Do environmental variables predict the trophic structure of fish fauna in a subtropical river (Uruguay River Ecoregion)?

Trophic interactions represent the routes through which energy flows upwards within ecosystems and the understanding of such structuring under varying environmental conditions is still challenging. Here we test the hypothesis that differences in environmental variables act as environmental filters on the composition and trophic structure of local the fish fauna of a subtropical mountain river. We predict that differences in the trophic structure of the fish fauna occur along the river continuum. Main environmental parameters have been measured and fishes were sampled quarterly between August 2013 and May 2014 at six sampling sites in the main channel of the Pelotas River, Upper Uruguay ecoregion. We collected 3848 individuals belonging to 38 species, 4 orders and 11 families. The most (82.1%) consisted of small- and medium-sized individuals. The species were classified into eight trophic guilds: aquatic insectivorous, carnivorous, detritivorous, detritivorous/aquatic insectivorous, herbivorous, iliophagous, omnivorous and piscivorous. In general, herbivorous and piscivorous guilds were the most representative in both number and biomass. Significant differences detected by Permanova were for richness, numerical abundance and biomass between all the sites sampled. Relationships between the environmental variables and the composition of trophic guilds were observed along the longitudinal gradient by RLQ and fourth-corner analyses. The abundance of guilds omnivorous, aquatic insectivorous and herbivorous increases with higher values of chlorophyll-a and vegetation cover, especially characterizing the upstream sites (S1, S2 and S3). On the other hand, the abundance of the iliophagous, detritivorous/insectivorous and piscivorous guilds increases with greater values of width, temperature, inorganic phosphorus and total solids, a fact observed in downstream sites (S4, S5 and S6). Thus, it was possible to identify a clear variation in the trophic structure of the fish fauna along the Pelotas River (upstream-downstream), in which the local variables were efficient in predicting environmental filters that influence the trophic organization. In this scenario, our study follows the longitudinal model and evidences a greater accumulation of energy in food webs in the upstream-downstream direction, which favors the greatest abundance of piscivorous, detritivorous and iliophagous verified in stretches of greater volume and dimensions of river. These results highlight the importance of the local variables and the interrelationships in the lateral connectivity processes along the river continuum

Peixes do baixo rio Iguaçu

O rio Iguaçu nasce na confluência dos rios Atuba e Irai, e desemboca no rio Paraná, em Foz do Iguaçu. A ictiofauna deste rio, desde os primeiros trabalhos realizados, sempre foi considerada pobre e de pequeno porte, entretanto, apresenta um elevado grau de endemismo favorecido pelo surgimento das Cataratas do Iguaçu, que exerceram um papel fundamental neste processo. Esta obra busca uma fonte aglutinadora, mas sintetizada, sistematizada, especializada e atualizada das informações publicadas, até o momento, sobre a ictiofauna do baixo rio Iguaçu, fornecendo chaves de identificação, caracterizações morfológicas, fotos, dados sobre a biologia e distribuição geográfica das espécies registradas na região, além de um glossário com termos técnicos

Temporal dynamics of size spectrum of a fish population in neotropical reservoirs

Studies on the size spectrum allow indirect inferences of how the energy flows from one organism to another. Assuming that the bottom-up is more intense than the top-down mechanism along the cascade of reservoirs, which limits the growth and development of individuals, we investigated the effect of a cascade of reservoirs in a neotropical basin on the stock and distribution of the population of Oligosarcus longirostris, a species at the top of the food chain. Samples were conducted quarterly in five reservoirs, from March 2004 to December 2008. Stock size was estimated by catch per unit effort (CPUE); to establish the size spectra slopes of fish, we used Pareto I model, and data was analyzed using univariate analysis of variance followed by Tukey\u27s test. There was a higher proportion of smaller individuals in the first reservoir of the cascade, with a decline in this proportion along the succession of reservoirs in the cascade. It can be concluded that there is an effect of the reservoir cascade on the abundance and size of individuals of Oligosarcus longirostris

Composição Química e Análise de Rendimento de uma Especie Endêmica (Pimelodus Britskii) Visando Fins Comerciais

