A dataset on the species composition of amphipods (Crustacea) in a Mexican marine national park: Alacranes Reef, Yucatan.

BACKGROUND: Alacranes Reef was declared as a National Marine Park in 1994. Since then, many efforts have been made to inventory its biodiversity. However, groups such as amphipods have been underestimated or not considered when benthic invertebrates were inventoried. Here we present a dataset that contributes to the knowledge of benthic amphipods (Crustacea, Peracarida) from the inner lagoon habitats from the Alacranes Reef National Park, the largest coral reef ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. The dataset contains information on records collected from 2009 to 2011. Data are available through Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). NEW INFORMATION: A total of 110 amphipod species distributed in 93 nominal species and 17 generic species, belonging to 71 genera, 33 families and three suborders are presented here. This information represents the first online dataset of amphipods from the Alacranes Reef National Park. The biological material is currently deposited in the crustacean collection from the regional unit of the National Autonomous University of Mexico located at Sisal, Yucatan, Mexico (UAS-Sisal). The biological material includes 588 data records with a total abundance of 6,551 organisms. The species inventory represents, until now, the richest fauna of benthic amphipods registered from any discrete coral reef ecosystem in Mexico.

Introduction

Alacranes Reef is a highly diverse protected coral reef ecosystem, located in the southern sector of the Gulf of México. It is considered as one of the largest coral reefs of the Gulf of Mexico (Liceaga-Correa and Hernández-Núñez 2000, Tunnell et al. 2007a). It was declared as a National Marine Park by the Mexican government in 1994 and as a Biosphere Reserve, by the UNESCO, in 2006. Since its declaration as a National Park, Alacranes Reef has been subject to different efforts to inventory its biodiversity, however, this task is not fulfilled until now. Recent studies on reef-associated benthic fauna include sea anemones (González-Muñoz et al. 2013), decapod crustaceans (Santana-Moreno et al. 2013), polychaetes (Ramírez-Hernández et al. 2015), sponges (Ugalde et al. 2015) and mollusks (Reyes-Gómez et al. 2017).The peracarid crustaceans, such as the amphipods, are one of the underestimated groups not considered in the main inventory lists reported for the reef (CONANP 2006, Tunnell et al. 2007b). The scarce evidence describing the richness of amphipods on the Alacranes reef (Paz-Ríos et al. 2014, Paz-Ríos et al. 2013a, Paz-Ríos et al. 2013b) has pointed out the relevance of this group as one of the most diverse in the entire reef ecosystem. The present contribution intends to show the high species richness of benthic amphipods inhabiting the bottom habitats from the inner reef lagoon by providing a dataset with taxonomic checklist. This checklist constitutes the first formal effort to inventory the biodiversity of such group in the Alacranes Reef ecosystem.

Project description

Title

Alacranes Reef Biodiversity Expedition.

Personnel

Carlos Enrique Paz Ríos and Nuno Simões.

Design description

The dataset was composed using information from benthic macrofauna samples randomly collected on different benthic habitats and artificial substrates between 2009 and 2011, mostly in the inner lagoon of Alacranes reef.

Funding

Resources included funds to NS from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for supporting academic research (PAPIME-PE207210), funds from the Mexican Government for scientific research (SEMARNAT-CONACyT108285) and an international cooperation for marine scientific research between Mexico and USA (HRI-CONABIO-NE018) through the project “Actualización del conocimiento de la diversidad de especies de invertebrados marinos bentónicos de aguas someras (<50 m) del Sur del Golfo de México”. Funds to CEPR was provided by CONACyT scholarship.

Sampling methods

Study extent

The dataset contains information on amphipods collected from three different expeditions: the first one in August 2009, the second one in April 2010 and the third one in October 2011. In each expedition a relatively high diversity of habitats was explored in order to increase the chance to capture the species diversity. In the 2010 and 2011 expeditions, special effort was made to collect information on navigation buoys and two wood docks nearby a sand island (isla Perez).

