Eduardo F. Balart

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• Ph. D.
• retired Researcher at Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste S.C.

Parental care behavior affects parental and offspring fitness. In fish species, parental care is most often provided by the male if some form of care is provided, yet details of parental behavior remain undescribed in many fish species. Parental care was observed under laboratory conditions and formally described for the first time in the redhead g...

This study explores the skeletal growth of Porites panamensis, a common reef-building coral species, and its response to extreme environmental conditions. Sclerochronology, which involves analyzing coral growth bands, is utilized to obtain the coral’s growth parameters, including skeletal density, extension rate, and calcification rate. The study o...

This study explores the skeletal growth of Porites panamensis, a common reef-building coral species, and its response to extreme environmental conditions. Sclerochronology, which involves analyzing coral growth bands, is utilized to obtain the coral's growth parameters, including skeletal density, extension rate, and calcification rate. The study o...

The density banding patterns of the skeletons of massive reef-building corals can be used as historical records of their growth, life history, and environmental conditions. By analyzing these patterns, it is possible to estimate growth parameters such as skeletal density, extension rate, and calcification rate. The responses of stony corals to envi...

The density banding patterns of the skeletons of massive reef-building corals can be used as historical records of their growth, life history, and environmental conditions. By analyzing these patterns, it is possible to estimate growth parameters such as skeletal density, extension rate, and calcification rate. The responses of stony corals to envi...

Genetic differentiation within species can be influenced by the distance between populations (isolation by distance, IBD) or by differences in the habitats they occupy (isolation by environment, IBE). Understanding the population structure and dynamics that influence genetic diversity within small (<100 km ² ) multi-use marine protected areas (MPAs...

Biological collections at CIBNOR were created more than three decades ago with aim of documenting and preserving the representative biological heritage of regional biodiversity. The collections considered in this work preserve specimens of different taxonomic groups such as mammals, fish, crustaceans, higher plants, arachnids, and marine dinoflagel...

The Gorgeous goby Lythrypnus pulchellus shows extreme sexual plasticity with the bidirectional sex‐change ability socially controlled in adults. Therefore, this study describes how the hierarchical status affects hormone synthesis through newborn hormone waste products in water and tests the influence of body size and social dominance establishment...

The totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) is an emblematic species endemic to the Gulf of California, which has been protected since the mid-70s by Mexican and international laws. For the present study, 153 totoaba individuals were collected from 2011 to 2014, on which gonad histology analyses were carried out. We identified six ovarian phases and eleven oo...

A colonial ascidian of the genus Distaplia caused a mass mortality of the pen shell Atrina maura (Sowerby, 1835) during June 2016 in the southwest of the Gulf of California (Mexico), with a significant socio-economic cost. Tentatively identified in previous works as Distaplia cf. stylifera, a precise taxonomic determination was still lacking. In th...

Simple Summary The content of trace and macro elements may vary between fishery products. Although several trace and macro elements are essential for life, they can adversely affect health at concentrations above the requirements of a species. The present study evaluated differences in cadmium, calcium, copper, manganese, magnesium, nickel, lead, a...

Differences in selective pressures and the energetic cost of gametes in gonochoristic corals should vary with the sex of the colony, which may lead to sexual dimorphism. Coral colonies are composed of subunits (corallites) that create a complex morphological architecture. If corallite features are distinct between sexes, then the degree of coordina...

Orangemouth weakfish is a highly important commercial and game fish species in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. However, studies assessing changes in its trophic ecology relevant to size, habitat (estuarine or marine), sex, and season are non‐existent. We assessed its feeding habits and trophic position (TP) according to the aforementioned factors. It...

In the Anthropocene, coral reefs are in a state of severe degradation as a result of rising temperatures, ocean acidification and eutrophication, and are expected to get worse over the next 100 years. Some coral communities naturally inhabit marginal conditions similar to the climate scenarios predicted for the next century. Such is the case of the...

Marine mammals in subtropical coastal habitats are sentinels of the health of the ecosystem and offer important ecosystem services. They rely on prey that pursues feeding opportunities, while both avoid unfavorable conditions. In many cases, these predator-prey dynamics fluctuate seasonally and are regulated by lunar, tidal, and/or diel cycles (hou...

