ICHTHYOFAUNA OF SHALLOW ZONES OF THE ESTUARY OF TIMONHA AND UBATUBA RIVERS, NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

• Autor(a) principal: de Melo, Filipe Augusto Gonçalves
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Viana, Joelson Queiroz, Araújo, Talita Magalhães, Dutra, Eronica Araújo, Malanski, Evandro
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Biota Amazônia
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unifap.br/index.php/biota/article/view/5797
• topic: manguezais; peixes estuarinos; distribuição espacial

The influence on seasonality on the ichthyofauna of shallow waters and estuaries of northeastern Brazil has been little studied. The present investigation evaluated the number of species, abundance and diversity as a function of alternation of dry and rainy periods along 12 months in three areas from the estuary of Timonha and Ubatuba rivers, between the border of Ceará and Piauí States. Overall, 25 hand-trawling net were performed from August 2014 to September 2015, assessing the structure of fish assemblage with the 1387 total individuals captured, belonging to 49 species of Teleostei (38 genera and 24 families). Considering the number of species, the families Carangidae (7 species), Gerreidae (6), and Lutjanidae (4) contributed most. The community structure revealed a greater numerical participation of Eucinostomos argenteus, Mugil curema, Atherinela brasiliensis, Trachinotus falcatus and Sphoeroides testudineus, which accounted for 68.9% of the total number of individuals captured. Estuarine species dominated the community, followed by marine migrants and marine stragglers. The upper part of estuary, Porto dos Mosquitos, presented 38 species, Porto do Itam 32 species, and Porto da Lama 6 species. The diversity index was higher in the dry season when compared to the rainy period, which may indicate higher competition between species during rainfall regime. The results presented here show seasonal differences in the ichthyofaunal composition throughout the hydrological cycle, where mangrove and estuarine coastal areas are the key early life fish habitats, contributing to the diversity and conservation of fish populations in the region.Keywords: Inventory; estuarine fishes; spatial distribution; mangrove; taxonomy.