O Brasil possui inúmeras espécies nativas de peixes com grande potencialpara a exploração pela aquicultura, E com os conceitos de preservação e projetos socioeconômicosque andam em alta, a exploração de espécies nativas, torna-se uma alternativapara conservação do ambiente aquático e fonte econômica para indústrias e comunidadeslocais. Objetivo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o potencial para oaproveitamento comercial do Mandi, através das análises de rendimento do troncolimpo, músculo abdominal, filé e da composição centesimal de peixes coletados noreservatório de Salto Santiago, rio Iguaçu, Paraná. Método: As capturas ocorreram entremaio e julho de 2009, com uso de espinhéis e redes de espera. Após a captura, ospeixes foram insensibilizados em gelo, medidos, eviscerados e pesados. Os dados derendimento de tronco limpo, músculo abdominal, filé e composição centesimal foramobtidos. Os peixes foram agrupados em três classes de peso A (<150 g), B (150-300g)e C (>300 g), e as diferenças entre as classes de peso foram testadas através de ANOVAunifatorial. Resultados: Os peixes foram agrupados em três classes de peso A(<150 g), B (150-300g) e C (>300 g) para análise estatística. Foram verificadas diferençassignificativas entre as classes de peso, com maior rendimento de tronco limpo(50,09±2,54%), músculo abdominal (7,28±0,86%), filé (37,26±2,20%), lipídios(19,34±5,32%) e cinzas (1,10%±0,13%), para indivíduos da classe C (>300 g), e deumidade (80,3±0,32%) para indivíduos da classe A (<150 g). De maneira geral, oMandi apresentou rendimento e composição centesimal em níveis comparáveis aos deoutras espécies exploradas comercialmente

Chlorophyceae e Trebouxiophyceae (Chlorophyta) em ambientes lóticos na área de influência da Usina Hidrelétrica do Baixo Iguaçu, Estado do Paraná, Brasil

The presence of microscopic algae of the classes Chlorophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae in lotic environments stands out for its high morphologic diversity and its capacity to indicate the quality of the water. This study had the objective of accomplishing the taxonomic survey of rivers from the area of influence of Baixo Iguaçu’s hydroelectric power plant. The monthly samples were collected from january of 2019 to december of 2019 allowing the identification of 55 taxons, distributed in eight families Hydrodictyaceae, Scenedesmaceae, Selenastraceae, Sphaeropleaceae, Volvocaceae, Chlorellaceae, Oocystaceae and Trebouxiophyceae incertae sedis. Between the identified taxa, 12 are new citations for Paraná State: Monactinus simplex var. echinulatum (Wittrock) Pérez, Monactinus simplex var. sturmii (Reinsch) Pérez, Pseudopediastrum boryanum var. longicorne (Reinsch) Tsarenko, Desmodesmus lefevrei (Deflandre) S.S.An, T.Friedl & E.H.Hegewald, Desmodesmus opoliensis var. carinatus (Lemmermann) E.Hegewald, Desmodesmus perforatus (Lemmermann) E.Hegewald, Pectinodesmus javanensis (Chodat) E.Hegewald, Scenedesmus acunae Comas Gonzáles, Quadrigula closterioides (Bohlin) Printz, Volvox globator Linnaeus, Actinastrum aciculare f. minimum (Huber-Pestalozzi), Actinastrum hantazschii var. subtile Woloszynska.A presença de microalgas das classes Chlorophyceae e Trebouxiophyceae em ambientes lóticos se destaca por sua alta diversidade morfológica e sua capacidade de indicar a qualidade da água. Este trabalho objetivou realizar o levantamento taxonômico em rios da área de influência da Usina Hidrelétrica do Baixo Iguaçu. As amostragens mensais foram realizadas de janeiro de 2019 a dezembro de 2019 possibilitando a identificação de 55 táxons, distribuídos em oito famílias Hydrodictyaceae, Scenedesmaceae, Selenastraceae, Sphaeropleaceae, Volvocaceae, Chlorellaceae, Oocystaceae e Trebouxiophyceae incertae sedis. Dentre os táxons identificados, 12 são novas citações para o Estado do Paraná: Monactinus simplex var. echinulatum (Wittrock) Pérez, Monactinus simplex var. sturmii (Reinsch) Pérez, Pseudopediastrum boryanum var. longicorne (Reinsch) Tsarenko, Desmodesmus lefevrei (Deflandre) S.S.An, T.Friedl & E.H.Hegewald, Desmodesmus opoliensis var. carinatus (Lemmermann) E.Hegewald, Desmodesmus perforatus (Lemmermann) E.Hegewald, Pectinodesmus javanensis (Chodat) E.Hegewald, Scenedesmus acunae Comas Gonzáles, Quadrigula closterioides (Bohlin) Printz, Volvox globator Linnaeus, Actinastrum aciculare f. minimum (Huber-Pestalozzi), Actinastrum hantazschii var. subtile Woloszynska

Estructura poblacional y biología reproductiva de Astyanax gymnodontus (Characiformes: Characidae), un pez endémico poco conocido de la cuenca del río Iguazú, Brasil

