Effects of the oxygen minimum zone on squat lobster distributions in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Abstract

AbstractDistribution of squat lobsters of the genera Gastropthychus (one species), Uroptychus (1), Janetogalathea (1), Galacantha (1), Munidopsis (8), and Munida (7) in the Gulf of California, Mexico, was plotted vs. the localization of the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) using bottom projections of the 0.50, 0.25, 0.10, and 0.05 ml l−1 oxylines. Four fringes where oxygen concentrations were equal or lower than these concentrations were obtained, extending from the southern Gulf to about 28°–28°30′N. A total of 172 sampling locations with squat lobsters were plotted on four maps, one for each fringe, noting that with decreasing values of bottom oxygen (i.e., from 0.50 to 0.05 ml l−1) the number of locations with species included between the upper and lower boundaries of these fringes decreases as follows: 34% for 0.50, 25% for 0.25, 12% for 0.10, and 5% for 0.05 ml l−1. The upper and lower limits of the 0.05 ml l−1 fringe are recognised as threshold frontiers, acting as barriers between shallow and deep communities of squat lobsters in the area. The distribution of the localities where species have been collected with respect to the upper and lower boundaries of the 0.05 ml l−1 fringe clearly indicates a segregation pattern. Eight species of Munida (except M. perlata), and one each of Janetogalathea and Gastropthychus inhabit the shallow area, just above the OMZ core, with species of Munida generally found a rather long distance from this fringe. By contrast, species of Munidopsis, G. diomedeae and U. pubescens correspond to the deep area, i.e., below the OMZ core. It is suggested that the core of the OMZ in the Gulf of California serves as a vertical and latitudinal distribution filter, preventing species from freely migrating up and down or south and north.