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CHITONS
(MOLLUSCA: POLYPLACOPHORA) IN MEXICAN WATERS
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Reyes-Gómez
Adriana & Salcedo-Vargas Mario Alejandro |
Chitons
in Mexico have been poorly studied, because the main malacologic
studies are on species of economic importance. In spite of the
fact that there are two collections of chitons in Mexico, The
Collection of Mazatlán, del Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y
Limnology, UNAM (ICMyL) and the National Collection of Mollusks
of the Instituto de Biologia, UNAM (CNMO), the unpublished
information about the number of chitons species from mexican
coasts, is disperse and has been unavailable in Mexico. This
study provides the first updated checklist of the chitons from
Mexican coasts. The literature was extensively reviewed to
obtain a more complete list chitons in Mexican waters. Papers
specifically on chitons in mexican waters, monographic studies
and distribution and ecologic works were studied. A total of 116
species belonging to 8 subfamilies and 21 genera have been
recorded in the area. Geographical distribution in Mexican
waters is given for each species: the western coast of Baja
California Peninsula (46 species), the Gulf of California (31
species), Mexican Tropical Pacific (17 species), the Gulf of
Mexico (7 species) and the Mexican Caribbean (15 species), and
associated with two zones: the Coastal Zone (100 species) and
the Deep Zone (16 species). 43 endemic species have been
recorded and 73 species have a wide range of distribution.
The
efforts made by Mexican scientists have been very limited due to
the lack of experts. Thus, malacological studies in Mexico have
unfortunately been dependent on the works of non-Mexican
researchers. The present paper is an effort to increase interest
in the study of the chitons in Mexico and its southern
neighbouring countries in order to contribute to the knowledge
of the marine biodiversity in the region. |
