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Distribution and ecology of deep-water mollusks from the continental slope, southeastern Gulf of California, Mexico

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Abstract

Specimens of deep-water mollusks were collected with a bottom dredge in the SE Gulf of California during four cruises (TALUD project) in 2000–2001. A total of 24 species (16 Pelecypoda, 5 Gastropoda, and 3 Scaphopoda) were collected. Analyses of environmental data (depth, epibenthic temperature and oxygen content, sediment texture and organic matter content) associated with each record indicated that the community diversity of these deep-water mollusks was related to oxygen concentration and density was correlated with depth. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that the five environmental variables explained 53.8% of observed variance in the model. In a multiple regression analysis, density (ind l−1) was best correlated with dissolved oxygen concentration (R = −0.25), followed by temperature (R = −0.20), organic matter content (R = −0.15), and depth (R = −0.12). As oxygen best explained variance in the CCA it was selected to perform a single correspondence analysis (CA) using the most abundant and frequent species (two Pelecypoda and three Scapophoda). The analysis shows that pelecypods occur in near anoxic values while scaphopods occur in intermediate oxygen concentrations.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by CONACyT project 31805-N and partly supported by DGAPA project IN217306-3 (Mexico) and shiptime was granted by UNAM (Coordinación de la Investigación Científica). The authors thank all members of the scientific and technical crews for the help provided during the TALUD IV–VII cruises. We are particularly thankful to N. Mendéz-Ubach and S. Gómez for providing sediment data. We also thank E. Coan and P. Scott for their assistance with identification of difficult species and S.E. Townsend for reviewing the English. We are particularly thankful for the numerous comments provided by one of the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript and by J. Grassle whose editing and suggestions were always constructive and useful. Special technical help was provided by A. Galaviz Solis, H. Bojórquez Leyva, M.A. Días Flores, J. Salgado Barragán, A. Castro del Rio, A. Nuñez Pasten, J.M. Ojeda Cota, and C.F. Flores Cabrera. The sampling and experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Invertebrados Bentónicos, ICML-UNAM, CP 82040, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    P. Zamorano & M. E. Hendrickx

  2. Unidad Académica Puerto Morelos, ICML-UNAM, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    A. Toledano-Granados

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  1. P. Zamorano
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  2. M. E. Hendrickx
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  3. A. Toledano-Granados
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Correspondence to M. E. Hendrickx.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick.

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Zamorano, P., Hendrickx, M.E. & Toledano-Granados, A. Distribution and ecology of deep-water mollusks from the continental slope, southeastern Gulf of California, Mexico. Mar Biol 150, 883–892 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0390-5

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