Nonaka et aL: Seasonal variation in laival fish assemblages off eastern Brazil 



775 



E 



Jo 6000 



O 4000 



E 



1 



k 



In  



■p^ y / 



V 





n Winter 

  Summer 

 D Autumn 



rm^. Mr. 



Figure 6 



Seasonal variation of larval abundances of coral-reef-associated fish families on the 

 Abrolhos Bank and in adjacent waters 



un-identified clupeid lai-vae. Most of the engi'aulid larvae 

 collected at coastal stations between Vitoria and Cape Frio 

 in winter and autumn were Engraulis anchoita, but some 

 lai-vae found over the AB belonged to Anchoa and Ancho- 

 via that were not identified to species. 



Larval fish assemblages 



A figure offish families by station created with the TWIN- 

 SPAN program is shown in Appendix 1. Clustering the 

 families based on their occurrence and abundance at each 

 station resulted in four major oceanographic groupings: 1) 

 Abrolhos Bank, 2) neritic, 3) transitional, and 4) oceanic. 



Abrolhos Bank assemblage The Abrolhos Bank assem- 

 blage was situated over the Abrolhos Bank ( Fig. 9 ). During 

 the autumn cruise another subgroup was identified in 

 the coastal region and named "the Abrolhos Bank-coastal 

 assemblage." Taxonomic composition of this assemblage 

 was characterized by the presence of coral-reef-associated 

 fish. The composition was influenced by the seasonal vari- 

 ation of taxa, with the exception of Gobiidae which was the 

 dominant family on all the cruises. The dominant groups 

 of this assemblage were Serranidae, Scaridae, Carangi- 

 dae, Clupeidae, Apogonidae, Blenniidae, and Labridae. 



Neritic assemblage The neritic assemblage was found 

 over the continental shelf between Vitoria and Cape Frio. 



The neritic assemblage was composed of pelagic fish, such 

 as the Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Carangidae, and Breg- 

 macerotidae, as well as the demersal fish Gobiidae and 

 Pleuronectiformes. During the summer cruise the neritic 

 assemblage was limited to the area between Cape Sao 

 Tome and Cape Frio, and another subgroup was identified 

 in the northern part between Vitoria and Cape Sao Tome, 

 named the neritic-north assemblage. This assemblage was 

 characterized by Gobiidae, Engraulidae, and Clupeidae, 

 which accounted for 60^/f of the total larvae. 



Transitional assemblage The transitional assemblage was 

 found mainly along the shelf break area. During the win- 

 ter cruise the transitional assemblage occurred in two 

 shelf break areas: between Caravelas and Vitoria and 

 between Vitoria and Cape Sao Tome (Fig. 9A). This assem- 

 blage was dominated by mesopelagic fish belonging to 

 Myctophidae, Sternoptychidae, Bregmacerotidae, Phosich- 

 thyidae, and Paralepididae, but also by the coral-reef- 

 associated fish, such as Serranidae, Carangidae, MuUidae, 

 Pomacanthidae, Apogonidae, and Callionymidae. 



The transitional assemblage found during the summer 

 cruise was situated along the outer edge of the Abrolhos 

 Bank, including the oceanic area of the Minerva and 

 Vitoria Seamounts (Fig. 9B). Its taxonomic composition 

 was characterized by the great diversity of coral-reef- 

 associated and mesopelagic fish. A transitional-Vitoria 

 subassemblage was identified to the south of the Abrol- 



