MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF 6 MEXICAN COASTAL-LAKES RELATED TO PRODUCTIVITY

The morphometry of six coastal-lakes of the Guerrero State, SW Mexico, was quantitatively determined, and the morphology of the lakes descri bed. The morphometric parameters involved in lake's productivity (such as mean depth) were used in a new simple ranking technique for calcul ating the Morphometrically-Conditioned Productivity (MCP). MCP is the potential productivity that a lake may develop based only upon its mor phometric characteristics. Five coastal-lake fish catches highly corre lated with MCP (r = 0.947, a less-than-or-equal-to 0.05). The sixth (M itla) does not fit the ranking, probably because of artificial isolati on. The original chemical, physical and biological characteristics wer e modified from saline to freshwater. This technique can be applied to lake groups belonging to a single lake district, with no need to cons ider non-morphometric variables. The result is valuable short term inf ormation about expected productivity.