Caracterización isotópica ( S 13C) de la carcinofauna del sistema lagunar de Alvarado, Veracruz, México

Abstract

Isotopic ( S13 C) analyses of estuanne fauna give an indication of!he diet of organisms and the flow of carbon throughout trophic chains, and allow the establishment of relationships between community components. Values of -17.4 to -26.2 0/00 were obtained for penaeid and caridean shrimps and for swimming crabs collected in the lagoon system of Alvarado, Mexico. These values establish an isotopic gradient from the soul heast of the system (-25.0 to -26.90/00) to Laguna Camaronera in the northwest (-18.3 to -19.4 0/00) which, in the case of Penaeus setiferus, P. aztecus and Callinectes sapidus, points to a migration of organisms within the system. These three species also represent the highest trophic level in the macrocrustacean communities throughout the system.