Patterns of fish and crustacean community structure in a coastal lagoon system, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Coastal lagoons are feeding and nursery habitats for fish and crustaceans and fishing grounds for some of these species. This work describes the fish and crustacean community structure of the Piratininga–Itaipu lagoon system (Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), evaluating the importance of environmental factors in structuring spatial and temporal changes. Sampling was conducted using gill-nets, cast-nets, hoop-nets and fish traps during summer and winter of 2006. A total of 50 fish and 9 crustacean species were collected, amounting to 17,143 specimens. Few species dominated in abundance, frequency and biomass. The marine–estuarine species Atherinella brasiliensis and Cetengraulis edentulus were most abundant in Piratininga and Itaipu, respectively. Analysis of Similarity, nMDS and Canonical Correspondence Analysis indicated a strong spacial segregation between Piratininga and Itaipu and to a lesser extent a seasonal component. Salinity was the main factor influencing species distribution, followed by water depth, water temperature and, to a lesser extent, organic matter in the sediment and bottom vegetation. A large number of occasional species occurring at sampling sites near the Itaipu channel, which connects the lagoon to the sea, suggests a high degree of communication between this lagoon and the adjacent marine coastal environment, unlike Piratininga lagoon, which has an indirect communication with the sea.

Key words:

• spatial distribution
• environmental factors
• salinity
• southeastern Brazil

Acknowledgements

We thank undergraduate and graduate students from Departamento de Biologia Marinha and Laboratório ECOPESCA who helped in field and laboratory work. Special thanks to Pedro Esteves, Marcelo Vasconcelos and Thiago Mendes for their valuable help in the field. Renato Campello Cordeiro (Geoquímica/UFF) opened his laboratory for sediment analysis. Davilma Antonio Borges assisted in the laboratory activities. Thanks also to the fishermen Wanderley (Vandeco) and ‘Seu Manel’. Wagner L. S. Fortes and Luana Prestrelo held MS Scholarships from CAPES-Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior. Pedro H. Almeida-Silva received a Scholarship and Cassiano Monteiro-Neto received a Research Productivity Fellowship from CNPq-Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico.

Editorial responsibility: Franz Uiblein