The identification of Larvae, eggs and stomach contents…

three studies of the application of barcodes on Mexican fish.

Martha Elena Valdez Moreno Lourdes Vásquez YeomansCarolina Quintal Lizama Dalia Cázarez CarrilloElva Leyva

Banco Chinchorro

Contoy

Xcalak

The Mexican Caribbean

B. Chinchorro

Contoy

Punta Allen

XcalakMahahual

There exist many places of reef fish spawning aggregations and nursery areas of economic and ecological importance.

To ensure the sustainability of these areas as integrated ecosystems and the possibility to protect them, it is essential to know…

What fish species are living in this region?

7 mm LT

19 mm LT

74 mm LT

?

Where are they?

Larvae

Juvenile

Adults

22 mm LT

Eggs

Applying barcodes we have found some interesting things…

Awaous banana

69 new records for the Mexican Caribbean only at larvae stage

Pterois volitans*

Cozumel

River goby Lionfish

Barcodes help us to identify the larvae…

E. jonesii E. gulaE. melanopterus

Family GerreidaeGenus Eucinostomus

7

66 adult species with their larvae, previously unknown.

Using barcode

The external morphology is not useful to identify these larvae…..

Osteology description Eucinostomus jonesii

clearing technique

Thunnus atlanticus

Barcode allows us to know the distribution and the time of the appearance of larvae

8-29/march/0619/march/07

Mycteroperca bonaci

Aug/2005Mar/2006

species economically important

Black grouper

Blackfin tuna

E. jonesii E. gulaE. melanopterus

Xcalak

Family GerreidaeGenus Eucinostomus

7

All yearJan-Aug

Mar-may

Egg distribution and the time of the appearance …

Regalecus glesneKing of herrings

9-Apr-2009

Cozumel

the largest teleost fish of the world (8-10 m)

this fish could approach the coast in the north of the Mexican Caribbean for spawning or feeding

1-30 Jan-2007

Lachnolaimus maximusHogfish

Xcalak

adults

The case of… Mycteroperca bonaci

when and where the fishes spawn

development and maintenance fisheries

propose protected areas

Life cycle of the species

Lionfish situation

in Mexico…

There are several reasons to beconcerned about their presence:

They have venomous spines that could injure divers.

Mexico has many places that are world class scuba diving destination

Lionfish are predators that consume “mexican” native reef species!!!

What kind of prey do they eat in the mexican caribbean ?

Is the fIrst non-natIve

marIne fIsh establIshed In the

Westernnorth atlantIc and

carIbbean sea.

UseBarcode…

What can I do?

Stomach contents

Cozumel, Xcalak,Contoy islandBanco Chinchorro,Puerto Morelos Playa del Carmen

122 Pterois volitansfixed in alcohol (2009)

35 fresh digestive tracts were placed in ethylic alcohol 96% (2010)

Mahahual Xcalak

Stomach contents analysis

A total of 157 stomachs were examined

only 144 had stomach contents

We separated 330 prey items

90% showed a high degree of digestion of the tissue

170 sequences were compared with a reference library of DNA barcodes.

125 sequences matched with fishes

45 sequences matched with crustacean

Results

Fish:30 different species were identified (12 families)5 new records for Mexican Caribbean1 surprise….

Gobidae*

C. hyalinus

C. thrix

Coryphopterus eidolon

Priolepis hipoliti

Apogon townsendi Apogon maculatus

Apogon lachneriAstrapogon puncticulatus

Apogonidae*

C. venezuelae

Lythypnus sp

Apogon mosavi

C. tortugae

*greatest number of species

Malacoctenus triangulatus

Labrisomidae

Starksia ocellata

Labridae

Thalassoma bifasciatum Halichoeres garnotimost frecuently we found…

Abudefduf sexatilis

Pomacentridae

Stegastes partitus

comelonas

Tripterygiidae

Enneanectes altivelis Enneanectes boehlkei

mmm…delicius!

Serranidae

Cephalopholis cruentata

Haemulidae

Haemulon flavolineatum

cabrillaChak-chi

Monacanthus tuckeri

MonacanthidaeGrammatidae

Gramma loreto

Scaridae

Scarus iserti Sparisoma aurofrenatumSparisoma viridae

Loros

Lioproma rubre

Pterois volitans

species economically important

Crustacean

45 sequences

Using the barcodes we could identify 20 different species.

3 Orders:Euphausiacea…..1 species

Stomatopoda……2 species

Decapoda………17 species

Euphausia americana

Euphausia sp

Stomatopoda

Euphausiacea

Pseudosquilla sp.

Gonodactylidae…This only was able to assign to family level…

Decapoda: 17 species

Thor sp.

Hyppolytidae

PalaemonidaeAlpheidae

Something like this….

(CRU120)

The BOLD data base is not complete yet….

In Bold Decapoda: 141 Families and 2,049 sp sequenced

Conclusions

1. This is an example of how important the barcodes are in the support of sustainable fisheries.

2.With the help of barcodes we will know when and where the fish spawn, by directing protection measures in these particular seasons and sites we well suport fisheries.

3.This is the first time we have a tool that will help us to identify all species targeted by lion fish.

4.This is the first time that we have been able to report the kind of prey the lionfish consumes in the Mexican Caribbean.

5.The only limit has been that the barcode library is still incomplete, mainly crustaceans, but with time it will be possible to identify all species consumed, not only by exotics, but also by any other species.

Acknowledgements:

NOAA y RSMAS

CONANP – Xcalak y Banco Chinchorro

CONABIO y BARCODE of LIFE

ECOSUR

ITCH

Caro

Selene Paty

ManuelLulúDiana

Jacc

We need to visit these places….

Thanks for your attention!

Xcalak