Records of the franciscana (<i>Pontoporia blainvillei</i>) in the southwestern Rio de Janeiro and northernmost São Paulo State coasts - Brazil

Abstract

The franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) inhabits coastal waters of the western South Atlantic from Espirito Santo State (~18oS), Brazil (Siciliano, 1994) to Chubut Province (~42oS), Argentina (Crespo et al., 1998). Its distribution was assumed to be continuous. However recent studies have pointed out the existence of two discontinuities along the species range: between Ubatuba (23o20’S) and Macae (22o25’S) and between Barra de Itabapoana (21o18’S) and Regencia (19o40’S), southeastern Brazil (Siciliano and Santos, 1994; Siciliano, 2001). This note reports the occurrence of franciscana in the northernmost Sao Paulo State coast and southwestern Rio de Janeiro State coast (Figure 1). Information was obtained through a network of local volunteers and institutions, including governmental agencies and the media.