Zooplankton community of Parnaíba River, Northeastern Brazil

Comunidade zooplanctônica do Rio Parnaíba, Nordeste, Brasil

Aim:

The objective of the present work is to present a list of species of zooplankton (Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda) from the Parnaíba River. Additionally, we provide comments on their distribution along the river, and between dry and wet seasons.

Methods

Zooplankton was collected with a plankton net (60 µm mesh) and concentrated into a volume of 80 mL for further analysis, during the dry (October 2010) and wet (April 2011) seasons. Sampling was restricted to the marginal areas at depths between 80 and 150 cm.

Results

A total of 132 species was recorded among the three zooplankton groups studied. During the dry season a total of 82 species was registered and 102 species was registered for the wet season. Rotifera contributed with 66.7% of the species, followed by Cladocera (26.5%) and Copepoda (6.8%).

Conclusions

The richness of species observed was high compared to other large rivers in Brazil. In the context of current policies for water management and river diversions in northeastern Brazil, the present study highlights the importance of this river system for biodiversity conservation.

semiarid; large rivers; biodiversity; zooplankton; seasonality