The Urias Coastal Lagoon (UCL) is located near the city of
Mazatlan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, along the southeastern coast of the
Gulf of California (Fig. 1). It has a surface area of 18 km2 and a length
of 17 km. According to Ochoa-Izaguirre et al. the average
annual rainfall in the area is 0.8 m. The average annual surface
temperature is 25 C and the monthly average temperature ranges from 19.7 C in February to 28 C in August. The average annual salinity has been reported to have a value of 34, a maximum during the drought season (39.4) and a minimum during the rainy season (31.7). In the present work, salinity was reported using the Practical
Salinity Scale.