Fabio Di Dario

A better way forward for Brazil's fisheries.

In December 2014, the Brazilian Minister of the Environment released the new national red lists enumerating 2113 plants and 1173 animals threatened with extinction ([ 1 ][1]). Of the 475 aquatic species on the list, 83 are commercially exploited by fisheries, mainly as by-catch. The industrial

An update on the fish composition (Teleostei) of the coastal lagoons of the Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park and the Imboassica Lagoon, northern Rio de Janeiro State

OBJETIVO: Apresentamos uma atualizacao sobre a composicao das especies de peixes do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e da lagoa Imboassica, na porcao norte do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, com base em esforcos de coleta de quase duas decadas, registros historicos em museus, e uma revisao da literatura. METODOS: Os especimes foram coletados atraves de uma variedade de tecnicas, principalmente entre 1994 e 2012, e foram fixados com a utilizacao de uma solucao de formalina a 10%, sendo subsequentemente armazenados em solucao de alcool a 70%. Todos os especimes examinados foram depositados nas colecoes de peixes do Nucleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Socioambiental de Macae, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (NPM), e Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ). Especies de peixes continentais (agua doce) e algumas especies marinhas ou estuarinas frequentemente coletadas foram consideradas como Residentes, enquanto especies marinhas coletadas apenas esporadicamente foram consideradas como Ocasionais. Possiveis associacoes entre a orientacao das lagoas e a composicao de peixes Residentes foram exploradas atraves de uma Analise de Correspondencia (CA). RESULTADOS: Um total de 100 especies, pertencentes a 19 ordens e 41 familias de Teleostei, foi registrado. Quando especies Residentes e Ocasionais sao consideradas, as familias Carangidae e Engraulidae, com nove e oito especies respectivamente, sao as mais representativas. Quando apenas especies Residentes sao consideradas, Gerreidae e Gobiidae, ambas com sete especies, sao as mais representativas. A lagoa Imboassica, com 76 especies, possui a maior riqueza de especies entre as lagoas incluidas neste estudo. Um total de 81 especies foi registrado no Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba, um numero duas vezes maior do que o relatado em estudos anteriores. Uma chave de identificacao, incluindo 57 especies Residentes, tambem e apresentada. CONCLUSOES: Lagoas Paralelas foram caracterizadas por um pequeno grupo de especies continentais presumivelmente de ancestralidade marinha (Divisao Secundaria), enquanto especies marinhas foram mais representativas em lagoas Ortogonais. A maior frequencia de especies marinhas em lagoas Ortogonais pode estar associada com aberturas da barra arenosa. Conexoes temporarias e esporadicas entre lagoas Paralelas durante periodos de maior pluviosidade podem promover uma maior similaridade em termos de composicao de especies.

Conhecimento e conservação dos peixes marinhos e estuarinos (Chondrichthyes e Teleostei) da costa norte do Brasil

The tropical western South Atlantic, which includes a substantial portion of the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone, is a region of endemism broadly recognized as being of prime importance for the conservation of the marine biodiversity. The north coast of Brazil, which comprises the states of Amapa, Para and Maranhao from the mouth of the rio Oiapoque to the mouth of the rio Parnaiba, harbors the largest continuous mangrove in the world, with approximately 8,900 km2. The high discharge of freshwater and continental sediments in the delta of the Amazonas affects the regime of tides, ocean currents, and several oceanographic processes of the north coast, with direct impact on the composition of the biota found in the region. Despite its economic value and intrinsic biological relevance, several aspects of the diversity of the marine and estuarine fishes of the region are poorly known. This situation results mainly from a historical imbalance in terms of the number of studies devoted to increasing the knowledge of the marine biota along the Brazilian coast, such as those dealing with species inventory and taxonomic revisions, which are typically concentrated in the south and southwestern portions of the country. The scientific production focused on marine organisms of the north coast is also imbalanced, and reflects the relatively small number of taxonomists and research groups working on that subject. The insufficient knowledge of the biodiversity of the marine and estuarine fishes of the north coast is an impediment to the implementation of adequate public policies aimed at the management of natural resources in the region. In the long term, that situation is potentially harmful in terms of conservation of a still poorly known biota. A better understanding of the marine fish fauna of the north coast of Brazil will be achieved only through the investment in scientific research and personnel training in systematics and biogeography, coupled with the modernization of the current infrastructure and expansion of scientific collections of the region.

