THE CRUSTACEAN DECAPOD COMMUTIES OF THREE CORAL REEFS FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA OF CUBA: SPECIES COMPOSITION, ABUNDANCE AND STRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNITIES

摘要

The decapod communities of three coral reefs of the southwestern Caribbean Sea ofCuba (keys Juan Garcia, Cantiles and Diego Perez), at three different ecologicaI levels(the reef lagoon, the reef flat and the outward slope) have been analyzed. A total of 2567specimens belonging to 2l6 species were caught. The lagoons have the highest richness.The lower richaess found in the reef flat may be explained because it is the more dis-turbed area (higher hydrodynamic conditions) and there is a decrease in the diversity ofsubstrates. The dominance, density and biomass of the species vary in each ecologicalzone and key. These also depend on the sampling methodology, in relation with the adaP-tation and use of the resources by the species. The geometrical distributions show thatthere are many species with few specimens. The qualitative ordination and similarityanalysis show that the more separated key could be differentiated from the other two, andthat there is a closer relationship by ecological zones between the latteL All results pointout the existence of a spatial gradient and a marked specificity in the use of the environ-mentaI resources (i.e., shelters) by the species in the ecological zones of the stUdied keys.