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Acronyms Used in the Macrofauna Golfo Database

GULF OF CALIFORNIA

GCN
Northern Gulf (includes the Midriff Islands and everything north of them)
GCC
Central Gulf
GCS
Southern Gulf
SWB
Southwest Baja California Sur (Cabo San Lucas to the northern limit of Bahía Magdalena)
RB
Upper Gulf of California/Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve

NOTE: We recognize 3 biogeographic regions in the Gulf of California:

The Northern Gulf (GCN) extends from the marine-influenced Colorado River Delta south to (and including) the Midriff Islands (las Islas del Cinturón), the largest being Islas Tiburón and Ángel de la Guarda, and to Bahía San Francisquito (Baja California) and Bahía Kino (Sonora). Within the Northern Gulf is the Upper Gulf of California/Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve, extending from the Delta to a line running from Punta Pelícano (= Roca del Toro; the southern margin of Bahía Cholla and the larger Bahía Adair), Sonora, across the Gulf to Punta El Machorro (= Punta San Felipe), at San Felipe, Baja California.

The Central Gulf (GCC) ranges from the Midriff Islands to Guaymas (Sonora), and to Punta Coyote (Baja California Sur).

The Southern Gulf (GCS) extends southward to Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, on the mainland, and to Cabo San Lucas on the Baja California Peninsula.

At the very head of the Gulf of California is the Upper Gulf of California/Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve (RB), established in 1993. Its southern limit is a line connecting Punta San Felipe [= Punta Machorro], BC, with Punta Pelicano [=Roca del Toro; sometimes called Punta La Cholla or Choya, among other names] of Puerto Peñasco, SON.

HABITATS (= GENERAL HABITAT)

ARCO
Coral reef (arrecife coralino)
BEN
Benthic (bentonico)
COM
Commensal (comensal)
EPIF
Epiphytic (epifitica)
LACS
Coastal lagoons (lagunas costeras) (e.g., estuaries, esteros)
LITO
Littoral zone (zona litoral)
MANG
Mangrove lagoons
NER
Neritic
OCE
Oceanic
PAR
Parisitico; parasitic
PEL
Pelagic

SUBSTRATES

ARE
Sand (arena)
CAG
Water column (columna de agua)
COR
Coral (corales)
MAD
Dead wood (madera)
MAN
Mangroves (manglares)
LOD
Mud (lodo)
PIE
Rubble (piedrisca; including 'conchal,' or shell-hash bottoms)
ROC
Rocks (rocks)
VEM
Marine vegetation (vegetación marina)

COMMUNITIES

ABEN
Abyssobenthic
BBEN
Bathybenthic (batibentico)
BPEL
Bathypelagic
EPEL
Epipelagic
FLOT
Flotsom
MPEL
Mesopelagic
NEUS
Neustonica; neustonic
PAR
Parisitico; parasitic
PLAT
Continental shelf (plataforma continental)

COMMENTS FIELD

BML
Mangrove Lagoons on the Baja California peninsula

COUNTRIES (north to south)

CAN
Canada
USA
United States of America
MEX
Mexico
GUA
Guatemala
ELS
El Salvador
HON
Honduras
NIC
Nicaragua
COS
Costa Rica
PAN
Panama
COL
Colombia
ECU
Ecuador
PER
Peru
CHI
Chile

OTHER COUNTRIES (alphabetical)

ALG
Algeria
ARG
Argentina
AUS
Australia
BEL
Belgium
BRA
Brazil
CUB
Cuba
DEN
Denmark
DJI
Djibouti
EGY
Egypt
ENG
England
FRA
France
GBR
Great Britain
GER
Germany
GRE
Greenland
GUI
Guiana
HOL
Holland
HON
Hong Kong
ICE
Iceland
IND
Indonesia
INDI
India
IRE
Ireland
ITA
Italy
JAP
Japan
KOR
Korea
MAD
Madagascar
MOR
Morocco
MOZ
Mozambique
NEWG
New Guinea
NOR
Norway
NZE
New Zealand
PHI
Philippines
POR
Portugal
SAF
South Africa
SAU
Saudi Arabia
SCO
Scotland
SEN
Senegal
SPA
Spain
SRI
Sri Lanka
SWE
Sweden
URU
Uruguay
USSR
Soviet Union
VEN
Venezuela

STATES (north to south)

AK
Alaska
BC
British Columbia
WA
Washington
OR
Oregon
CA
California
BC
Baja California
BCS
Baja California Sur
SON
Sonora
SIN
Sinaloa
NAY
Nayarit
JAL
Jalisco
COL
Colima
MICH
Michoacan
GRO
Guerrero
OAX
Oaxaca
CHIS
Chiapas