Stable oxygen isotopes of Globigerinoides ruber s.l. and Globigerina bulloides have been widely used to infer the variability of the water column hydrographic structure over various time scales. However, the reliability of this geochemical tool requires a regional analysis since the inferred calcification depth and temperature of planktonic foramin...

Conservation strategies, such as the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), aim to safeguard biodiversity and to promote resilience of ecosystems by increasing their capacity to maintain key functions and processes following disturbance. However, the extent to which ecosystems in MPAs exhibit resilience remains debated. To address this que...

Sexual selection in gonochoristic corals should vary with the sex of the colony, which may lead to sexual dimorphism. Because coral colonies possess a complex morphological architecture composed of subunits (corallites), the degree of coordinated change among these subunits may be subject to divergent selection between sexes. This study tested for...

Introduction: Estimates of contemporary connectivity of the broadcast spawning coral Pocillopora verrucosa between multi-use marine protected areas (MUMPAs) are required to assess MUMPA effectiveness and their ability to enhance resilience against disturbances. Objective: To determine the genetic structure and connectivity patterns between P. verr...

PARTICIPANTS: D. Ross Robertson, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panamá John Earle, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii Alonso González C., Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas de Noreste, La Paz, BCS, México John Earle, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii Eduardo Balart, Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas de Noreste, La Paz, BCS, Méxi...

This study analyzed the spatial variation of stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) and the trophic position of three rocky reef fishes, Balistes polylepis, Stegastes rectifraenum and Kyphosus vaigiensis. According to previous feeding studies, these species are categorized as a benthic carnivore, an omnivore, and an herbivore, respectively. Specimens were...

The present study analyses the coverage of epibiont Distaplia cf. stylifera (Ascidiacea: Holozoidae) and five environmental variables (Sal, SST, DO, sea surface Chl-a concentration and pH) as potential factors to explain a mass mortality event in a restored population of the pen shell Atrina maura (Bivalvia: Pinnidae) in a subtropical bay of the Gu...

Background The fish Totoaba macdonaldi is endemic to the Upper Gulf of California. Its migratory movements involve sites with high levels of trace elements in the environment that can accumulate in tissues. In this study, lead (Pb), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) concentrations in male and female totoaba liver and muscle were qu...

In the Gulf of California; mineral deposits have contributed to high metal contents in coastal environments. This study examined cadmium; lead; copper; zinc; and iron contents in three fish species; Kyphosus vaigiensis (herbivore), Stegastes rectifraenum (omnivore), and Balistes polylepis (carnivore) at two mining sites. Metal concentrations were a...

Resumen Las investigaciones sobre corales arrecifales se han desarrollado en la Bahía de La Paz desde el siglo XIX, y los avances en el conocimiento han sido sustanciales. Aquí presentamos una revisión de la información más relevante sobre las formaciones coralinas de esta región. Se discuten tópicos como historia de la investigación, 10

The trophic ecology of wetlands with mangrove forests remains poorly understood. Through the use of stomach contents analysis, stable isotope signatures, and Bayesian mixing models, the food web of a tropical wetland in the gulf of California was investigated. Consumers had heterogeneous diets, omnivores were the most abundant species (47%), follow...

Los sistemas de manglar son de gran importancia a nivel mundial por su alta productividad primaria y secundaria, ya que sustentan una gran abundancia y diversidad de peces. Las modificaciones antrópicas de los sistemas de manglar han mostrado un decaimiento en la calidad del hábitat para muchas especies de peces, ocasionando cambios en el nicho tró...

Background and Aims: In September 2001, the coral reef of the San Lorenzo Channel, La Paz Bay, Gulf of California, Mexico, was affected by the stranding of the oil tank vessel “Lázaro Cárdenas II”. Soon afterwards, hurricane “Juliette” hit the area with strong winds and water movement, disturbing the reef again. After that, three zones could be obs...

Multi-use marine protected areas (MUMPAs) are a commonly applied tool for marine conservation in developing countries, particularly where large no-take reserves are not socially or politically feasible. Although MUMPAs have produced benefits around the world, the persistence of moderate fishing pressure reduces the likelihood of achieving the prima...

Reproductive behaviors are a key factor to achieve successful spawning and fertilization in sexual species. Among harem polygynous site-attached reef fishes, relative size and sexual proportions may be determinant to establish hierarchies and sexual roles during reproductive behavior. In the present study the pattern of reproductive behavior (court...

