Abstract
We provide here the first assessment of the composition, abundance and distribution of rocky reef fishes of Itaipu Sound, Rio de Janeiro, off the southeastern Brazilian coast. Monthly visual censuses, benthic quadrats and chain link transects were conducted over one year on rocky reefs at three islands (Menina, Mãe and Pai). A total of 2466 individual fish, belonging to 29 families and 42 species were recorded. The most abundant fish species were Parablennius pilicornis, Haemulon steindachneri, Orthopristis ruber and Diplodus argenteus. Sheltered and complex habitats showed the most abundant and diverse fish populations. There was a major significant separation between sampling sites and a secondary seasonal pattern. The three sites showed similar fish communities with locally structured environmental gradients according to their inherent habitat characteristics.
Highlights
Most studies about the community ecology of Brazilian reef fishes began in the late 1990s, and applied underwater visual census techniques (Rosa & Moura, 1997; Rocha et al, 1998; Ferreira et al, 1998; Rocha & Rosa, 2001)
On the southeastern Brazilian coastline, rocky shores comprise the habitat for reef fishes and other reef-associated biota (Floeter et al, 2004; Rangel et al, 2007)
Our results suggest that our three study sites display low reef fish species diversity when compared to other sites where reef fish studies have been conducted in Brazil (e g., Floeter et al, 2001)
Summary
Most studies about the community ecology of Brazilian reef fishes began in the late 1990s, and applied underwater visual census techniques (Rosa & Moura, 1997; Rocha et al, 1998; Ferreira et al, 1998; Rocha & Rosa, 2001). These studies were conducted at several sites throughout the tropical and subtropical Brazilian coastline, from below the mouth of the Amazon River at the Manuel Luiz Reefs (0o52’ S) (Rocha & Rosa, 2001), to the south to Santa Catarina State (27o30’ S) (Floeter et al, 2001). Water depth and topographic complexity may exert variable degrees of interference upon many ecological processes, such as recruitment, predation and territoriality (Caley, 1993; Cheney & Côté, 2003; Kawasaki et al, 2003)
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