OTHER STATES

PR
Puerto Rico
BC
British Columbia

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

CST
Costera; coastal (used primarily with birds)
B.
Bahía or Bay
I.
Isla or Island
Is.
Islas or Islands
BML
Mangrove lagoons on the Baja California peninsula
Nm
nautical miles

OTHER PACIFIC BIOGEOGRAPHIC REGIONS

PET
Pacífico Este Tropical (Tropical Eastern Pacific). From the northern limit of the Bahía Magdalena lagoonal complex (at Bahía Las Ánimas/San Jorge) of our Southwest Baja California faunal region (Fig. 1), to (and including) northern Peru's Punta Aguja (at the southern extremity of Bahía de Sechura) and its nearby two island groups of Lobos de Afuera and Lobos de Tierra, and including the entire Gulf of California.
PNET
Pacífico Noreste (nororiental) Templado (Temperate Northeastern Pacific). Including the temperate waters north of Bahía Magdalena to the Gulf of Alaska and southwestward of the eastern Aleutian Islands.
PSET
Pacífico Sureste (suroriental) Templado (Temperate Southeastern Pacific). Including the temperate waters south of Punta Aguja/Bahía de Sechura/Is. Lobos de Afuera and Lobos de Tierra (Peru) to Tierra del Fuego (Cabo Hornos; Cape Horn).

EASTERN PACIFIC OCEANIC ISLANDS

IGAL
Islas Galápagos (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador)
IMAL
Isla Malpelo (Malpelo Island, Colombia)
ICOC
Isla del Coco (Cocos Island, Costa Rica)
ICLI
Isla (Atolón) Clipperton (Clipperton Island [Atoll])
IREV
Islas Revillagigedo (Revillagigedos Islands = Islas Socorro, Clarion, San Benedicto, and Roca Partida, far off the State of Colima, México)
ILTM
Islas las Tres Marías (Tres Marías Islands = Islas María Madre, María Magdalena, María Cleofas, and San Juanito, México; off the State of Nayarit and within the limits of our definition of the Gulf of California)
IGUA
Isla Guadalupe (Guadalupe Island, México; far off the State of Baja California [Norte])
RALI
Rocas Alijos (Alijos Rocks, México; off the State of Baja California Sur)

OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD OCEAN:

PC
Pacífico Central (Central Pacific). That vast part of the Pacific Ocean covering the Pacific (tectonic) Plate west of the eastern Pacific (see Springer, 1982).
PW
Pacífico Oeste (Western Pacific). The Pacific Ocean west of the Pacific (tectonic) Plate, including boreal/temperate/tropical waters from the western Aleutian Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk southward past the Japanese, Philippine and Indonesian archipelagos to western Australia.
OI
Oceáno Indico (Indian Ocean).
AE
Atlántico Este (Eastern Atlantic). Roughly any part of the Atlantic Ocean east of the Mid-Atlantic Rise (and plate boundary), including the Mediterranean Sea.
AW
Atlántico Oeste (Western Atlantic). Roughly any part of the Atlantic Ocean west of the Mid-Atlantic Rise (plate boundary), including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
ANT
Oceáno Antártico (Oceáno Septentrional) (Antarctic or Southern Ocean). The cold waters south of the Antarctic Convergence.
ART
Oceáno Ártico (Arctic Ocean). The often ice-bound boreal waters north of the Aleutian Islands and/or Arctic Circle.
COS
Cosmopólito (Cosmopolitan). Globally widespread in the world ocean, but usually excluding the waters of the ANT and ART. Warning: in many cases, the COS assignment was taken from the literature, even though some writers are known to have called an animal "cosmopolitan" when it would more appropriately be called "globally widespread" (i.e., not literally occurring everywhere).
CT
Circuntropical (Circumtropical). Occurring mainly in the world's tropical oceans, but often including minor extensions of distribution into adjacent warm temperate waters.
ENGC
Endémica del Golfo de California (endemic to the Gulf of California). The application of this term may include animals that extend their ranges slightly outside the strict limits of the Gulf of California, such as into the essentially subtropical waters of Bahía Magdalena and associated lagoons on the western coast of Baja California Sur (within our "SW Baja" faunal region), and/or slightly into tropical waters along the Pacific coast of Mexico southeast of Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco. Hence, our use of the term "endemic" may be interpreted as "essentially endemic."