Baixe Ictiofauna do Araguaia e outras Notas de estudo em PDF para Biologia, somente na Docsity! Journal of species lists and distribution Chec List 517 Li s t s o f s p e c ie s ISSN 1809-127X (online edition) © 2011 Check List and Authors Open Access | Freely available at www.checklist.org.br There is an urgent need of ichthyofaunal studies in the region of the Araguaia River and its tributaries, as they form one of the most important river systems of South America and also because of several other aspects already presented, which makes this area an interesting spot for water resources and aquatic biota diversity studies (Dias et al. 2000). Sá et al. (2003) emphasize the importance of the streams from the Cerrado biome, which represents a considerable part of the Araguaia River basin. This study aims to inventory, through Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), the fish fauna from the Carrapato, Caba Saco and Mutum streams, which form the Pau D’Arco River (Arraia River micro-basin, Araguaia River basin) and the Preto River (Preto River micro-basin, Araguaia River basin) in the Serra dos Carajás region, in the state of Pará. Materials and Methods Study Site The collections were held at the Araguaia River basin, in the Caba Saco, Mutum (tributaries of Pau D’Arco River) and Carrapato (tributary of Preto River) streams (Figure 1), in the municipalities of Redenção and Santa Maria das Barreiras, in the Serra dos Carajás region, southeastern Pará. The collections were held under the IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis) permit number: 154/2007. Data collection The methodology used was a fast inventory (RAP - Rapid Assessment Program) following Latini and Petrere (2004) with modifications. Four visits to each sample area were made between December 2009 and January 2010. In each visit, four types of data collection were used: open interviews with local fishermen; naked eye fish surveying Introduction The Neotropical ichthyofauna is dominated by fishes that have a relatively old association with freshwater habitats (Lovejoy et al. 2006). The Araguaia River is part of the Tocantins-Araguaia River basin which is one of the major river systems in South America (Lundberg 1998). Its complex geomorphological and climatic formation has an intrinsic relation to the fact that the drainage area includes major phytogeographic regions such as Cerrado, Amazon Forest and palm three forest (Mata de Cocais), thereby concentrating an important biodiversity, with a high level of endemism and outstanding natural value (Zuanon 2001; Dias et al. 2000; Latrubesse and Stevaux 2006). Fish fauna studies from the Tocantins-Araguaia River basin are mostly concentrated in the in the main river channels of this basin, some of them in the upper Araguaia region (Lowe McConnel 1991; Venere et al. 1999; Benedito- Cecilio et al. 2004; Melo et al. 2004; Silva et al. 2009). Other studies focused the lower Tocantins region, mainly due to ichthyofaunistic studies related to the construction of Tucuruí Dam and other hydroelectric projects in the region (Santos et al. 1984; Carvalho and Merona 1986; Camargo and Petrere-Jr. 2004; Santos et al. 2004; Merona et al. 2010). In this vast region, studies on the freshwater fish communities of brooks and streams have been rather neglected, although they deserve special attention, also because they are the most affected and threatened by human activities (Agostinho et al. 2005; Barletta et al. 2010; Nogueira et al. 2010). Buckup (1999) and Sá et al. (2003) highlighted the diversity of fish that these small water courses present, indicating high levels of endemic and/or rare species. These biotic characteristics of the streams justify the urgency of studying the ichthyofauna that occurs in these streams (Buckup 1999). Check List | Volume 7 | Issue 4 | 2011 Abstract: The ichthyofaunistic studies from the Tocantins-Araguaia River Basin are mainly concentrated in the main channel of the Araguaia and Tocantins rivers, due to faunal studies required for hydroelectric projects. Brooks and streams are usually neglected, though they represent the habitats most threatened by human activities. These small water courses present a great diversity of fishes, and they also have high rates of endemic species. The study was conducted from December 2009 to January 2010. For the inventory, the methodology used was the Rapid Assessment Program (RAP). In each sampled area three types of data collection were utilized: open interviews with local fishermen, naked eye fish surveying, and fishing with cast nets and gill nets. This study aimed to identify the main fish species that occur in the Mutum and Caba Saco streams, that form the Pau D’Arco River, and in the Carrapato Stream that flows to the Preto River, both belonging to the Araguaia River Basin. 1 Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas. CEP 36570-000. Tangará da Serra, MT, Brasil. 2 Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Biologia Animal. CEP 36570-000. Viçosa, MG, Brasil. * Corresponding author. E-mail: patricia_giongo@yahoo.com.br Patrícia Giongo 1*, Wagner Martins Santana Sampaio 2, Frederico Belei 2, Fabricia Kohler de Carvalho 1, Anderson Fernandes 1 and Jorge Abdala Dergam 2 Ichthyofauna of the Carrapato, Mutum and Caba Saco streams (Araguaia River Basin), Serra dos Carajás region, southeastern Pará, Brazil 518 Giongo et al. | Ichthyofauna of three streams of the Araguaia River Basin, Brazil Check List | Volume 7 | Issue 4 | 2011 on the riverside; fishing with gill nets; and fishing with 15 mm – mesh cast nets. The gill nets were set in groups of six at a time, all of them having the same length (10 meters) and height (1.6 meters), and mesh sizes 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mm, measured between adjacent knots (which allows the capture of most small size fish species). The nets were set randomly so they would reach several distinct habitat physiognomies. All nets were placed for 30 minutes. The use of such nets for this time interval ensured identical collection efforts for all sampled areas, totalizing 48 m2/hour (6 nets x 10 meters long x 1.6 meters high x 0.5 hours) in each station. The cast nets were operated using five random releases in each sample site. Data analysis The collected fishes were taken to the Laboratório de Sistemática Molecular de Vertebrados, at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) to be identified using specific taxonomic keys and identification guides (Géry 1969; Santos et al. 1984, 2004; Melo et al. 2005; Britski et al. 2007) and consulting specialists. The captured fishes were identified and deposited at the Laboratório de Sistemática Molecular de Vertebrados Beagle, at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa. Fishes with measurements inferior to 0.4 m and 1 kg were fixed, larger specimens were returned alive to the streams, with the exception of unique or rare ones. All fishes were weighed, measured and photographed. Figure 1. Map of the study region - localization of the rivers and the position of the sampling sites. Results and Discussion The fishes captured and identified using a combination of methodologies called RAP (Latini and Petrere 2004) in the Caba Saco, Mutum and Carrapato streams, were distributed in 37 species, in 33 genera from 14 families and five orders: Characiformes (Characidae, Erythrinidae, Anostomidae, Hemiodontidae, Prochilodontidae, Curimatidae, Acestrorhynchidae, Cynodontidae, Ctenoluciidae), Siluriformes (Loricariidae, Pimelodidae), Perciformes (Cichlidae), Synbranchiformes (Synbranchidae), and Rajiformes (Potamotrygonidae) (Table 1). Among these families, Characidae (Characiformes) and Cichlidae (Perciformes) represented the greater species richness, with 13 and six species, respectively. Siluriformes were only represented by four species belonging to two families (Loricariidae and Pimelodidae), while the Synbranchidae and Potamotrygonidae by a single species, each. Other studies in the Tocantins-Araguaia River basin also report the order Characiformes as the most diverse, followed by Siluriformes (Aloísio et al. 2005; Melo et al. 2005; Lucinda et al. 2007) and not by Perciformes as occurred in this study. Carrapato Stream concentrated a higher level of richness and abundance that may be related to its greater water volume and the strong influence of major rivers, such as the Preto and Araguaia (Table 1). This fact justifies the presence of large species like Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, Hemisorubim platyrhynchos and Potamotrygon motoro,