Analysis of catches made on the tropical Pacific Shelf off the Nexpa River, Michoacân, Mexico, from 1987 to 1992 is presented. Some 22,219 organisms were studied and a matrix of 189 species from 18 samples was constructed, in order to obtain possible patterns in the communities through fishing activities. The results of a χ2 contingency table and Kendall rank order concordance showed that the communities were significantly different at an abundance and rank level. The ordination by factor analysis distinguished two large groups, representing summer and winter and also groups associated with the El Niño/ENSO 1991–1993 and the La Niña 1988. A Friedman two-way variance rank order analysis for the summer and for the El Niño groups did not show significant differences. The winter and the La Niña groups were significantly different. The red snapper (Lutjanus peru) was abundant in the La Niña

10 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables

Peer reviewed