Abstract

The present work tries to determine if the turtlegrass meadows (Thalassia testudinum) in Yalahau lagoon are an essential habitat for the development of juvenile fish of commercial importance. Yalahau lagoon is located in the northeast part of the Yucatan Peninsula, it has large meadows of T. testudinum in its coastal margin, with ideal conditions to maintain a great number of species of fish. Samplings were made on T. testudinum during a year (June 2001 - May 2002), with a bar network Renfro type with 1,0 mm mesh. A total of 7, 234 fish were collected, with an average size of 4.5 cm, distributed in 85 species, beloging to 39 families, of these 5% are permanent inhabitants of the estuarine-lagoon environment, 48% are stenohalines and 47% euryhalines species both of the marine component. Two species are distributed only in the Caribbean Sea and 21 only in the Gulf of Mexico. Of 85 collected species 53 of them have some type of commercial importance: 8 have high commercial value, 26 are consumed locally, 13 of them are used in the sport fishing and 32 may be used as ornamental species. The turtlegrass meadows are used by a great number of species of juvenile fish with some type of commercial importance, be it zone of feeding, raising or refuge. For what has been said previously, it is important to protec these types of habitats for the conservation of the diversity of marine fish of commercial importance in the northeast region of the Yucatan Peninsula.

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