Changes in the food selectivity of zooplanktivorous fishes related to the effects of nutrient enrichment in an urban tropical estuary.

Juvenile fish use estuarine ecosystems due to appropriate refuges and food supply found in these environments. The objective of this study was to investigate whether variations in the diet composition of juvenile fishes were mediated by changes in the availability of zooplankton prey in an urban estuary. Changes in fish foraging and prey selectivity were affected by nutrient enrichment.

Plastic pollution on beaches in an Antillean manatee conservation area, Brazil.

The presence of plastic debris along shorelines is a widespread problem, and plastic debris can interact directly with marine wildlife. In northeast Brazil, the Antillean manatees are the most common marine mammals and use estuarine waters mainly as their home range. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of plastic debris on the estuarine-oceanic continuum and the accumulation density of plastic on beaches.

Multiple habitats drive the functional diversity of fish assemblages in a tropical estuary.

Understanding estuarine diversity patterns is crucial to highlight the ecological value of coastal ecosystems for fish assemblages. To increase our knowledge, we investigated the functional diversity of fish assemblages in five estuarine habitats (sandy beaches, mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangrove fringes, and estuarine riparian vegetation) in a tropical estuary of Brazil. Functional diversity metrics were assessed considering seven fish functional traits and calculated using functional indices, PCoA (functional spaces), and community-weighted mean (CWM).

Larval fish assemblages in selected Brazilian estuaries: Species-environment relationships under different anthropogenic influences.

We investigate the effects of spatial changes in environmental conditions and anthropogenic influences on larval fish communities in two tropical estuaries with varying levels of human impact. Our findings revealed a distinct structure of larval fish assemblages between the two estuaries located in northeastern Brazil, and we observed that eutrophication, characterized by high concentrations of nutrients, had adverse effects on the abundance and richness of larval fish assemblages. Additionally, we observed that a decrease in rainfall had an impact on larval fish assemblages, particularly during the dry season, when intermittent upstream rivers lead to changes in salinity and species composition within the estuaries.

Does environmental heterogeneity explain β diversity of estuarine fish assemblages? Example from a tropical estuary under the influence of a semiarid climate, Brazil.

Estuarine fish assemblages are often sensitive to environmental conditions, because fluctuation in physico-chemical conditions at different spatial and seasonal scales can directly influence species distributions. In this way, we conducted a field survey to investigate the role of estuarine gradient (environmental heterogeneity) in fish α and β diversity. The study was carried out in three zones in Mamanguape River estuary according to salinity and geomorphology features during an atypical climatic event in 2015.

Trade-offs between ontogenetic changes and food consumption in Brazilian silverside Atherinella brasiliensis from two tropical estuaries.

Salinity variation in estuarine environments influences the distribution of fish species as well as the availability of food resources to be used by them. This study examines the effect of the range of salinity on the trade-off between growth and feeding intensity of Atherinella brasiliensis from two tropical estuaries (positive and hypersaline). To investigate the effects of salinity, we hypothesized that hypersalinity negatively affects foraging intensity, consumption and prey selection by the Brazilian silverside, leading to differences in body condition.

Gill parasites of fish from two estuaries in northeastern Brazil: new hosts and geographical records.

Parasites are important components of communities and constitute great part of the biological diversity found in ecosystems, providing valuable information about their hosts and the environment in which they live. However, despite its importance, parasitic diversity is still not well known in some regions of Brazil, especially with respect to fish parasites in the Northeast Region. The present study aims to perform the survey of gill parasites of fish from two tropical estuaries located in northeastern Brazil: Paraíba and Mamanguape rivers.

Do you know this syndrome? Becker nevus syndrome.

Becker nevus syndrome is the association of Becker's nevus with breast hypoplasia and other ipsilateral bone or muscle changes. It is considered to be a hormone-dependent disorder caused by a disturbance in the activity of the androgen receptor that appears to be increased in Becker's nevus, which may influence the development of associated lesions. We present a relevant case of this syndrome due to the rare systematization of the lesions in addition to the exuberant extracutaneous involvement in this case.