Ictiofauna asociada al manglar del estero el Conchalito,ensenada de La Paz, Baja California Sur, México

Abstract

A check list of fish collected from June 1996 to May 1998 at El Conchalito mangrove swamp, Bahía de La Paz, México is reported. The list includes one class, 11 orders, 22 families, 39 genera and 55 fish species. The most diverse families in number of species are Haemulidae (11 species), Gerreidae (7) and Gobiidae (5); while eleven of them had only one species. Twenty-five (45%) economically important species inhabits the mangrove swamp at early life stages, whereas they are target species as adults in offshore fisheries at Bahía de La Paz. Another 18 species are mentioned as potentially important for fisheries. New distributional records of five species for Bahía de La Paz: Centropomus armatus, Epinephelus niphobles, Haemulopsis nitidus, Myrichthys tigrinus, and Pomadasys bayanus are established. The importance of this mangrove swamp as a critical nursery and recruitment ground for fish fauna in adjacent aquatic ecosystems is discussed.