CHARACTERIZATION OF SEIZURES OF WILD FAUNA IN THE STATE OF AMAPA, EASTERN AMAZONIA, BRAZIL

Este artigo objetivou caracterizar as apreensões de fauna silvestre no estado do Amapá. Foram analisados registros constantes dos Autos de Infração Ambiental lavrados pelos órgãos de fiscalização ambiental (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis, Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente, Instituto de Meio Ambiente e Ordenamento Territorial do Amapá e Batalhão de Polícia Militar Ambiental) no período de 2005 a 2009. Os resultados mostraram que foram apreendidos 1.986 animais silvestres que geraram R$694.937,00 em multas. As apreensões ocorreram em 13 dos 16 municípios amapaenses, com destaque para Macapá e Santana que concentraram 87$ 694.937,00 in fines. The seizures occurred in 13 of the 16 municipal districts of Amapá, with higher occurrence in the municipal districts of Macapá and Santana that concentrated 87% of the procedures. The most frequent infractions were the ownership or keeping the animals in captivity and transport of meat and live animals of the wild fauna", with 38,14% and 30,77%, respectively.  Reptiles and birds were the most seized with 48% and 45%, while mammals were the least with 7% of the arrests. Of the total of arrested specimens, 736 belong to nine constant species of the list of threatened species, which, seven consist simultaneously in the lists of IUCN and of the CITES. It was concluded that the wildlife has been used indiscriminately, aiming the livestock and food consumption in the rural and urban areas of the state and, that deficiencies in the enforcement of the inspection activities hinder the restraint of this illicit activity.Keywords: wild animals; endangered species; environmental inspection; environmental agencies.

Neotropical freshwater fisheries : A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large-scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications