Moreno-Alcántara, M., G., Aceves-Medina, B.E., Lavaniegos, M.J., Hernández-Ayón, S.P.A., Jiménez-Rosenberg & J., Gómez-Gutiérrez (2025). Seasonal and interannual variability of Atlantidae heteropods along the west coast of Baja California, Mexico. Progress in Oceanography. 103562. DOI: 10.1016/j.pocean.2025.103562.
María Moreno-Alcántara, Gerardo Aceves-Medina 1, Bertha E. Lavaniegos, Martín J. Hernández-Ayón, Sylvia Patricia Adelheid Jiménez-Rosenberg 1 y Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez 1
The Atlantidae are holoplanktonic gastropods with aragonitic shells that inhabit the epipelagic habitat primarily in tropical and subtropical oceans, as well as in certain transitional and temperate regions, such as the California Current System. However, there is limited knowledge about how their diversity, distribution, and abundance respond to environmental changes over different time scales. The strongest seasonal changes of zooplankton species composition and environmental conditions in the southern California Current System occur between winter and spring. El Niño Southern Oscillation and marine heat waves are two additional environmental change drivers of interannual scale. Our aim was to infer the effect of the seasonal (winter-spring) and interannual (2012–2016) environmental variability on the diversity, distribution, and abundance of the Atlantidae species assemblage along the Pacific coast off the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. Atlantidae diversity was higher during winters than during springs. Their horizontal distribution recorded during winter was statistically correlated with temperature, salinity, and the seawater masses distribution, and during spring was correlated with the depth of hypoxic conditions (<60 µmol O2/kg oxyline) and the depth of O aragonite saturation horizon. Atlanta californiensis was the most abundant species, mainly during spring and its relative abundance decreased during anomalously warm periods, while tropical/subtropical species showed an opposite abundance pattern. The maximum species richness was associated with the 2013–2015 marine heat wave and El Niño 2015–2016 events, when tropical species were observed in the study area. Differences in the species community structure, their response to O aragonite undersaturated waters and hypoxia, and their seawater mass affinity showed that atlantids are useful biological indicators of environmental changes, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation conditions.
Palabras clave: Southern California Current; Spring transition; Holoplanktonic mollusks; Aragonite saturation depth; Hypoxic waters
Para obtener una copia del documento contacta la personal de la biblioteca a través del correo bibliocicimar{a}ipn.mx