Inventory of Chondrichthyes and Actinopterygii species collected in the central coast of São Paulo State, BrazilAbstracts
This biodiversity inventory of the central coast of São Paulo State presents species of demersal and pelagic fishes of Santos Bay, Bertioga Channel, and adjacent continental shelf, between São Sebastião and Peruíbe, from the coast till a depth of 100 m. Samples were taken during oceanographic campaigns using otter trawls, between November 2004 and February 2006. A total of 56,095 individuals were collected, belonging to the classes Chondrichthyes (three orders and fourteen species) and Actinopterygii (fifteen orders and 141 species). This list adds 27 species to those explicitly cited for the coast of São Paulo state, contributing to the knowledge of this group.
Ichthyofauna; Santos Bay; Bertioga Channel; Continental Shelf; Southeastern Brazilian Coast
Este inventário comentado da biodiversidade do litoral central do estado de São Paulo apresenta as espécies de peixes demersais e pelágicas da baía de Santos, do canal de Bertioga e da plataforma continental adjacente, entre Peruíbe e São Sebastião, da costa até 100 m de profundidade. Os exemplares foram capturados durante campanhas oceanográficas, utilizando-se redes de arrasto de fundo com portas, entre novembro de 2004 e fevereiro de 2006. Foram capturados um total de 56.095 indivíduos pertencentes ès Classes Chondrichthyes (três ordens e quatorze espécies) e Actinopterygii (quinze ordens e 141 espécies). Esta lista amplia em 27 espécies as explicitamente citadas para o litoral do estado de São Paulo, contribuindo para o conhecimento do grupo.
Ictiofauna; baía de Santos; canal de Bertioga; plataforma continental adjacente; costa sudeste brasileira
Introduction
Species lists are important tools in biodiversity and fish community structure studies, not only to evaluate current and past ichthyofauna records and richness but also as a reference document to environmental agencies and consultancies. Considering these different purposes and the poor environmental quality of the coastal areas, fish have also been used to assess the ecological status of marine environments (Henriques et al. 2008).
Some ichthyofaunistic surveys have been conducted in the central coast of São Paulo state; among these surveys, we can highlight Vazzoler (1970), Paiva-Filho et al. (1987), Giannini & Paiva-Filho (1990), and Graça-Lopes et al. (1993) for the Santos Bay and Barbanti et al. (2013) for the Bertioga Channel. Although already investigated, little information has been published about the ichthyofauna inventory of the continental shelf ecosystem (Vazzoler et al. 1982, Fachinni, 1999). However, this lack of information is not restricted to the coast of São Paulo. Most of ichthyofauna information is found in academic products (Dissertations and Theses). One of the major surveys was the “Program of Evaluation of the Sustainable Potential for Living Resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone (Programa de Avaliação do Potencial Sustentável de Recursos Vivos na Zona Econômica Exclusiva - REVIZEE)”, which was carried out between Cabo Frio (22°52’S) and Chuí (33°41’S) and which resulted in a series of technical documents and available information; however, this campaigns occurred in deeper waters than those examined in the present study, between 100 and 1,000 meters.
Menezes (2011) published a checklist of marine fishes for the state of São Paulo, which was based on the Catalog of Marine Fish Species of Brasil that he and colleagues published in 2003.
The purpose of this article is to present an updated species list, based on the current knowledge of the biodiversity fish in the central coast of São Paulo state.
Material and Methods
The sampled areas are part of the Santos-São Vicente estuarine system, including the adjacent continental shelf (Fig. 1). The Santos Bay (23.98°-24.04°S; 46.4°-46.3°W) is a semi-sheltered bay, with depths ranging from 5 to 15 m. It is bordered by beaches and two natural channels (Santos and São Vicente) to the north and by the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It has an outfall sewer. The sediment type from Santos Bay was classified as very fine sand at the western side and clay and silt in the central-eastern area.
Maps of Santos Bay, Bertioga Channel (A) and adjacent Continental Shelf in the central coast of the state of São Paulo (B), with collection stations of the ichthyofauna.
The Bertioga Channel is located at the eastern end of the Santos region (23.85-23.60°S; 46.18-46.25°W) and is considered a secondary connection to the ocean of the estuarine system of Santos - São Vicente. The channel is 25 km long with an average depth between 3 and 6 m and width ranging from 200 to 700 m. The sediment types were classified as clay and medium silt along the channel and fine sand on both borders.
On the continental shelf adjacent to the estuarine system, the sampling area was concentrated between São Sebastião (23°45°S) and Peruíbe (24°19°S) at depths shallower than 100 m. In this region, the sediment types were classified as sand for all coastal areas up to 80 m, a transition from sandy silt to silt-clay type sediment occurred between 80 and 100 m.
In the Santos Bay, specimens were caught monthly at six oceanographic stations, between November 2004 and December 2005 (except for the month of December 2004), three along the entrance of the bay and three along the beaches (stations 1 to 6; Fig. 1A). In the internal stations, the local depth varied between 5.7 and 9.9 m, while it varied between 10 and 14.3 m in the external stations. In the Bertioga Channel, samples were collected monthly from September to December 2005 in two channel points (stations 8 and 9; Fig. 1A), one more internal (between the bar and Largo do Candinho) and another more external point close to channel north mouth. An otter-trawl was used to collect fish in these areas, with a mesh size of 40 mm in the arms and 30 mm in the bagger; the otter-trawl was 11 m long. The effort unit was a 10-min tow at a speed of two knots.
