Biogeographic Relationships of a Rocky Intertidal Fish Assemblage in an Area of Cold Water Upwelling off Baja California, Mexico

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v45n1-63-71.pdf (4.73 MB)

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1991-01

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University of Hawai'i Press

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The rocky intertidal fish assemblage at an area of nearshore cold water upwelling at Punta Clara, northern Baja California, Mexico was sampled bimonthly for 1 yr. Temperatures in this upwelling region typically range from 10° to 16°C throughout the year and are significantly lower than those of surrounding areas in the warm-temperate Californian biogeographic province. The assemblage at Punta Clara is a species-rich mixture composed of eight fishes that are primarily Californian in distribution, seven that are primarily Oregonian cold-temperate, and four that range throughout both provinces. In terms of relative numbers, 53% of the total number of fishes are Californian, 33% are Oregonian, and 14% belong to both provinces. In terms of biomass, 75% are Californian, 20% are Oregonian, and 5% belong to both provinces. Two common intertidal fishes characteristic of the Californian province (and belonging to the largely tropical and subtropical families Blenniidae and Labrisomidae) are absent, as are members of the Stichaeidae, which are characteristic of the Oregonian intertidal. Populations of Oregonian fishes in these upwelling regions off Baja California may be Pleistocene relicts maintained by cold temperatures. Alternatively, allozyme studies of two of these species suggest considerable gene flow between northern and Baja Californian populations that could be maintained by larval transport in coastal currents, such as the California Current.

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Stepien CA, Phillips H, Adler JA, Mangold PJ. 1991. Biogeographic relationships of a rocky intertidal fish assemblage in an area of cold water upwelling off Baja California, Mexico. Pac Sci 45(1): 63-71.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10125/1378

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Pacific Science Volume 45, Number 1, 1991
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