Assemblages of Southeast-South Brazilian Coastal Systems Based on the Distribution of Fishes

Abstract

Multivariate principal components analysis and cluster analysis were performed on data representing presence or absence of 498 species of juvenile and adult fish species in twenty-four coastal marine systems (bays, coastal lagoons, estuaries and coastal zones) distributed from southeast to southern Brazil. Five groups of coastal systems were identified based on fish assemblage similarity: estuaries and bays of the southeast area; an estuary of the southern area; coastal lagoons; rocky coastal zones; and the continental platform. Species assemblages for each zone were identified and used as surrogate habitat indicators to compare and contrast the groups. Stepwise multiple regression of environmental and physical variables as predictors of the number of species indicated that only ‘area’ was included in the model as the most important variable explaining the variation of the number of species in these data sets. The total number of fish species increased as surface area increased.