Grantly R. Galland’s research while affiliated with University of California, San Diego and other places

As part of a broad-scale study of the biogeography of rocky reefs in the Gulf of California, Mexico (GOC), we collected a continuous 1-yr temperature time series at ~5 m water depth at 16 sites spanning 5° of latitude and ~700 km along the western boundary of the basin. Throughout the region, thermal conditions were most variable in summer with fluctuations concentrated at diurnal and semi-diurnal frequencies, likely associated with solar and wind forcing and vertical water column oscillations forced by internal waves. Temperatures in winter were less variable than in summer, and minimum temperatures also differed among sites. Thermal variability integrated across the diurnal and semi-diurnal frequency bands was greatest near the Midriff Islands in the northern GOC and decreased toward the southern sites. Diurnal variability was greater than semi-diurnal variability at 13 of the 16 sites. A statistic-of-extremes analysis indicated shortest return times for cooling events in summer, and reef organisms at many of the sites may experience anomalous 2 to 5 °C cooling events multiple times per month. The significant extent of local temperature variability may play important roles in limiting species occurrences among sites across this biogeographic region.

Small, cryptic (cryptobenthic) fishes are an under-surveyed component of reef fish assemblages that can account for a significant amount of diversity, function, and structure of reef fish communities. A complete picture of reef fish dynamics requires an accounting of these species and inclusion of them in analyses of community ecology. We report the results of a large-scale, quantitative study of the rocky reef fish community in the Gulf of California (GOC), where we collected cryptobenthic fishes and surveyed conspicuous fishes to calculate species richness, density, biomass, and community metabolism of the entire fish assemblage. We catalogued 20 764 individuals, representing 112 species in 36 families. Cryptobenthic fishes accounted for more than 40% on average of the species richness per site but were generally unobserved during visual surveys. They also accounted for more than 95% of the total fish abundance and up to 56% of the fish community metabolic requirement, both a likely result of their small body size. The relative contribution of cryptobenthic fishes to the entire quantitatively sampled assemblage differed between the northern and southern GOC, with the north being relatively 'more cryptobenthic' than the south. This study is the first to combine quantitative surveys and collections of the entire fish assemblage in the GOC and is one of the most extensive of its kind for any ocean basin, to date. Our results demonstrate the importance of quantifying all size classes and all functional groups when studying the ecology of diverse vertebrate communities.

The ocean plays a major role in regulating Earth's climate system, and is highly vulnerable to climate change, but continues to receive little attention in the ongoing policymaking designed to mitigate and adapt to global climate change. There are numerous ways to consider the ocean more significantly when developing these policies, several of which offer the co-benefits of biodiversity protection and support of marine-dependent human communities. When developing forward-thinking climate change policy, it is important to understand the ways that the ocean contributes to global climate and to fully inventory the services that the ocean provides to humans. Without more inclusive consideration of the ocean in climate policy, at all levels of governance, policy makers risk weaker than necessary mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Analyses of variance of Simpsons diversity index obtained using the different species per each trophic group for every category. (PDF)

No-take marine reserves are effective management tools used to restore fish biomass and community structure in areas depleted by overfishing. Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) was created in 1995 and is the only well enforced no-take area in the Gulf of California, Mexico, mostly because of widespread support from the local community. In 1999, four years after the establishment of the reserve, there were no significant differences in fish biomass between CPNP (0.75 t ha(-1) on average) and other marine protected areas or open access areas in the Gulf of California. By 2009, total fish biomass at CPNP had increased to 4.24 t ha(-1) (absolute biomass increase of 3.49 t ha(-1), or 463%), and the biomass of top predators and carnivores increased by 11 and 4 times, respectively. However, fish biomass did not change significantly in other marine protected areas or open access areas over the same time period. The absolute increase in fish biomass at CPNP within a decade is the largest measured in a marine reserve worldwide, and it is likely due to a combination of social (strong community leadership, social cohesion, effective enforcement) and ecological factors. The recovery of fish biomass inside CPNP has resulted in significant economic benefits, indicating that community-managed marine reserves are a viable solution to unsustainable coastal development and fisheries collapse in the Gulf of California and elsewhere.

The first comprehensive list of 318 coastal fish species recorded from the Islas Marías Archipelago, Mexico, was compiled from recent fieldwork, archival museum collections, and literature references. The jacks (Carangidae, 18 species) and the labrisomid blennies (Labrisomidae, 16) were the most speciose families. Most recorded species occur throughout the trop- ical eastern Pacific (160 species), while a significant proportion have wider ranges in the eastern Pacific (39), eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific (39), eastern Pacific and Atlantic (3), or are circumtropical (39) in distribution. Three species occur in the Northeast Pacific, twenty-five are endemic to the Pacific coasts of Mexico, five are endemic to the Gulf of Califor- nia, and three are endemic to Islas Marías. Cephalopholis panamensis (Epinephelidae), Epinephelus labriformis (Epinephelidae), Mulloidichthys dentatus (Mullidae), Stegastes flavilatus (Pomacentridae), Acanthurus xanthopterus (Acanthuridae), Pseudobalistes naufragium (Tetraodontidae), and Sufflamen verres (Tetraodontidae) were the dominant conspicuous species observed during underwater surveys in 2010. The absence or low abundance of commercially valuable shark, ray, and grouper species throughout the archipelago is discussed.

Molecular analysis of the chaenopsid tube blenny, Acanthemblemaria macrospilus Brock, reveals species-level differentiation and the existence of a new species, described here as Acanthemblemaria hastingsi, using molecular and morphological data. This new species is a member of the hancocki species group and is limited to the Gulf of California. It is distinguishable from A. macrospilus by mitochondrial gene sequences of cytochrome C oxidase I and D-loop region as well as by coloration. This differentiation is also supported to a lesser extent by the nuclear ribosomal protein S7 first intron. There is no geographic overlap in the ranges of these species, as they occur exclusively on either side of the Sinaloan Gap.