Resumen
El banco Grammanik es un arrecife profundo (35-40 m) ubicado aproximadamente 14 km al Sur de St. Thomas (Islas Vírgenes EUA), en el límite sur de la plataforma de Puerto Rico. Este arrecife relativamente angosto y de 1.5 km de longitud, recibe anualmente agrupaciones de varias especies de meros, pargos y jureles, durante sus desoves. Fue objeto de explotación de moderada a alta por parte de los pescadores hasta febrero del 2005, cuando el Consejo de Pesca del Caribe le ofreció protección temporal. El pargo cubera (Lutjanus cyanopterus) fue observado en el banco Grammanik en agrupaciones numerosas entre el año 2003 y el 2005, a su vez, agrupaciones del pargo perro o pargo caucha (L. jocu) se observaron en el 2005. La llegada y partida de estos grupos parece ser estacional y estar relacionada con la fase lunar. El desove estacional del pargo cubera coincide con informes de otros sitios del Caribe y al Sur de la Florida, donde se observaron cardúmenes de hasta 1000 peces de cada especie, así como comportamientos previos al desove y liberación de esperma. Agrupaciones de ambas especies mostraron alta fidelidad al sitio en una misma estación, pero los sitios de agrupación del pargo cubera cambiaron entre estaciones. Los autores recomiendan el cierre del banco Gammanik durante todo el año, basados en su importancia como hábitat crítico para los peces y por ser un área de agrupación para múltiples especies.Citas
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Derechos de autor 2006 Revista de Biología Tropical