Abstract
Tambaba environmentally protected area is situated on the south coast of Paraíba State, within the Atlantic forest biome of the northeastern region in Brazil. The Tambaba environmentally protected area consists of a series of independent drainages: Graú, Mucatú, and Bucatú river micro-basins, and Caboclo River sub-basin that belongs to Gurugi River micro-basin. Ichthyological samples were collected in five scientific expeditions between months of June and July in 2015. Twenty-nine sites from different habitats (e.g., spanning tributaries, streams, rivers, and estuaries) were accessed for sampling. A total of 44 species distributed within 38 genera, 25 families, and 17 orders were assigned to the Tambaba hydrographic region. Freshwater species comprised 36% (n = 16) and marine-estuarine species 64% (n = 28) of the total collected specimens. Two invasive species occur in the freshwater sites: Cichla monoculus and Poecilia reticulata. Cheirodon jaguaribensis, Cichlasoma orientale, and Crenicichla brasiliensis are endemic to the Brazilian Northeast region with the first species restricted to the Northeast Caatinga and Coastal drainages hydrographic ecoregion.
Highlights
The Atlantic Florest originally extended from the Rio Grande do Norte State (Northeastern region of Brazil) to the Rio Grande do Sul (Southern region) in Brazil
Atlantic forest in the Brazilian southeastern region. These authors called attention to the lack of taxonomic data related to the fish fauna for the Atlantic forest in the Brazilian northeast region; Abilhoa et al (2011) recorded 269 freshwater species for streams in this region through data taken from the literature, and Camelier & Zanata (2014) recognized 169 native freshwater species for the northeastern Atlantic Forest ecoregion
The present study aimed to provide an inventory of the ichthyofauna from the river basins present in the Tambaba Environmentally Protected Area, contributing towards the taxonomic knowledge related to the fish fauna of the Atlantic Forest biome in the NCCD ecoregion
Summary
The Atlantic Florest originally extended from the Rio Grande do Norte State (Northeastern region of Brazil) to the Rio Grande do Sul (Southern region) in Brazil. Preservation and conservation of the Atlantic Forest rivers and ichthyofauna are imperative due to its high endemicity rate (e.g., Gomiero & Braga, 2006; Oyakawa et al, 2006; Menezes et al, 2007; Miranda, 2012; Gouveia et al, 2017) and exclusive ecological characteristics (e.g., Barbosa & Costa, 2012; Pereira et al, 2012). Many species were recently described within this region (Barbosa & Costa, 2012; Pereira et al, 2012; Zanata & Pitanga, 2016; Craig et al, 2017; de Pinna et al, 2018; Burger et al, 2019) with achievements of several related studies on the systematics and biogeography of the continental ichthyofauna of the Forest Atlantic
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