Lista revisada y clave para los corales pétreos zooxantelados (Hydrozoa: Milleporina; Anthozoa: Scleractinia) del Atlántico mexicano

Abstract

A revised and annotated checklist of fifty-seven zooxanthellate stony coral species (three milleporids and fifty-four seleractinian) is presented for the Mexican East Coast. This report i neludes synonyrns and a simplified key to species on !he list. Morphological and taxonomic observations are ineluded when authors disagree in the taxonomic position and/or identification of the species, as well as when t ax on omic inforrnation is pertinent, or when distribution data are relevant for sorne species in the Mexican Atlantic . A qualitative analysis of species abundance and geographic distribution, and bathymetric range data are presented. There is a reduction in the genera and species numbers from !he Mexican Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico and there, from the Campeche Bank to Veracruz. Furtherrnore, !he number of abundant species is Iower in the Gulf of Mexico than in the ' Mexican Caribbean, and the common species for all reef zones have a wider bathymetric ' range in the Mexican Caribbean.