Two expeditions were made at the continental shelf, one in the winter of 2005 (August/September) and another in the summer of 2006 (February), totaling 38 oceanographic stations at depths varying between 14 and 94 m (Fig. 1B). An otter-trawl with 17 m length, and a mesh size of 60 mm in the arms and 25 mm in the bagger was used. The effort unit was a 30-minute tow at an average speed of two knots.
The caught specimens were sacrificed by cooling, sorted and identified based on Figueiredo & Menezes (1978, 1980, 2000), Menezes & Figueiredo (1980, 1985) manuals; Marceniuk (2005) and Gomes et al. (2010) identification keys, and additional taxonomic information of Nelson (2006). Data of total length and standard length (in mm) were taken for each specimen. After identification and data recording on board, all Chondrichthyes specimens were immediately released to the sea while still alive.
The Menezes et al. (2003) catalog, the Websites Catalog of Fishes (CAS), FishBase, Advanced Search Report (ITIS), and World Register of Marine Species (WorMS); and Marceniuk & Menezes (2007) and Menezes et al. (2015) publications were utilized to update the nomenclature. The testimony specimens are frozen at ECORREP (Reproductive Ecology and Recruitment Laboratory - Oceanographic Institute-University of São Paulo) and will be added to the ColBIO (Coleções Biológicas Prof. Edmundo Ferraz Nonato-IOUSP).
Results
The collected species are presented in phylogenetic order according to Menezes et al. (2003), and the lists are separated per area. The minimal and maximal lengths per species are also shown. If the caudal fin was damaged or absent, the standard length of the species was provided.
1. Santos Bay
The Santos Bay was represented by 94 species of Actinopterygii and by only one species of Chondrichthyes (Rajiformes) (Table 1).
List of species collected at Santos Bay between November 2004 and December 2005, with respective total maximum (TL max) and minimum (TL min) lengths in millimeters. In case of a single specimen, its length is shown at “TL max” column. SL = standard length.
2. Bertioga Channel
The Bertioga Channel contained 50 species, all belonging to Actinopterygii (Table 2).
List of species collected at Bertioga Channel between September and December 2005, with respective total maximum (TL max) and minimum (TL min) lengths in millimeters. In case of a single specimen, its length is shown at “TL max” column.
3. Continental shelf
One hundred fifteen species occurred on the continental shelf, 14 of which belong to Chondrichthyes (Squaliformes, Squatiniformes, and Rajiformes Orders), and the remainder belong to Actinopterygii (Table 3).
Discussion
Menezes (2011) refers to 594 species of marine fish in the coast of São Paulo state based on the “Catalog of Marine Fish Species of Brazil”. In the present study, 154 species were caught in the central coast, which represents approximately 26% of the total evaluated species. This number is expressive when considering that the investigated areas were restricted to soft bottoms and that a single fishing gear was utilized. In general, the restriction to depths lower than 100 m eliminates mesopelagic fish, such as Myctophidae, Stomiidae, and Sternoptychidae; the oceanic Xiphidae, Scombridae, Gempylidae, and Echeneidae; the larger Carangidae, and many Elasmobranchii species. The species associated with rocky or coralline sea bottoms, such as Serranidae, Haemulidae, Labridae, Labrisomidae, Pomacanthidae, Pomacentridae, Scorpaenidae, and Scaridae; and those of very shallow areas, such as Gobiidae and Blenniidae, also were not caught. Moreover, the stations were widely spaced in the case of continental shelf, and only two sampling seasons were utilized.
Despite the above restrictions and considering the three sampled areas, this inventory adds 27 species to the checklist published by Menezes (2011), which reports the ichthyofauna of all coastal areas in São Paulo state (Tab. 4).
Comparing the current inventory, in which 95 species are recorded for the Santos Bay, with the list of species collected by the end of the 1980s in the same area (Ribeiro Neto, 1989) some important differences may be noticed. Some groups, such as Serranidae, Haemulidae, and top predators like rays, morays, barracudas, and common snooks, were not captured. Conversely, ten different species of soles and two species of puffers appear in this inventory and were not part of the fauna 25 years ago. Despite the differences and environmental degradation, Schmidt & Dias (2012) assumed that at least the Sciaenid fish assemblage has been stable in the Santos Bay for more than 20 years.
Although a single type of gear was used in the Bertioga Channel, this study adds 15 species to the ichthyofauna inventory of Barbanti et al. (2013), whose captures utilized ten different fishing gears over a longer sampling period.
Examples, such as those of the Santos Bay and Bertioga Channel, suggest that the respective sampling sufficiency was not achieved for both areas, as the ichthyofauna has not been adequately sampled.
The results obtained show that part of the region of the Santos-São Vicente estuarine system and adjacent continental shelf present high richness, despite suffering intense pressure from pollution, significant habitat alteration and loss, overfishing, and an important capture of juveniles as bycatch of shrimp fishing. In addition, this study expands the previously reported knowledge of the ichthyofauna in the central coast of São Paulo state.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all people involved in the sampling and sorting of specimens, mainly T. Schmidt, D. Morais, N. Montagner, C. Rondinelli, C. Costa, V. Rodrigues, D. Napolitano, M. Ohkawara, S. Bromberg, and the respective crew of B/Pqs Velliger II, Albacora, and N/Oc Prof. W. Besnard. We thank M. L. Zani-Teixeira for the elaboration of maps. We thank the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (USP) for the use of its facilities. Special thanks go to FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) for sponsoring the ECOSAN Thematic Project - (A influência do complexo estuarino da baixada santista sobre o ecossistema da plataforma adjacente) (Proc. N. 03/09932-1) and to CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) for the doctorate scholarship granted to M. L. F. Rocha.
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Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
June 2015
History
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Received
13 Apr 2015 -
Accepted
27 Apr 2015
