (GCW) on the peninsular side. The two-way cluster analysis showed three groups of stations and species: two related to GCW and TSW respectively and the third formed by species distributed throughout the area. The canonical correspondence analysis showed that salinity and Chl-a were the most important variables in the distribution of jellyfish (-0.55 and -0.36) and siphonophores (-0.71 and -0.48). The analysis of indicator species revealed the jellyfish Solmundella bitentaculata (51.9%) and the
siphonophore Sulculeolaria quadrivalvis (34.6%) as indicators of TSW, and the jellyfish Leuckartiara octona (29.8%) and the siphonophore Rhizophysa (45.1%) as indicators of GCW.
Palabras clave: Jellyfish; Siphonophores; indicator species; Bodies of water; Gulf of California
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