By: R. Romar
The species of the marine fauna of Galicia are undergoing a process of tropicalization. What the continuous drip of findings observed fish from Africa in recent years could be suspected is now confirmed in a study published in the journal Zootaxa, which also presents the most updated inventory of the fish fauna inhabiting the Augas Galicia.
The study, led by Rafael Bañón, a biologist from the technical units of the Department Baixura do Mar, notes the emergence of 42 new fish species in the Galician coast in the last two and a half years, the date on which the Bañón himself had made the last update. Most specimens are consistent with warm water from Africa and they usually have their geographical boundary in Morocco. With these additions, the ichthyofauna Galician happens to have 398 species.
Increased knowledge
This number is significant, especially if one considers that the previous inventory, by Solórzano in 1988, had identified 296 species in the waters of the community, which means that before more than two decades have emerged 102 new. "What is clear is that we now have a better knowledge of the ichthyology of Galicia," says Rafael Banon.
the total number of fish types identified, the majority (51.3%) corresponds to the biogeographic region known Lusitaniam, extending from Gibraltar to the south of Britain, followed by the Atlantic varieties (37.4% ) Lights (7%), which are typical of very cold water near the Arctic, and Africa (4.3%).
Scientific work also warns that the traditional distribution of fish species seems to have been altered in recent decades with the advent of "many subtropical fish species of the Galician coast, which is probably related to climate change."
The first fish
listed from other latitudes are triggerfish, which appeared in Galicia in the forties, and a type of sole very similar to Galician, but came from Senegal. Both species abound today in the community and even have a relative importance in the commercial catches, which means that some foreign varieties that have arrived to the Galician coast have come to stay. Other examples are certain types of mackerel. Issues
boreal
But tropical specimens are not the only guests in Galicia, and in recent years have also verified the presence of fish very cold boreal waters and often have their habitat in Canada and Sweden. Two examples are the flat fish smoker and lights.
This coexistence of species in extreme habitats make Galicia in a very particular, only the greatest warming of the waters is tilting the balance towards the subtropics. In fact, the research found that catches of fish in colder waters such as flounder - P. flesus - have declined in recent decades, while other hot environments "have significantly increased their numbers and biomass." An example is the family Carangidae, among which are the mackerel, which have risen from four eleven species in the last century.
Copies of colder waters are spread across the south and in the north from warmer areas
Blog: Do you sing hai peixes species in Galicia?. By Antonio P. Cribeiro
Source: La Voz de Galicia
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