Biodiversity of caridean shrimps on rocky bottoms of two preserved islands on the southeastern Brazilian coast

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the biodiversity of caridean shrimps inhabiting the consolidated sublittoral of two Brazilian biodiversity locals Laje de Santos and Vitória Island. We provide data about species composition, cumulative species curves and ecological indexes. Additionally, we compared different sampling techniques used for cryptic fauna studies. The samples were carried out quarterly for one year, using Artificial Refuge Substrate (ASR) for the passive capture and SCUBA diving for active capture. A total of 323 individuals were sampled with 17 species recorded, 13 in Vitória Island and 12 in Laje de Santos. Alpheus formosus and Cuapetes americanus were dominant in both areas and recognized as key-species for the community. Using two-sampling methods is highly recommended for future studies due to the fact that small and translucent species were obtained with ARS and large and colourful specimens were collected during SCUBA diving expeditions. An alien shrimp from the genus Athanas was registered for the first time in a protected area in Brazil. Additionally, all these results/data are important for future management and work plans in Brazilian protected areas since decapod crustaceans are an extremely important fauna group in any subtidal ecosystem.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecology
• consolidated sublittoral
• Vitória Island
• Laje de Santos
• checklist

Acknowledgements

Support for this study was provided by Grants from the ‘Coordenação de aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de nível Superior’ – CAPES (Ciências do Mar II 23038.004310/2014-85, PROEX 23038.000802/2018-25, and CAPES PrInt 88881.310767/2018-01), ‘Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq’ (Research Scholarship PQ # 311034/2018-7 to and 304235/2019-9 to AOA), and FAPESP (2015/01959-5) with the master degree scholarship program. Thanks are due to all members of the SCUBA diving team: Orion Dive, Ubatuba Adventure and Omnimmare, and all personnel from the Laje de Santos Institute. The authors are also grateful to all members of the NEBECC and LABCAM for contributing to the final version of the manuscript. We are grateful to ICMBio and COTEC-SP (260108 – 010.480/2014) for granting the sampling license.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Support for this study was provided by Grants from the ‘Coordenação de aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de nível Superior’ – CAPES (Ciências do Mar II 23038.004310/2014-85, PROEX 23038.000802/2018-25, and CAPES PrInt 88881.310767/2018-01), ‘Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq’ (Research Scholarship PQ # 311034/2018-7 to and 304235/2019-9 to AOA), and FAPESP (2015/01959-5) with the master degree scholarship program.