A new deep-sea species of Barathronus Goode & Bean from Brazil, with notes on Barathronus bicolor Goode & Bean (Ophidiiformes: Aphyonidae)

A new species of Barathronus (Ophidiiformes: Aphyonidae) is described from a single, mature male specimen (101 mm SL) bottom trawled on the continental slope of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, between 1,964 and 2,045 m depth. The new species is diagnosed among congeners by the following combination of characters: peritoneum transparent, deep-set eyes not visible, eight fangs on vomer, anal fin rays 69, predorsal length 42.0% SL, preanal length 49.5% SL, penis long, slender, and lacking a pair of lobes at its base, and presence of a ventral flexure of the anterior 2-3 vertebrae. Additionally, morphological data of three specimens of Barathronus bicolor collected in Brazilian waters are presented and compared with those from 51 specimens from the western Central Atlantic.

Fish composition (Teleostei) of the estuarine region of the Macaé River, southeastern Brazil

The first checklist of fishes of the estuary of the Macae River (Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil) and its adjacent freshwater section is presented. A total of 24,157 specimens belonging to 110 species in 44 families and 21 orders of the Teleostei were collected based on quarterly samplings, between June 2011 and March 2012. The Sciaenidae was the most representative family in species number, whereas the Ariidae, Pristigasteridae, and the invasive Clariidae predominated numerically and/or in terms of biomass. One hundred fifty-seven species of the Teleostei are now recorded in the Macae River, including 68 species previously reported from its upper and middle portions. More than 100 of them permanently or temporarily inhabit the lower 16 km of the river, suggesting that the estuary is relevant to the maintenance of the fish diversity of the region in spite of several human activities that have significantly altered its natural features.

Short-Term Changes in Two Tropical Coastal Lagoons: Effects of Sandbar Openings on Fish Assemblages

ABSTRACT Camara, E.M.; Caramaschi, É.P.; Di Dario, F., and Petry, A.C., 2018. Short-term changes in two tropical coastal lagoons: Effects of sandbar openings on fish assemblages. Sandbar openings (SBOs) are among the largest possible disturbances in coastal lagoons. This study investigated the mechanisms of the responses of fish assemblages to short-term environmental changes resulting from several SBOs during 1 year in two coastal lagoons in southeastern Brazil. Lagoons were sampled monthly in sites closer to, and more distant from, the sandbars. A principal component analysis summarized limnological differences between periods of contact and isolation from the sea, and site- and lagoon-based variation partitioning and independent redundancy analyses (RDAs) quantified the unique and shared effects of limnology, space, and period on species and groups of species (marine, estuarine, and freshwater). Limnological differences between periods were associated with a higher marine influence during SBOs and an increasingly eutrophic state influenced by the lagoon and days of isolation. Limnology explained most of the variance in composition and abundance of species, and large fractions were shared with, or explained exclusively by, lagoons and distance of sites from the sandbar. The responses of groups of species were less evident in lagoon-based analyses and more associated with trophic state, most likely because of the short intervals between SBOs, which reduced temporal differences in the marine influence. Responses at the group level were more relevant in site-based analyses, given the predominance of species based on their tolerances or affinities in sites with different salinities. Therefore, the responses of groups of species to limnological changes associated with the features of lagoons and sites (e.g., morphometry, human impacts, and freshwater inflow) determined the effects of SBOs on the fish assemblages.

A new remarkable and Critically Endangered species of Astyanax Baird & Girard (Characiformes: Characidae) from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, with a discussion on durophagy in the Characiformes

Astyanax brucutu is described from the rio Pratinha, rio Paraguaçu basin, Bahia, Brazil. The new species is promptly distinguished from other characids by having four, rarely three, robust, rounded, and usualy tricuspid teeth on inner premaxillary series and similar teeth on dentary. The species is furthermore characterized by a series of unusual character states in the Characidae, including head blunt in lateral and dorsal views, longitudinal foreshortening of lower jaw, ventral margin of third infraorbital distinctly separated from horizontal limb of preopercle, leaving a broad area without superficial bones, mesethmoid anteroventrally expanded, and adductor mandibulae and primordial ligament remarkably developed. Analysis of gut contents of adults revealed the almost exclusive presence of crushed shells of tiny gastropods of the family Hydrobiidae. The robust anatomy of jaws, teeth, muscles and associated ligaments are likely adaptations to durophagy, a feeding strategy unusual among characids. Astyanax brucutu is known only from its type locality, an approximately 670 m long, transparent and isolated perennial epigean watercourse surrounded by subterranean or intermittent rivers. The distinctive combination of environmental features characterizing the area of occurrence of the new species is not observed elsewhere in the basin or adjacent basins. A series of severe anthropogenic impacts, associated with the restricted geographic range of the species, implies that A. brucutu should be regarded as Critically Endangered (CR) according to IUCN Red List Criteria.