Checklist of freshwater ichthyofauna from coastal streams of Juréia-Itatins reserve, southeastern Brazil

Cristina Da Silva Gonçalves,Francisco Manoel De Souza Braga

doi:10.15560/9.2.175

Abstract

The Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station (JIES) is one of the few protected areas in the state of São Paulo, which harbor a significant portion of the Atlantic forest. Although there is high diversity and endemism of fish species in this region, knowledge of the ichthyofauna in JIES is incipient. A total of 4,809 specimens belonging to six orders, 15 families and 31 species were captured during April 2009 to February 2010, using electrofishing, gillnets and traps. The family Characidae was predominant, mainly due to the abundance of freshwater species such as Astyanax ribeirae, Mimagoniates microlepis, and Hollandichthys multifasciatus. Although the estuarine regions were rarely sampled in this study, six brackish water species were captured. In this study, nine species previously unknown from JIES were discovered. Five endangered fish species, endemic to the Atlantic forest, occur at JIES, thus the presence of protected areas, as a conservation measure, is particularly relevant.

Highlights

The freshwater fish fauna of the Neotropical region is one of the richest in the world and includes 6,025 species (Reis et al 2003) of the 32,000 that are recognized (Eschmeyer 2011)
The Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station (JIES), where this study was carried out, is one of the few protected areas in the state of São Paulo, which harbor a significant portion of this biome
The freshwater fish fauna in the sampled streams in JIES is similar to other Brazilian coastal basins, with the predominance of Characiformes and/or Siluriformes (Sabino and Castro 1990; Mazzoni and Lobón-Cerviá 2000; Esteves and Lobón-Cerviá 2001; Uieda and Uieda 2001; Gerhard et al 2004; Serra et al 2007; Ferreira and Petrere Jr. 2009; Guimarães et al 2010; Mattox and Iglesias 2010), and confirms with what is expected in freshwater environments included in the studied region (Lévêque et al 2008)

Summary

Introduction

The freshwater fish fauna of the Neotropical region is one of the richest in the world and includes 6,025 species (Reis et al 2003) of the 32,000 that are recognized (Eschmeyer 2011). The knowledge of the ichthyofauna from the Ribeira de Iguape basin and coastal drainages in the state of São Paulo is still unsatisfactory, considering the enormous diversity of species in this region (Bizerril 1994; 1995; Ribeiro 2006; Menezes et al 2007; Abilhoa et al 2011; Oyakawa and Menezes 2011). In spite of the high diversity and endemism of the freshwater fish species in this region of the Atlantic forest, knowledge of the ichthyofauna from JIES can still be considered incipient. A list of the freshwater ichthyofauna of the coastal streams from JIES is provided expecting to contribute to the knowledge of species distribution, which can be useful for better management and conservation of the fish fauna of the Atlantic forest biome

Materials and Methods

Results and Discussion

SAMPLING METHODS Backpack electrofisher and two traps