Abstract

We analyzed the influence of the environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile fishes species of commercial importance in a coastal lagoon. For which, nocturnal samplings were made on turtlegrass meadows during one year, using a network Renfro of 1.0 mm of mesh light. In addition samples of turtlegrass with a PVC pipe, and physical and chemical data were taken in situ. A total of 7, 234 juvenile fishes were collected, of which 74% are of commercial importance, distributed in 53 species with an average size of 4.5 cm. Only 5 species represented 86% of the total abundance of fishes. The external zone presented the higher richness with 49 species, although the abundance was similar for both zones. The Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) between the environmental variables and the abundance of fishes presented an explained variance of 64% for all the lagoon. Whereas for the external and internal zone they were of 74% and 87% respectively, having a greater relation when analyzing the zones separately. We observed that the most abundant species have a strong relation with all the measured variables, on the other hand some species have negative relations with these variables. The space variation of the abundances of fishes, was related to their tolerance to the environment and the characteristics of the turtlegrass. The presence of a great number of fishes species of marine, reef and coastal origin was observed, mainly in the external zone. The turtlegrass meadows of Yalahau are used by a great number of juvenile fishes of commercial importance as a feeding, nursery or refuge zone; so it is considered as an essential fish habitat. For the above mentioned reasons, it is of vital importance to protect these systems for the conservation of the diversity of fishes in the region

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