Abstract
Little information exists about the dynamics of the use of estuarine beaches by fishes. The present study describes the spatial and temporal changes in the fish assemblage of the estuarine beaches of Babitonga Bay, Santa Catarina State (Brazil). A total of 13 collections were conducted at seven estuarine beaches of Babitonga Bay from August 2005 to August 2006. At each sampling site, beach seine tows parallel to the coast were made, each with a different seine net. A total of 45,874 individuals (76 taxa) (>99% juveniles) was caught in 273 samplings. Paralichthyidae and Sciaenidae had the largest number of species, followed by Carangidae, Gobiidae, Gerreidae, Engraulidae, Mugilidae and Tetraodontidae. The following taxa were the most abundant: Lycengraulis grossidens, Mugil sp., Atherinella brasiliensis, Eucinostomus sp., Harengula clupeola , Sphoeroides greeleyi, Eucinostomus argenteus and Sphoeroides testudineus , comprising 93.34% of the total catch. There were significant differences among months regarding the mean number of individuals, number of species, diversity and evenness. Considering that the conservation of the studied beaches is under constant threat, the data surveyed in this work show the necessity of conservation and management plans for these environments, important as nurseries for fishes. Key words: juvenile fish, shallow waters, diversity, nursery, Babitonga Bay.
Highlights
Seasonal and spatial changes of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity influence composition, structure, the spatial and temporal distribution of the ichthyofauna in estuaries (Blaber and Blaber, 1980; Loneragan and Potter, 1990; Whitfield, 1999)
Babitonga Bay, southern Brazil, is a homogeneous microtidal and semidiurnal estuary that has an area of 130 km2, an average depth of 6 meters and an approximate volume of 7.8 x 108 m3 (IBAMA, 1998), with a tide amplitude of 1.30 m (Cremer et al, 2006)
The results confirmed that the structure of the fish assemblage at the studied estuarine beaches is basically conditioned by the occurrence of large aggregates of a few Atherinella brasiliensis Sphoeroides greeleyi Mugil sp
Summary
Seasonal and spatial changes of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity influence composition, structure, the spatial and temporal distribution of the ichthyofauna in estuaries (Blaber and Blaber, 1980; Loneragan and Potter, 1990; Whitfield, 1999) Biological aspects such as reproduction of the species and patterns of recruitment and/or migration (Akin et al, 2003) as well as abundance of predators and availability of prey (Taylor and Rand, 2003) influence the use of shallow estuarine areas by fishes. Little information exists about the dynamics of the use of this environment by fishes In this context, this study of estuarine beaches of the southern coast of Brazil aims to describe: (i) the composition and the structure of the ichthyofauna; (ii) the spatial and monthly variations of fish assemblages; (iii) the correlation between environmental factors such as temperature, salinity and transparency, and fish abundance
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