DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF SOFT-BOTTOM STOMATOPOD CRUSTACEANS OFF THE COAST OF JALISCO AND COLIMA, MEXICO

Three cruises (DEM I, DEM II, DEM III) were conducted during 1995 and 1996. Seven localities were visited during each cruise at four differe nt depths (20, 40, 60 and 80 m), with paired shrimp trawls on the cont inental shelf off Jalisco and Colima, Mexico. Five genera and nine spe cies belonging to the families Eurysquillidae, Hemisquillidae, Lysiosq uillidae and Squillidae were identified. The highest richness was foun d on the DEM III cruise (eight species), with an average abundance of 74 ind/ha. During DEM III Squilla panamensis was the most abundant spe cies (average = 58 ind/ha). Squilla hancocki was the most abundant on the DEM I and DEM II cruises, with 18 and 44 ind/ha, respectively. The highest abundance was observed at the 60 m depth, with temperature av erages between 13.9 and 23.9 degrees C. The highest co-occurrence freq uency (31.7%) was found between S. hancocki and S. panamensis.