Mexico has a considerable number of coastal lagoons which have supported a large shrimp fishery for many years. The lagoons on the Pacific side, covering 597,500 ha, where the tapos fishery is practiced, have been studied by a large number of Mexican and foreign researchers, so that a mosaic of knowledge on the biology, ecology and environmental characteristics was available. To put together the pieces of this mosaic, a project was requested by the Mexican Government to the British Overseas Development Administration. This project was carried out from 1973 to 1979 by the Department of Marine Biology, University of Liverpool and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. It was confined to the study of the Huizache-Caimanero lagoon complex.