Feeding, reproduction and population structure of Pimelodus maculatus Lacépéde, 1803 (Teleostei, Siluriformes, Pimelodiae) from Paraná basin: a review

• Autor(a) principal: Ramos, Igor Paiva [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Magnoni, Ana Paula Vidotto [UNESP], Brandão, Heleno [UNESP], David, Gianmarco Silva, Carvalho, Edmir Daniel [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://www.ablimno.org.br/boletins/pdf/bol_39(2-3).pdf; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/137678
• topic: Upper Paraná River basin; Ecology; Feeding; Reproduction; Growth; Mandiamarelo; Bacia do alto rio Paraná; Ecologia; Alimentação; Reprodução; Crescimento; Mandi-amarelo

The aim of this review is to present data regarding the feeding, reproduction, population structure of Pimelodus maculatus (Siluriformes, Pimelodidae). Forty two scientific manuscripts from 24 journals and 17 book chapters were analyzed from the years of 1951 to 2009. This species has type locality at the River Plate, Argentina, and have a wide geographical distribution in South America, being one of the most abundant species of the Paraná River basin, and an important constituent of the fish fauna of streams, rivers, and lentic waters (including large reservoirs). P. maculatus is characterized as a omnivorous species, with a large plasticity of feeding habits, being able to feed on vegetal matter, invertebrates, insects and fish. Due to this opportunistic behavior, some authors argue that P. maculatus is able to explore almost all trophic levels of aquatic freshwater ecosystems. In addition, it is considered a migratory species, able to perform migrations of up to 1,000 km; however, the physiological demands related to reproductive success are much smaller. The period of reproduction varies slightly according to the environment, but is always from October to March, a period corresponding to higher rainfall in the region of the Upper Paraná basin. Based on all information revised, P. maculatus has characteristics that allow it to adjust in different manners to environmental conditions, in different locations in natural geographical distributions.