Sampling description

Amphipods were collected from 50 sampling sites: Forty-one randomly distributed on natural habitats from the inner lagoon, including different benthic habitats (i.e. bare substrate, seagrass bed, coral patch, reef wall) and nine collected on artificial substrates (i.e. buoy, wood dock, lobster tramp). Diverse sampling devices were employed: PVC core for sandy substrates, shovel for patches of intertidal sand, suction device sampler for coral rubble, sand and shallow coral reef flats and, finally, a Riley push-net and trawl for shallow seagrass beds of (Banks ex König, 1805).

Quality control

Amphipod species were sorted and identified to the lowest possible taxonomical category, using specialised literature such as keys for identification, e.g. Myers (1981), Lowry and Stoddart (1997), LeCroy (2000) and illustrated guides, e.g. Winfield et al. (2007), Ortiz et al. (2014). The taxonomical arrangement used herein follows Lowry and Myers (2017). Nine species were identified as possibly new species and were represented at the genus category (i.e. , , , , , , ); further specialised taxonomical effort will be needed before assigning a name. Species names were matched using the Taxon Match tool in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) in order to corroborate, standardise and update if necessary. Sampling points in the reef, available in the Data resources (see below), were georeferenced and displayed into different maps using different software (i.e. QGIS®, ArcView GIS®, and Google Maps®).

Step description

Once collected, the amphipods were first anaesthetised with magnesium chloride (4%) for 15 to 20 min. and then fixed with formaldehyde solution (10%) buffered with seawater before storage. In the laboratory, samples were washed through a 500 µm size mesh and preserved with 70% of ethanol solution. Finally, the organisms were stored in glass containers with a catalogue number according to the regional collection ‘Crustáceos de Yucatán’ (YUC-CC-255-11), from the ‘Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Unidad Sisal’ Mexico.

Geographic coverage

Description

The Alacranes Reef, Yucatan, Mexico (Fig. 1), is located in the Campeche/Yucatanean Outer Neritic area (Wilkinson et al. 2009) forming part of the North America's marine ecoregion 14 (Southern Gulf of Mexico). It is a platform reef type with a semi-elliptic shape, covering an area larger than 650 km2 (Liceaga-Correa and Hernández-Núñez 2000).

Figure 1.

Location of sampling points in the Alacranes Reef National Park. The image from the NASA Earth Observatory, was acquired by Jesse Allen on November 5, 2014, by the Operation Land Imager on Landsat 8.

Coordinates

22.337 and 22.605 North Latitude; -89.549 and -89.852 West Longitude.

Taxonomic coverage

The dataset contains information on 110 species (93 nominal species and 17 generic species), belonging to 71 genera, 33 families and three suborders. The suborder was composed of 46 species, 28 genera and 13 families, the suborder by 6 species, 1 genus and 1 family and the suborder by 58 species, 42 genera and 19 families (Table 1). Regardless suborder, 6 families presented the highest numbers of species, accounting for the 50% of all the fauna in the reef: (6 spp.), (6 spp.), (8 spp.), (11 spp.), (12 spp.) and (13 spp.).

Table 1.

Checklist of benthic amphipod species in the Alacranes Reef, Yucatan.

