Volumen 44 - Número 1 - 2009
Artículo

Diversidad, distribución, riqueza y abundancia de condrictios de aguas profundas a través del archipiélago patagónico austral, Cabo de Hornos, Islas Diego Ramírez y el sector norte del paso Drake

Pablo R. Reyes¹ y Juan P. Torres-Florez²

¹Ingendesa. Grupo de Levantamiento de Líneas de Base, Subgerencia de Medio Ambiente, Santa Rosa 79, Piso 9, Santiago, Chile

²Instituto de Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile

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This study describes the diversity, distribution, richness, abundance and species composition of the deep sea Chondrichthyes (1,000-2,250 m) of the south Patagonian Archipelago, including Cape Horn, Diego Ramirez Islands and the northern area of the Drake passage, south eastern Pacific Ocean (52°43'S-57°05'S). The chondrichthyan fauna analyzed corresponds to the southernmost not Antarctic of the planet and consisted of 7 species belonging to 3 orders and 5 families. The species are the skates Amblyraja amblyraja frerichsi, Bathyraja cousseauae, Bathyraja meridionalis y Bathyraja macloviana and the sharks Somniosus pacificus, Squalus acanthias and Lamna nasus. The highest species richness was represented by the order Rajiformes, with 3 species of Arhynchobatidae and one species of the Rajidae, followed by the order Squaliformes, with one species of Squalidae and one species of Somniosidae. The order Lamniformes was represented by Lamnidae. The biomass was dominated by Rajidae and secondly by Somniosidae. Diego Ramirez Islands had the highest abundance and species richness, Desolation Island presented the greatest diversity and equity. The chondrichthyan fauna detected in deep waters of the southern area of the southeastern Pacific shows a strong similarity with South West Atlantic waters, even more than the one existing at mid-latitudes of the South Eastern Pacific, which corroborates the biogeographic patterns observed for coastal fish in the same area, for deepwater chondrichthyans.

Palabras clave: Sharks, skates, patagonian toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides, by-catch and discard, Chilean Patagonia