Success in fish breeding depends on reproduction intensity, periodicity and the place where it occurs. Information about fish species reproduction is important to assist managers, and to determine conservation and management strategies. The fish assemblage of the Iguaçu River basin is already known for its high endemism, and despite this privilege, the large number of dams built along it, threat this particular biodiversity. Astyanax gymnodontus is an endemic fish species and studies on its population structure and reproductive biology are important, since they represent the first step for further community studies. Our objective was to evaluate some aspects of the population structure and reproductive biology of A. gymnodontus in the influence area of Salto Santiago dam, Iguaçu River, Paraná State, Brazil. Sampling was made monthly from July 2003 to June 2005, and bimonthly from July 2005 to March 2013, at five sites in the influence area of Salto Santiago dam. Fishes were collected using 10 m length gillnets with meshes ranging from 2.5 to 6.0 cm between non-adjacent knots and trammel nets with inner meshes of 6.0 cm between non-adjacent knots. Nets were arranged on surface, bottom and margins of each site, exposed for 24 h. Additional drags on littoral areas were performed from January to March and October to December from 2009 to 2011, with 50.0 m nets, 0.5 cm mesh size, for juveniles capture. We captured and analyzed 21 932 individuals, being 9 249 females and 12 683 males, representing 42.2 % and 57.8 %, respectively. The average body length was 8.8 cm for females and 8.3 cm for males. The average weight was 18.8 g for females and 16.0 g for males. Sex ratio calculated for the entire period was 1.8 males/female. Males were more abundant than females in 73.2 % of samples and significant differences were observed in 35.3 % of samples. The estimated length at first maturity (SL50) was 6.4 cm for females and 6.2 cm for males. We suggest that sexual differences in body length and weight, and sex ratio occurred as a result of sexual differences in energy allocation. Females spend more energy on body growth, which means more eggs production and higher fecundity. As an integrated response, males spend more energy on sperm production, in competition with other males, leading to a smaller body size. Differences in estimated SL50 might be an indicator of this sexual difference in energy allocation. The reproduction period was from September to February, with greater intensity at the beginning of this period, and the sites of highest reproductive intensity were those immediate downstream from dams, and therefore with more riverine characteristics.El éxito en la reproducción de los peces depende de su intensidad, cuándo y dónde sucede. La información acerca de la reproducción de las especies de peces son importantes para ayudar a los administradores a determinar las estrategias de conservación y manejo. La comunidad de peces de la cuenca del río Iguazú ya es conocida por su endemismo, y a pesar de ser un privilegio, el gran número de represas construidas en este río amenaza esta biodiversidad particular. Astyanax gymnodontus es una especie endémica de pez y estudios sobre su estructura poblacional y biología reproductiva son importantes, ya que son el primer paso para futuros estudios de comunidad. Nuestro objetivo fue evaluar algunos aspectos de la estructura poblacional y biología reproductiva de A. gymnodontus en el área de influencia de la represa de Salto Santiago, Río Iguazú, Estado de Paraná, Brasil. Los muestreos se han realizado mensualmente desde julio 2003 a junio 2005, y cada dos meses desde julio 2005 a marzo 2013, en cinco sitios en el área de influencia del embalse de Salto Santiago. Los peces fueron recolectados con redes de enmalle de 10 m, con mallas entre 2.5 y 6.0 cm entre nudos no adyacentes y trasmallos con mallas interiores de 6.0 cm entre nudos no adyacentes. Las redes fueron dispuestas en la superficie, fondo, y márgenes de cada sitio, durante 24 h. Se han usado redes de arrastre adicionales en el litoral de enero a marzo y de octubre a diciembre, desde 2009 a 2011, con redes de 50.0 m y mallas de 0.5 cm, para la captura de los jóvenes. Hemos capturado y analizado 21 932 peces, siendo 9 249 hembras y 12 683 machos, lo que representa 42.2 % y 57.8 %, respectivamente. La longitud corporal media fue de 8.8 cm para las hembras y 8.3 cm para los machos. El peso promedio fue de 18.8 g para las hembras y 16.0 g para los machos. La proporción sexual calculada para todo el período fue 1.8 machos/hembra. Los machos fueron más abundantes que las hembras en 73.2 % de las muestras y se observaron diferencias significativas en 35.3 % de las muestras. La longitud corporal de primera madurez (SL50) fue de 6.4 cm para las hembras y 6.2 cm para los machos. Sugerimos que las diferencias sexuales en la longitud del cuerpo, peso, y proporción sexual se produce como resultado de las diferencias sexuales en la asignación de energía. Las hembras gastan más energía en el crecimiento del cuerpo, lo que significa mayor producción de huevos y mayor fecundidad. Como respuesta, los machos gastan más energía en la producción de esperma, en competencia con otros machos, lo que lleva al menor tamaño corporal. Las diferencias en el SL50 estimado podría ser un indicador de la diferencia sexual en la asignación de la energía. El período de reproducción fue de septiembre a febrero, con mayor intensidad al comienzo de este período, y los sitios de mayor intensidad reproductiva fueron aquellos inmediatamente abajo de los embalses, y por lo tanto, con características más similares a los ríos