The das Mortes River is one of the main water courses of the Mato Grosso State and the largest tributary of the Araguaia River on it’s left bank. Its low section is located in the Bananal floodplain. This study aims to characterize the fish assemblage of this river during high and low waters. Fish assemblage during low waters was characterized by high diversity (4.783 bits/individuals of the Shannon-Wiener index), species richness (69 species sampled) and abundance (659 individuals), where the most abundant species were Pygocentrus nattereri Kner, 1858 and Boulengerella cuvieri (Agassiz, 1829). Ageneiosus inermis (Linnaeus, 1766) and Rhaphiodon vulpinus Agassiz, 1829 were abundant at high waters. Interaction between the fish assemblage and the floodplain have similar pattern to that observed in other Neotropical floodplains.
Araguaia Basin; Bananal floodplain; neotropical region; seasonality