Sex change in both directions is a novelty reported in some species of fishes belonging to seven families associated to reefs. This study demonstrated that Lythrypnus pulchellus, a small cryptobenthic haremic reef fish, is a bi-directional sex changer, at least in experimental conditions. The influence of body size in duration and direction of sex...

The first record of the amphioxus Branchiostoma californiense on seagrass patches of Halodule wrightii in the Gulf of California is reported. Sixty individuals (19 males, 18 females, and 23 undifferentiated) were collected in May 2017 at Bahía Balandra, Gulf of California, from subtidal seagrass patches at a depth of 0.5 m at low tide. The length a...

Corals of the genus Pocillopora are the dominant component of coral communities. Their distribution in the Mexican Pacific ranges from Loreto, north of Baja California Sur, to La Entrega, south of Oaxaca. As a marginal region, coral communities continuously experience changes in their distribution. Such is the case with the occurrence of thermal an...

Toxinas Marinas en peces comestibles del litoral de Campeche

The reproductive biology of the red crab Pleuroncodes planipes, an abundant but unfished galatheid species, was studied using specimens collected from the west coast of Baja California, Mexico, in November 2006 and March 2007. Crabs were caught with a bottom trawl at predefined stations. Sex ratios were not significantly different from 1:1 (P > 0.0...

Sexual recruitment allows corals to maintain their populations through time, reach new habitats, and repopulate areas after an environmental or anthropogenic disturbance. This study aimed to estimate spatiotemporal variation of sexual recruitment along two areas of the southwestern coast of the Gulf of California (Bahía de La Paz and Bahía de Loret...

Se presenta el estudio de la ictiofauna de bahía de La Paz (BLP), sustentado en una lista taxonómica actualizada con notas zoogeográficas, de conservación e importancia económica. La lista consta de 533 especies, 314 géneros, 123 familias, 34 órdenes y 2 clases: Actinopterygii (467 especies) y Chondrichthyes (66 especies). El orden Perciformes repr...

In the emerald coral Porites panamensis, the rates of elongation and calcification of colonies are higher in males than in females, probably because of the higher energetic demands of the latter in order to cope with the development of the large planulae produced throughout the year. This differing energetic demand could also be reflected in the se...

Resumen Como parte de un convenio académico entre las instituciones CIBNOR y CICESE, se implementó en 2014, una Red de Monitoreo Ambiental (RMA) compuesta por estaciones meteorológicas y sensores de temperatura del mar ubicados en la zona costera y marina de la Bahía de la Paz (BLPZ). El objetivo principal de la RMA, es obtener registros continuos...

Antecedentes: La distribución de los corales del Pacífico Oriental está bien caracterizada, sin embargo prospecciones de campo siguen arro jando nuevos registros geográficos de los taxa. Objetivos: Presentar una recopilación detallada de las zonas de presencia del coral Pocillopora inflata, en México, aportar observaciones que extienden su ámbito...

Phenotypic plasticity is the response that organisms express to the variability of the environment they inhabit, being able to change physiological and morphological aspects. Pocillopora corals are dominant in the coral communities of the southern Gulf of California. The objective was to characterise the plastic changes of Pocillopora corals and th...

Anthropogenic modification of mangrove systems can lead to decreased habitat quality, potentially affecting food web structure and ecosystem function. Based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, we evaluated the trophic structure of the fish communities from three mangrove systems in southern Baja California, Mexico, subject to varying levels of...

A new species of Websterinereis Pettibone, 1971, W. pettiboneae sp. n. is described from La Paz Bay, Gulf of California, Mexico. This species is similar to W. foli (Fauvel, 1930) in the neuropodial falcigers shape, but can be separated by the tentacular cirri length, notopodial prechaetal lobe shape, and the size of the notopodial dorsal and ventra...

Sea urchins play a crucial role in the health and dynamics of reef ecosystems. Diadema mexicanum is a dominant grazer and erosive agent of the substratum in reef environments in the eastern tropical Pacific. Its reported distribution extends from the middle of the Gulf of California (26° N) to northern Peru (6°23′ S), including oceanic islands. Her...

