Fish Larval Assemblage Associated to an Eastern Tropical Pacific Coral Reef: Seasonal and Interannual Variability

The seasonal and interannual temporal variation of the structure, richness, diversity and similarity of fish larval assemblages associated to an Eastern Tropical Pacific coral reef system, was assessed for the period 2017 to 2019. A total of 4779 fish larvae were captured, of which 4556 (95% of the total) were identified, belonging to 88 species and 46 families, and increasing the number of larvae of fish species reported to 162 taxa. Based on the analysis of similarity between oceanographic seasons and between years, six significant groups were established (SIMPROF, p < 0.05), each group made up of the nine sampling stations belonging to each study period (ANOSIM, R = 0.764). C. mysticetus, D. pacificus, Anchoa sp., Anisotremus sp., B. bathymaster, O. saurus, Caranx sp., Seriola sp., Gobiidae sp., Microgobius sp., and S. evermanni were the species that contributed to the differentiation of the groups. Species richness distribution during the sampling periods was variable and did not show a clear temporal or annual trend. However, the fish larvae assamblages were ordered according with the cold and warm seasons, suggesting that intra-annual variation has a strong influence on the temporal dynamics of fish larval assemblages in ETP coral reef systems.