Syacium

Abstract: Bycatch fish species from shrimp industrial fishery in the Gulf of California, Mexico. The shrimp fishery in the Gulf of California is one the most important activities of revenue and employment for communi- ties. Nevertheless, this fishery has also created a large bycatch problem, principally fish. To asses this issue, a group of observers were placed on board the industrial shrimp fleet and evaluated the Eastern side of the Gulf during 2004 and 2005. Studies consisted on 20kg samples of the capture for each trawl, and made possible a sys- tematic list of species for this geographic area. Fish represented 70% of the capture. A total of 51 101 fish were collected, belonging to two classes, 20 orders, 65 families, 127 genera, and 241 species. The order Perciformes was the most diverse with 31 families, 78 genera, and 158 species. The best represented families by number of species were: Sciaenidae (34) and Paralichthyidae (18) and Haemulidae and Carangidae (16 each). The best represented genera in number of species were Symphurus (nine) and Diplectrum and Cynoscion (six); other important genera were Larimus and Porichthys with five species each. The best represented species in number were Syacium ovale, Pseudupeneus grandisquamis, Haemulopsis nitidos, Diplectrum pacificum, Synodus sci- tuliceps, Balistes polylepis, Eucinostomus currani, Eucinostomus gracilis, Porichthys analis, Chloroscombrus orqueta, Selene peruviana, Orthopristis reddingi, Etropus crossotus, Scorpaena sonorae and Urobatis halleri. The number of recorded species is notably high, compared with demersal fauna of other areas of the Mexican Pacific, such as Gulf of Tehuantepec (178), Nayarit, Michoacan, Guerrero (174, 120 and 166), Jalisco and Colima (161 species), and those of the Western coast of the Baja California Peninsula (220 species). Rev. Biol. Trop. 58 (3): 925-942. Epub 2010 September 01.

Abstract: Trawl samples of demersal fish populations within the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica were conducted during February and July, 1979 and April, 1980 in an attempt to define basic abundance, diversity and distributional patterns Seventeen day and three night samples produced 6,441 fishes of 107 species during the February cruise Twenty day and two night samples produced 9,220 individuals of 131 species during the July cruise Twenty day samples produced 14,151 individuals representing 125 species taken during the April cruise A total of 214 species were collected during this study The Gulf of Nicoya may be divided into three zones on the basis of the physical characteristics of the stations (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, depth and distance from the mouth of the Gulf) Few changes in the position of these zones occurred during the study period, indicating a relatively stableestuarine configuration from a biological perspective, under the influence of a wet and a dry season No significant seasonal changes in the number, biomass, percent occurrence, diversity of partitioning by size class of fishes were observed Two major types of fish distributional patterns were observed Several species were ubiquitous and were found throughout the Gulf in varying abundances Other species were restricted to either the upper or lower Gulf Dominant groups in the upper Gulf include the sciaenids, sea catfishes (Ariidae) and flatfishes (Soleidae, Cynoglossidae and Syacium ovale ) These fishes tend to inhabit the warmer, shallower, less saline waters of the upper Gulf Flounders (Bothidae), gobies ( Bollmannia spp), morays and congers ( Hildebrandia nitens , Priodonophus equatorialis and Muraenesox coniceps ) and several other species dominated the deeper, cooler, more saline lower Gulf

Abstract: The spawning season of the tonguefish Syacium ovale (Gunter 1864) was determined by an analysis of the distribution of preflexion stage larvae in the Gulf of California. The larvae were collected during eight oceanographic surveys between 1984 and 1987. The spawning of this species starts in early summer and ends at the beginning of fall, with the highest reproductive activity in mid summer. The central and southern regions of the Gulf are the most important reproductive area. Spawning is associated with high sea surface temperatures and low plankton biomass, both of which are characteristics of the tropical current that invades the study area during summer.

Abstract: Fish by-catch of shrimp fishery from the Gulf of Tehuantepec is composed of several species that are mainly discarded. In this study, fish by-catch species composition, distribution and biogeographical affinities were analyzed. For this, a total of 15 cruises were carried out on the continental shelf, at depths from 15 to 64 m, during 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2013. Results showed that fish by-catch was represented by 58 families, 129 genera and 242 species. The families Haemulidae, Sciaenidae, Paralichthyidae, Gerreidae and Carangidae accounted for > 70 % of the catch. Haemulopsis axillaris, Syacium ovale, Selene peruviana, Diapterus peruvianus, Larimus acclivins and Stellifer erycimba were the most frequent species at < 40 m depth (inner shelf), and Prionotus stephanophrys, Scorpaena russula, Porichthys analis and Synodus scituliceps were dominant at 40-60 m depth (outer shelf). Analysis of biogeographical affinities showed that 36.1 % of species had a wide distribution, from San Diego Province to the Panamic Province, while 13.2 % had a restricted distribution in the Mexican and Panamic Provinces. The ichthyofaunal composition was markedly influenced by the local environment and seasonal conditions.