Coral δ18O variations are used as a proxy for changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and seawater isotope composition. Skeletal δ13C of coral is frequently used as a proxy for solar radiation because most of its variability is controlled by an interrelationship between three processes: photosynthesis, respiration, and feeding. Coral growth rate i...

The study of complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) revealed different gene rearrangements, highly variable markers, and delineated clades that have aided the understanding of the evolutionary history in corals. In this study, we examined mitogenomic variation of reef-building Porites corals and designed 34 primer pairs to target high diversi...

An annotated checklist of marine fishes of the Sanctuary of Islands and Islets of Bahía Chamela in the central Mexican Pacific is presented. Records of fish species were obtained by different methods including visual census, sampling with anesthetics, fisherman-nets, and trawling with a biological dredge. Additional records were obtained from natur...

Pomacentridae is one of the most abundant fish families in coral and rocky reefs of tropical and temperate waters. Stegastes rectifraenum (Gill, 1862), as other members of the genus, is territorial and actively farm algae on its territory, helping in the regulation of the algal community structure and the reef productivity. It is endemic and one of...

Porites panamensis is a hermatypic coral present in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Skeletal growth parameters have been reported, but studies of the relationship between annual calcification rates and environmental controls are scarce. In this study, we investigated three aspects of the annual calcification rates of P. panam-ensis: growth parameters am...

Coral δ18O variations are used as a proxy for changes in near sea surface temperature and seawater isotope composition. Skeletal δ13C of coral is frequently used as a proxy for solar radiation because most of its variability is controlled by an interrelationship between three processes: photosynthesis, respiration, and feeding. Coral growth rate is...

Latitudinal and bathymetric patterns in the distribution and abundance of the deep sea red crab Pleuroncodes planipes along the Pacific coast of the southern part of the Baja California Peninsula were analyzed. Six research cruises were conducted between autumn (October–November 2004) and spring (March 2007). During this time, El Niño events occurr...

Rising seawater surface temperatures worldwide may cause reef coral species to shift their geographical range towards cooler environments. Information on such shifts, however, remains scarce. The scleractinian coral Porites sverdrupi (Durham, 1947) is endemic to the Gulf of Califor-nia, and is considered a threatened species due to its vulnerabilit...

Non-native species are often major drivers of the deterioration of natural ecosystems. The common carp Cyprinus carpio are known to cause major changes in lentic systems, but may not be solely responsible for large scale changes in these ecosystems. We used data from extensive collection efforts to gain insight into the importance of carp as driver...

: Pocillopora corals are the q1 main reef builders in the eastern tropical Pacific. The validity of Pocillopora morphospecies remains under debate because of disagreements between morphological and genetic data. To evaluate the temporal stability of morphospecies in situ, we monitored the shapes of individual colonies in three communities in the so...

Pocillopora corals, the dominant reef-builders in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, exhibit a high level of phenotypic plasticity, making the interpretation of morphological variation and the identification of species challenging. To test the hypothesis that different coral morphospecies represent phenotypes that develop in different flow conditions, w...

An updated systematic and zoogeographical checklist of fishes associated to mangrove estuaries of Baja California Sur (BCS) is provided in the present chapter. This checklist is based on records of literature and of verified voucher specimens from museums. Fish diversity from mangrove estuaries of BCS is composed by 228 species, 147 genera, 72 fami...

Within the marine environment, the rocky shores are recognized for their high species diversity and particularly transitional zones represent areas of biotic mix, promoted by historical and ecological natural variations that allow the presence of taxa from different regions and which present dissimilar biological traits. An extensive survey describ...

The ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a foodborne illness caused by the consumption of tropical reef fishes, whom have accumulated the polyether toxins known as ciguatoxins (CTX´s) in viscera and muscle. The clinical picture includes signs and symptoms present at gastrointestinal, neurological and cardiovascular level. In the Mexican Caribbean and...

The success of a taxonomic group can be promoted by a key character that allows the group to interact with its environment in a different way and to potentially occupy new niches. The Pomacentridae possess a synapomorphic trait, the cerato-mandibular (c-md) ligament, which joins the hyoid bar to the inner part of the lower jaw. It has previously be...

Elasmobranchs play an important role in marine ecosystem and worldwide fisheries. Accurate and quantitative description of growth is crucial in modeling the demography and fisheries stock assessment. This study reviews the quantitative methods (asymptotic, non-asymptotic, and generalized), algorithms, and criteria for the model selection applied fo...

