The role of salinity in structuring the fish assemblages in a tropical estuary

The present study describes the seasonal changes of the fish species composition in three areas of the main channel of the Caeté River estuary, Brazil. The fish faunas of each habitat differed in density, biomass and species composition. Mean fish density and biomass for the Caeté River estuary chan...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fish biology 2005-01, Vol.66 (1), p.45-72
Main Authors: Barletta, M., Barletta-Bergan, A., Saint-Paul, U., Hubold, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agnatha. Pisces
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Caeté River estuary
east Amazon
estuarine fish assemblages
estuary
Fresh water ecosystems
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
macro tide region
Synecology
tropical Brazil
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The present study describes the seasonal changes of the fish species composition in three areas of the main channel of the Caeté River estuary, Brazil. The fish faunas of each habitat differed in density, biomass and species composition. Mean fish density and biomass for the Caeté River estuary channel was 0·25 individuals m−2 and 0·9 g m−2 respectively. Analysis of catch data showed that the number of species, total density and total biomass differed significantly between areas and seasons. For the most important species, the mean density of Cathorops spixii, Aspredinichthys filamentosus, Aspredo sp. 2, Pimelodus blochii, Pseudauchnipterus nodosus and Macrodon ancylodon, differed significantly between seasons while the mean density of Stellifer rastrifer, Stellifer microps, Aspredo aspredo, Aspredo sp. 1 and Cynoscion acoupa did not. The mean biomass of these species, with exception of S. microps and Aspredo sp. 1, also differed significantly between seasons. In the Caeté estuary seasonal salinity fluctuations appeared to be the main factor that structured the fish assemblage in the entire estuarine system. At least 85% of the species captured by the artisanal and subsistence fisheries in the Bragantine region required estuarine conditions to complete their life cycle.
ISSN:0022-1112
1095-8649
DOI:10.1111/j.0022-1112.2005.00582.x