Suborder	Family	Species
Amphilochidea	Ampeliscidae	Ampelisca brevisimulata Barnard, 1954
		Ampelisca cristata Holmes, 1908
		Ampelisca schellenbergi Shoemaker, 1933
		Ampelisca vadorum Mills, 1963
	Amphilochidae	Apolochus delacaya (McKinney, 1978)
		Apolochus sp.
	Bateidae	Batea carinata (Shoemaker, 1926)
		Batea cuspidata (Shoemaker, 1926)
	Cyproideidae	Hoplopheonoides obesa Shoemaker, 1956
	Dexaminidae	Dexaminella sp.
		Notrotopis minikoi (Walker, 1905)
	Leucothoidae	Anamixis cavatura Thomas, 1997
		Anamixis vanga Thomas, 1997
		Leucothoe ashleyae Thomas & Klebba, 2006
		Leucothoe barana Thomas & Klebba, 2007
		Leucothoe hendrickxi Winfield & Álvarez, 2009
		Leucothoe kensleyi Thomas & Klebba, 2005
		Leucothoe laurensi Thomas & Ortiz, 1995
		Leucothoe saron Thomas & Klebba, 2007
		Leucothoe ubouhu Thomas & Klebba, 2007
		Leucothoe wuriti Thomas & Klebba, 2007
		Leucothoe sp.
	Liljeborgiidae	Liljeborgia bousfieldi McKinney, 1979
		Liljeborgia sp.
		Idunella barnardi (Wigley, 1966)
		Idunella sp.
	Lysianassidae	Aruga holmesi Barnard, 1955
		Concarnes concavus (Shoemaker, 1933)
		Ensayara entrichoma Gable & Lazo-Wasem, 1990
		Hippomedon sp.
		Lepidepecreum madagascarensis (Ledoyer, 1986)
		Lysianopsis alba (Holmes, 1905)
		Orchomenella thomasi Lowry & Stoddart, 1997
		Shoemakerella cubensis (Stebbing, 1897)
	Oedicerotidae	Americhelidium americanum (Bousfield, 1973)
		Hartmanodes nyei (Shoemaker, 1933)
		Perioculodes cerasinus Thomas & Barnard, 1985
	Phoxocephalidae	Eobrolgus spinosus (Holmes, 1905)
		Harpinia sp.
		Metharpinia floridana (Shoemaker, 1933)
		Rhepoxynius sp.
	Platyischnopidae	Eudevenopus honduranus Thomas & Barnard, 1983
	Sebidae	Seba tropica McKinney, 1980
	Stenothoidae	Stenothoe gallensis Walker, 1904
		Stenothoe valida Dana, 1853
		Stenothoe sp.
Colomastigidea	Colomastigidae	Colomastix denticornis LeCroy, 1995
		Colomastix falcirama LeCroy, 1995
		Colomastix heardi LeCroy, 1995
		Colomastix irciniae LeCroy, 1995
		Colomastix tridentata LeCroy, 1995
		Colomastix sp.
Senticaudata	Ampithoidae	Ampithoe marcuzzii Ruffo, 1954
		Ampithoe ramondi Audouin, 1826
		Ampithoe valida Smith, 1873
		Cymadusa compta (Smith, 1873)
		Cymadusa filosa Savigni, 1816
		Pseudamphithoides incurvaria (Just, 1977)
	Aoridae	Bemlos dentischium (Myers, 1977)
		Bemlos kunkelae (Myers, 1977)
		Bemlos longicornis Myers, 1978
		Bemlos spinicarpus (Pearse, 1912)
		Bemlos unicornis (Bynum & Fox, 1977)
		Bemlos sp.
		Globosolembos smithi (Holmes, 1905)
		Grandidierella bonnieroides Coutiere, 1904
		Lembos unifasciatus reductus Myers, 1979
		Lembos unifasciatus unifasciatus Myers, 1977
		Paramicrodeutopus myersi (Bynum & Fox, 1977)
		Plesiolembos ovalipes (Myers, 1979)
		Plesiolembos rectangulatus (Myers, 1977)
	Caprellidae	Deutella caribensis Guerra-García, Krapp-Schickel & Müller, 2006
		Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890
		Metaprotella hummelincki (McCain, 1968)
	Eriopisidae	Netamelita tabaci Thomas & Barnard, 1991
		Psammogammarus sp.
	Hadziidae	Protohadzia schoenerae (Fox, 1973)
	Hornelliidae	Hornellia (Metaceradocus) tequestae Thomas & Barnard, 1986
	Hyalidae	Parhyale hawaiensis (Dana, 1853)
		Protohyale (Protohyale) macrodactyla (Stebbing, 1899)
	Ischyroceridae	Ambicholestes (Ambicholestes) crassicornis (Just, 1984)
		Ericthonius punctatus (Bate, 1857)
		Ericthonius sp.
	Maeridae	Anamaera hixoni Thomas & Barnard, 1985
		Ceradocus rubromaculatus (Stimpson, 1856)
		Ceradocus (Denticeradocus) sheardi Shoemaker, 1948
		Ceradocus shoemakeri Fox, 1973
		Elasmopus rapax (Costa, 1853)
		Elasmopus thomasi Ortiz & Lalana, 1994
		Elasmopus sp.
		Maera sp.
		Maeracoota galani Krapp-Schickel & Ruffo, 2001
		Meximaera diffidentia Barnard, 1969
		Quadrimaera pacifica (Schellenberg, 1938)
		Spathiopus looensis Thomas & Barnard, 1985
	Megaluropidae	Gibberosus myersi (McKinney, 1980)
	Melitidae	Dulichiella lecroyae Lowry & Springthorpe, 2007
		Melita planaterga Kunkel, 1910
	Neomegamphopidae	Neomegamphopus hiatus Barnard & Thomas, 1987
	Nuuanuidae	Nuuanu muelleri Ortiz, 1976
	Phliantidae	Pariphinotus seclusus (Shoemaker, 1933)
	Photidae	Audulla chelifera Chevreux, 1901
		Gammaropsis sutherlandi Nelson, 1980
		Photis sp.
		Rocasphotis sp.
	Podoceridae	Podocerus fissipes Serejo, 1995
		Podocerus kleidus Thomas & Barnard, 1992
	Pontogeneiidae	Nasageneia yucatanensis (McKinney, 1980)
	Talitridae	Tethorchestia antillensis Bousfield, 1984
	Unciolidae	Rudilemboides naglei Bousfield, 1973

