First record and DNA barcode for Ocyurus chrysurus (Lutjanidae) from a coastal lagoon in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

A single sub-adult specimen of yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch, 1791) of 76.08 mm total long (TL) and weighing 4.38 g, was caught on June 7, 2013 over a sandy habitat in the coastal lagoon of La Mancha, Veracruz, Mexico. The capture of O. chrysurus represents a first record for the lagoon and one of the few records for the estuarine systems of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, even though this species is typical of habitats associated with coral reefs. Similarly, the reported sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene is also the first record of the species for coastal lagoons of this region. Other sequences of the same species were used to evaluate the haplotypic diversity in the western Atlantic Ocean.