Systematic List of Fish Larvae from the Upper Gulf of California

The Upper Gulf of California is a faunistic high diversity and highly productive area despite extreme environmental conditions. In order to know about the fish larvae community characteristics, the result of standard zooplanktonic hauls are analyzed. Oceanographic cruises were made between 2008 and 2013 as part of the multidisciplinary project PANGAS. Four of these cruises were made during summer, one during fall and one during spring. Fish larvae of a total of 190 taxa were identified; summer cruises were the most diverse and abundant, while fall and spring cruises were more similar whit lower diversity and larval abundances, although their larvae composition represented warm water taxa for the first one and temperate taxa for the second. Demersal fish larvae were the most abundant and diverse, followed by those of pelagic species. Mesopelagic fish larvae were less in number and abundance, represented only by four species. The high demersal component in the area is according whit the coastal zone conditions, were depts. reach about 45 m. Most of the pelagic fishes are represented by coastal-pelagic larvae, whit larval abundances that corroborate the Upper Gulf of California as a spawning and nursery area for these species.