Temporal coverage

Data range: 2009-8-01 – 2011-10-17.

Usage rights

Use license

Other

IP rights notes

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License

Data resources

Data package title

Benthic amphipods from Alacranes Reef, Campeche Bank, Mexico

Resource link

http://ipt.iobis.org/caribbeanobis/resource?r=anfipodosbentonicos_bancodecampeche_mexico

Alternative identifiers

http://ipt.iobis.org/caribbeanobis/archive.do?r=anfipodosbentonicos_bancodecampeche_mexico

Number of data sets

1

Data set 1.

Data set name

Benthic amphipods from Alacranes Reef, Campeche Bank, Mexico

Data format

Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A)

Number of columns

15

Character set

UTF-8

Data format version

1.0

Description

The dataset presents an occurrence data sheet with 15 columns including information for 588 records.

Data set 1.

Column label	Column description
eventID	An identifier for the set of information associated with an Event (something that occurs at a place and time).
basisOfRecord	The specific nature of the data record.
occurrenceID	An identifier for the Occurrence (i.e. number of collection catalogue).
individualCount	The number of individuals represented present at the time of the Occurrence.
occurrenceStatus	A statement about the presence or absence of a Taxon at a Location.
associatedReferences	An identifier (i.e. Digital Object Identifier, DOI) of literature associated with the Occurrence.
samplingProtocol	The name of, reference to, or description of the method or protocol used during an Event.
eventDate	The date-time or interval during which an Event occurred.
decimalLatitude	The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location.
decimalLongitude	The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location.
identificationQualifier	A brief phrase or a standard term ("cf.", "aff.") to express the determiner's doubts about the Identification.
scientificNameID	An identifier for the nomenclatural (not taxonomic) details of a scientific name (i.e. AphiaID).
scientificName	The full scientific name.
taxonRank	The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName.
taxonRemarks	Comments or notes about the taxon or name.