Journal Article
How is the anchialine fauna distributed within a cave? A study of the Ox Bel Ha System, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Benítez, S., Iliffe, T.M., Quiroz-Martínez, B. and Alvarez, F.
Record Number:
4380
Year:
2019
Journal:
Subterranean Biology
Pages:
15-28
Volume:
31
Abstract:
A study describing the diversity and distribution pattern of the stygobitic fauna in the Ox Bel Ha anchialine
cave system adjacent to the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico is presented. A total of
15 species of crustaceans were collected in three surveys at four points situated along a 10.2 km transect
perpendicular to the coast line. A freshwater mass dominated throughout the transect with a halocline
that appeared progressively deeper, from 10 to 18 m, with increasing distance from the coast. All the recorded
species, except for one, occurred throughout the transect with no defined pattern. Abundance and
species richness did not vary significantly with distance from the coast, whereas diversity (H’) peaked in
the second sampling site at 3.17 km from the coast. As expected, most of the organisms occurred only in
the freshwater layer, except for the remipede Xibalbanus tulumensis (Yager, 1987) that was found always
at or below the halocline, and five other species that were found above and below the halocline. In the
horizontal scale, species composition and occurrence mixed without a defined pattern, both, for sampling
dates and sites. The results show that the analyzed fauna is distributed throughout the 10.2 km transect
without showing any defined horizontal zonation pointing to a high connectivity among all sections. Due
to the high connectivity within the caves in the area, it is expected that significant variation in species
composition and distribution will be found at a larger regional scale.
Times Cited:
2