Larval and transforming stages of smallscale weakfish Cynoscion microlepidotus (Sciaenidae) are described and illustrated based on samples obtained in three different sites along the Brazilian coast: São Marcos Bay (Maranhão state), Camamu Bay (Bahia state), and the Cananéia-Iguape Estuarine System (São Paulo state). Identification of early stages of C. microlepidotus was based on meristic counts, such as number of myomeres (22), number of fin spines and rays (dorsal XI, 24, anal II, 9 and pectoral 19), morphological features (presence of supraoccipital crest in larvae from flexion to transformation stages, branched anal fin spines) and pigmentation pattern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual dimorphisms are generated by divergent processes, such as natural or sexual selection and niche convergence. Males and females of the lesser guitarfish, Zapteryx brevirostris, present morphological differences in their discs, and the relationships with the species biology and ecology were unrecognized. Analysing the morphometry of 201 specimens and the influence of bottom features on the frequencies of 188 specimens among life stages and sexes, we found strong evidence that gonadal maturation leads to dimorphisms on discs, validating a concavity on male pectoral fins as a secondary sexual dimorphism and rejecting the hypothesis that such dimorphisms were related to ecological pressures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLittle is known about the ecology and distribution of mobulid rays along Brazil's extensive coastline. Here we report opportunistic sightings of manta rays (Mobula cf. birostris) in the Brazilian Amazon estuaries and the Great Amazon Reef System.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, otolith geochemical signatures (Element:Ca ratios) were used to investigate the long-term spatial shifts of the population structure of , Bigtooth corvina, an economically and ecologically important Brazilian fish species. Two-hundred and ninety-seven juvenile individuals from historical (1975) and contemporary (2018/2019) samples were collected in five subareas [São Paulo: North-NSP, Center-CSP and South-SSP; Paraná (PR) and Santa Catarina (SC)] of the shallow waters off the coast of the South Brazil Bight were analyzed. The main informative single elements were Co:Ca, Cu:Ca, Li:Ca, Mg:Ca, Mn:Ca, Ni:Ca, Na:Ca, and Rb:Ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe collected 729 Hypanus guttatus from the northern coast of the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), of which 196 were used to estimate age and growth. Ninety-five were male (12.7 to 57.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMar Pollut Bull
April 2018
This study evaluated the PAH bioavailability from Santos Bay (Brazil) in 4 species of fish, using PAH biliary metabolites. The collection was done monthly, between July and December, in three different regions of Santos Bay. The metabolites were analyzed through a high performance liquid chromatograph with fluorescence detectors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work aimed to evaluate the use of Mugil curema as a biomonitor for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bioavailability. Fish biliary metabolites from low-contaminated (Cananéia) and contaminated (Santos) Brazilian estuaries were analysed using a high-performance liquid chromatography apparatus coupled to fluorescence detectors connected in a series. In the Cananéia and Santos estuaries, total metabolite levels ranged from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInformation on oocyte production and recruitment in phylogenetically related species can help in understanding the evolution of reproductive life-history traits in fish of indeterminate fecundity. The present study compared, for the first time, oocyte production and recruitment patterns between two closely related species: Stellifer brasiliensis and Stellifer rastrifer (Perciformes, Sciaenidae), in the southwestern Atlantic, Brazil. Specimens of S.
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