Kennedy Francis Roche

Occurrence of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii (Lankester, 1880) (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae) in a calcareous lake in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

The occurrence of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii (=sowerbyi) Lankester, 1880 was recorded in April 2006 in the Lagoa Misteriosa water body, a calcareous lake (doline) in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Only Rotifera composed the zooplankton community was composed only of Rotifera and the environment was meso-eutrophic system. The nomenclature of C. sowerbii is discussed with regard to the use of the correct spelling and an alternative one. The distributions of C. sowerbii in Brazil include eight states and in South America the distribution includes four countries.

First Record of the Peritrich Trichodina diaptomi (Protozoa: Ciliophora) on a South American Calanoid Notodiaptomus deitersi (Poppe, 1890) (Crustacea: Copepoda)Basson and Van As, 1991

ABSTRACT. The ciliate Trichodina was recorded on the calanoid Notodiaptomus deitersi in a shallow, eutrophic reservoir, located in the centre‐west of Brazil. The species was confirmed as Trichodina diaptomi, a species widely distributed in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. It was observed moving freely over the carapace of the copepod, and using its adhesive disc. This is the first record for the species in the Americas.

First Record of the Peritrich Trichodina diaptomi Basson and Van As, 1991 (Protozoa: Ciliophora) on a South American Calanoid Notodiaptomus deitersi (Poppe, 1890) (Crustacea: Copepoda)

ABSTRACT. The ciliate Trichodina was recorded on the calanoid Notodiaptomus deitersi in a shallow, eutrophic reservoir, located in the centre‐west of Brazil. The species was confirmed as Trichodina diaptomi, a species widely distributed in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. It was observed moving freely over the carapace of the copepod, and using its adhesive disc. This is the first record for the species in the Americas.

Cladocerans from gut contents of fishes associated to macrophytes from Taquari River Basin, MS, Brazil

AIM: The aim of this study was to identify the cladocerans species from the gut contents of fishes sampled in an oxbow lake from Taquari River Basin, MS, with the specific view of investigating the importance of these crustaceans in the fishes diets; METHODS: Sampling was carried out in April and August of 2005 (dry season) and January of 2006 (wet season). The fish were captured with a sieve. In the laboratory, individuals were identified and stomachs were removed and weighed. The stomach contents were identified, and a Feeding Index calculated; RESULTS: The items most consumed by fishes were filamentous algae, Cladocera and detritus. The Cladocera were especially important in the August and January samples, and consisted primarily of Chydoridae; cladocerans were most consumed by species of Serrapinnus and by Mesonauta festivus. Fish fed more in April, with decreases occurring in stomach fullness on the other two sampling dates. CONCLUSIONS: Cladocerans associated with macrophytes may be an important food source for small fish individuals in marginal lakes from Taquari River Basin. The relative importance of the Chydoridae in the guts may have been due to the high relative abundance and species richness of this group in the environment. A short discussion on fish feeding habits was included in the text.

Natural and Environmental Vulnerability Along the Touristic “Estradas Parque Pantanal” by GIS Algebraic Mapping

The state roads MS-184 and MS-228 constitute the Estradas Parque Pantanal. Located in the northwestern portion of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil), in the hydrographic basin of the Paraguai River, and in the subbasins of the Negro, Miranda, and Taquari rivers, the roads cross an important area of the Pantanal in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the subregions of Paraguai, Paiaguas, Nhecolândia, Abobral, Nabileque, and Miranda. Besides the strategic transportation aspect, there is ecological, cultural, scenic, and recreational potentials leading to tourism. It is an area with special interests, and the lack of data regarding environmental features motivated the study by GIS algebra mapping to consider jointly geology, geomorphology, soil and vegetation maps, information on climate, flooding areas, and land use and occupation. The obtained results are synthesized in natural and environmental vulnerability maps that indicate moderately stable/vulnerable areas tending to moderately vulnerable. The Estradas Parque Pantanal is undergoing ecological pressure, which means that further changes applied to the landscape can alter its “status” to vulnerable, increasing the risk of soil losses by erosion.

Diurnal variation in planktonic crustacean population densities in a marginal lake of the Brazilian Pantanal

Studies on the zooplankton of marginal lakes in Brazíl, especially in the centre-west region that includes the Pantanal wetland, consist primarily of taxonomic inventories; ecological estimates of abundance have generally considered each system as a whole (NEvEs et al. 2003 and references therein). Information on horizontal and vertical distributions of zooplankton, including diurnal and seasonal changes, and their potential food items (phytoplankton) and potential predators (invertebrates, fish) within any particular lake is lacking. Such information is important when considering interactions between species (PERTICARRARI et ai. 2004, PELICICE et ai. 2005, lGLESIAS et al. 2007). W e analyzed the vertical distribution of the crustacean zooplankton during a 12-hour period in the open water of a shallow marginallake in the Pantanal wetland.

Análise das Mudanças da Cobertura do Solo de uma Área de Cerrado (Savana Tropical) no Centro-Oeste do Brasil

The objective of the present work was to carry out an analysis of the land cover of an area in the centre-west of Brazil, at two different times, in 1966 and 2001, using a satellite image and a topographic map, in the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The 1966 land cover map was obtained by vectorizing the SE-22-Y-A-V topographic map (IBGE), while the 2001 land cover map was obtained from supervised automatic classification of the Landsat image ETM+ satellite orbit/point 224/073 of August 2001. The analysis showed alterations from natural cover to anthropogenic. In 1966, natural cover was 90% or more (principally true cerrado and forest), while in 2001, natural cover had decreased to 24%, being replaced by arable land and primarily grassland.