Recruitment patterns of 2 sea cucumber species in a Central Mexican Pacificcoral reef community

Resumen

Holothurians are nutrient recyclers, bioturbators, and prey for other taxa in diverse marine ecosystems; thus, they directly impact the distributionof organisms with which they are associated. However, little is known about annual changes in holothurian recruitment. Islas Marietas harbors a coral community with a rich assemblage of holothurians. From March 2011 to February 2012, bimonthly samplings were performed in order to identify the annual recruitment patterns of species Pentamera chierchia and Neothyone gibber. Density (ind cm−2) was assessed for each of the 2 species, as was the micro-substrate abutting them. Both species had highest densities in the May and June period (N. gibber = 0.0903 ind cm−2; P. chierchia = 0.0396 ind cm−2); densities < 0.01 ind cm−2 were documented over the remainder of the year. This is the first record of P. chierchia in the study area. Furthermore, no correlation between species density and substrate type was found (s ≤ 0.61, n = 7, p > 0.05). The study of seasonal recruitment fluctuations of reef-associated holothurians and their relationship with factors such as reproduction and availability of coralline substrate may provide information on their life cycles, in order to initially understand some ecological patterns of these species that contribute to the maintenance of regional biodiversity.