Ichthyofauna of the Ribeirão Taboão, Paraíba do Sul river basin, Mogi das Cruzes, SP

Abstract

We present herein a list of fish species from Ribeirao Taboao, a tributary of Rio Paraiba do Sul basin that is located in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo. Fish were caught with trapezoid hand nets, mesh nets and fish traps. We sampled 145 specimens, belonging to 18 species, distributed in eight families and six orders. The most representative order was Characiformes, with six species, followed by Siluriformes with five species, Gymnotiformes with three species, Labriformes with two species, and Cyprinodontiformes and Synbranchiformes with a single species each. The four more abundant species were the livebearer Phalloceros reisi, the catfish Imparfinis piperatus, the cichlid Geophagus brasiliensis and the tetra Astyanax aff. fasciatus, which summed approximately 66% of the total sampled specimens. The 18 species of fish sampled in the present study correspond to almost 5% of the species registered for the Rio Paraiba do Sul drainage in the State of Sao Paulo, indicating a high diversity for a headwater stream. Endangered or introduced species were not found, but five species remain with indefinite taxonomical status.