Regional diversity of Amphipoda in the Caribbean Sea

Stomach contents of 131 specimens of five elasmobranch species (Mustelus lunulatus, Dasyatis longa, Rhinobatos leucorhynchus, Raja velezi and Zapteryx xyster) caught in the central fishing zone in the Pacific Ocean of Colombia were counted and weighed to describe feeding habits and dietary overlaps.

A comparison of visual and collection-based methods for assessing community structure of coral reef fishes in the Tropical Eastern Pacific

The near shore zone of Gorgona Island is a protected marine area located in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) of Colombia. Although this is home to one of the most developed coral reefs in the ETP, the characteristics of the local oceanographic conditions at the surface and their spatial and temporal variability have been poorly studied. In order to increase the information on temperature and salinity variability off Gorgona Island, systematic records of these variables were made during four periods (September 2005, December 2005, March 2006, June 2006). Furthermore, continuous record temperature senors were installed at 15 m depth on the eastern and western sides of the island and the local surface circulation pattern was monitored in June 2006 and February 2007 using a current profiler (AWAC-ADCP). Two contrasting periods were identified in the oceanographic conditions of the surface layer (0-50 m): a warmer and low salinity period between May and December (thermocline depth 47 m), and a colder and high salinity period between January and April (thermocline depth 7.5 m). Local upwelling events were not observed and the results suggest a strong influence of mesoscale processes (Panama bight upwelling) on the temporal variability of the coastal oceanographic conditions in the study area. Furthermore, the spatial variability seems to be more associated with regional climatic processes (precipitation patterns) and the proximity of Gorgona Island to the Patía-Sanquianga River delta.

The systematics and taxonomy of the broadly distributed bats of the genus Cynomops has changed considerably in the last few years. Among the major changes, Cynomops abrasus was split into two species of large-bodied forms ( Cynomops mastivus and C. abrasus ) distributed east of the Andes. However, large Colombian specimens identified as C. abrasus from the western side of the Andes had yet to be included in any revisionary work. Phylogenetic analysis performed in this study, using mtDNA sequences (Cytochrome- b ), revealed that these Colombian individuals are more closely related to Cynomops greenhalli . Morphological and molecular data allowed us to recognize populations from western Colombia, western Ecuador and northwestern Peru, as members of a new species of Cynomops . Characters that allow for its differentiation from C. greenhalli include a larger forearm, paler but more uniform ventral pelage, more globular braincase, and well-developed zygomatic processes of the maxilla (almost reaching the postorbital constriction). This study serves as another example of the importance of including multiple lines of evidence in the recognition of a new species. Given its rarity and the advanced transformation of its habitat, this new species is particularly important from a conservation perspective.