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The Mexican Caribbean is considered one of
the most important sites for whale shark aggregations.
Whale shark groups of over 300 individuals have been
recorded frequently. There is little published information
regarding the ecology of the whale shark in Mexico,
and the role that the Mexican Caribbean plays as habitat
for this species. This area has been recognized as important
for the whale shark and therefore it is necessary
to determine the environmental factors that shape the
distribution of these animals. The aim of this study was
to identify key environmental factors associated with
whale shark feeding aggregations and to determine the
patterns in habitat suitability for whale sharks in the
Mexican Caribbean through the modeling approach of
maximum entropy. Whale shark data obtained for this
study included 250 records during April to September
(2008–2012). The MaxEnt model performed better than
random and produced an area under the curve (AUC)
score of 0.946. Primary productivity and sea surface
temperature were the variables most strongly related to
whale shark sightings. The model predicted a high suitability
in areas located to the north of Isla Contoy and
the offshore area east of Isla Contoy named BAfuera^
(>0.75), with medium suitability north of Cabo Catoche
(>0.5) and lower suitability for the northeast of Cabo
Catoche (<0.5). The habitat suitability maps also indicated
seasonal variations, showing a higher prediction
of whale shark sightings during the rainy season (June to
October), when primary productivity is higher in the
area.

Palabras clave: Whale shark; MaxEnt model; Species distribution; Mexican Caribbean

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