Ichthyofauna of Ceará-Mirim River basin, Rio Grande do Norte State, northeastern Brazil

By

Kaluana Rodrigues da Costa, Nathalia
Costa de Paiva, Roney Emanuel
Joaquim da Silva, Márcio
Ramos, Telton Pedro Anselmo
Maia Queiroz Lima, Sergio

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

715

Pages

39-51

Subjects

coastal basin , estuarine ichthyofauna , fishes of Caatinga and Atlantic Forest , inventory , Mid-Northeastern Caatinga ecoregion

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.715.13865

 

Abstract

Ichthyological studies in coastal basins of the Mid-Northeastern Caatinga ecoregion were first conducted in the early 20th century, including collections from the Ceará-Mirim River basin, in northeastern Brazil. Besides a few systematics and ecological studies, the knowledge on fishes from this watershed is still considered partial and restricted to the freshwater portion. Thus, the objective of this paper was to conduct a comprehensive ichthyological survey of the entire Ceará-Mirim River basin, from the headwaters to the estuarine area. Fish surveys were conducted from 2011 to 2016 using varied fishing gear, resulting in the record of 63 native species (24 freshwater, 15 estuarine, and 24 marine species) and two introduced species. Four species are putatively endemic to the ecoregion, and 48 consist of new records for the basin. According to the Brazilian’s threatened fish list, three species are currently classified as ‘vulnerable’ (Megalops atlanticus, Hippocampus reidi and Mycteroperca bonaci), four as ‘near threatened’ (Kryptolebias hermaphroditus, Dormitator maculatus, Lutjanus sygnagris and L. jocu) and three as ‘data deficient’ (Cheirodon jaguaribensis, Mugil curema and Sphoeroides testudineus). The Ceará-Mirim River basin does not have any protected areas and has been suffering multiple anthropogenic impacts, however the 'Centro Tecnológico de Aquicultura' (Aquaculture Technological Center) of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (CTA/UFRN) at the lower portion of the basin may help in the conservation of the estuarine and estuarine fish species.