Abstract The mitogenome of the endemic coral Porites panamensis (Genbank accession number KJ546638) has a total length of 18,628 bp, and the arrangement consist of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 2 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. Gene order was equal to other scleractinian coral mitogenomes.

Background. Introduction of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758, may cause a cascade of alterations in trophic webs, among other negative effects, indirectly due to its feeding behaviour. A simplified model site, covenient for studying such interrelations is Lago de Pátzcuaro, México, a shallow lake where carp was first introduced in...

Fish assemblages of lakes from central Mexico have been altered as a result of water over-exploitation, pollution, habitat fragmentation, and introduction of exotic species. Patterns and the extent of change in most of these systems are poorly documented. This paper presents a long-term study of changes in the fish fauna of Lago de Pátzcuaro (State...

Fish assemblages of lakes from central México have been altered as a result of water over-exploitation, pollution, habitat fragmentation, and introduction of exotic species. Patterns and the extent of change in most of these systems are poorly documented. This paper presents a long-term study of changes in the fish fauna of Lago de Pátzcuaro (State...

Exotic fish species has caused several impacts on aquatic biodiversity. The Lago de Pátzcuaro has some well-studied exotic species, except the Lerma livebearer Poeciliopsis infans. This fish species was introduced into the Lago de Pátzcuaro before 1997 and the aspects of its biology are still unknown. In this study we assessed aspects of the trophi...

Exotic fish species has caused several impacts on aquatic biodiversity. The Lago de Pátzcuaro has some well-studied exotic species, except the Lerma livebearer Poeciliopsis infans. This fish species was introduced into the Lago de Pátzcuaro before 1997 and the aspects of its biology are still unknown. In this study we assessed aspects of the trophi...

Total organic carbon (TOC) content, total nitrogen (TN) content, elemental (C and N), and isotopic (delta C-13-TOC) composition of organic matter derived from both marine and terrestrial sources constrain the relative contributions from marine productivity, the mangroves, and the continental wind erosion of 36 carbonate-free surface sediments along...

Density banding provides a record of performance of coral colonies over time and across environments, and offers 3 measurable variables: skeletal density, extension rate, and calcification rate. Skeleton formation is energetically expensive for corals and may be associated with other energy-dependent processes, such as reproduction. Egg production...

The distribution and preservation of the total organic carbon (TOC) and CaCO3 in marine sediments is important because its connection to the carbon cycle and the regulation of atmospheric CO2. Studies of the sinking, accumulation and carbon burial are limited and therefore it is necessary to know, identify and quantify the content of this element i...

The distribution and preservation of the total organic carbon (TOC) and CaCO3 in marine sediments is important because its connection to the carbon cycle and the regulation of atmospheric CO2. Studies of the sinking, accumulation and carbon burial are limited and therefore it is necessary to know, identify and quantify the content of this element i...

E n 1988 un grupo de investigadores del CIBNOR, bajo la coordinación del Dr. Alfredo Ortega Rubio, publicó uno de los libros más completos que se han hecho en México para apoyar, con bases científi cas, la creación de un área protegida. En este caso la reserva de la biosfera Sierra La Laguna, Baja California Sur. Principalmente como resultado de la...

Pocillopora verrucosa is a branching, reef-building coral, and a simultaneous hermaphrodite that reproduces sexually and asexually by fragmentation. In the Gulf of California, local P. verrucosa populations have mixed modes of reproduction which vary in frequency by site. Sexual and asexual reproductions were assessed using multi-locus genotypes de...

We evaluated the fish community structure in three mangrove systems from la Paz bay, southwestern gulf of California, mexico, during two annual cycles separated by 30 yrs (1980–1981 and 2009–2010). The three mangrove system have suffered different degrees of anthropogenic impact that range from relatively pristine (Balandra) to minor impacts from d...

High predation by the corallivore gastropod Jenneria pustulata was observed in July 2011 in a high-latitude reef at Bahía de Los Ángeles in the northern Gulf of California. Porites panamensis corals were infested by 15 to 40 sea snails per colony (22 ± 7.25 ind 0.1 m–2 of Porites surface). Coral colonies were 20–30 cm tall and the average size of t...