Arrecife Tuxpan

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Width
1.20km
Length
0.50km
Minimum Depth
3.00m
Maximum Depth
27.00m

From: Chavez and Hidalgo, 1987; Universidad Veracruzana, 1996
Tuxpan is a platform type reef with a typical ellipsoidal shape. It belongs to the North Veracruz Reef System. It is the biggest group of reefs in the Northern part of Mexico, formed by six reefs of coral origin divided into two groups of three reefs, Tuxpan and Lobos, separated by a distance of 50 km. The Tuxpan group is the southernmost reef of the complex and includes Tuxpan, Enmedio and Tanhuijo.

Tuxpan reef is located approximately 12 km from the Tuxpan River mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. Its deepest point is located on the North side at 27m, and the shallowest point is on the West side at 3 m. Unlike the rest of the system, the north part had not had many formal research efforts in the past, but projects like Ecobuceo en la Costa Norveracruzana from the Veracruz University are progressively increasing the amount of knowledge on the area.

Community Structure

Tuxpan hosts approximately 24 species of scleractinian corals among four different areas.

Geological Characterization
The platform type reef has a shallow and ample terrace, known as the reef plain, generally surrounded by a coral slope. A platform reef is a reef bank that extends from the ocean floor, is generally far from the coast and forms a sub-surface leveled area, which my or may not contain sandy cays. It may also have a shallow lagoon in its interior. A cross section of this type of reef has an incomplete cone shape. The major coral growth occurs on the East and Southeast points.
References

  • Chavez, E.A., Hidalgo, E. 1987. Los Arrecifes Coralinos del Caribe Noroccidental y Golfo de Mexico en el Contexto Socioeconomico. Anales del Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Unidad Mérida, Yucatán, México.

  • Universidad Veracruzana. 1996. Ecobuceo en la Costa Norveracruzana. Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas y Agropecuarias Grupo de Ecologia Arrecifal.

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