Diversity of settlement-stage reef fishes captured by light-trap in a tropical south-west Atlantic Ocean coastal reef system |
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| Authors: | Henrique Grande Sergio de M. Rezende Thiony E. Simon Fabiana C. Félix-Hackradt José A. García-Charton Mauro Maida Ana L. B. Gaspar Ronaldo B. Francini-Filho Thierry Fredou Beatrice P. Ferreira |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil;2. Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação da Biodiversidade Marinha do Nordeste (CEPENE), Tamandaré, Brazil;3. Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil;4. Centro de Formação em Ciências Ambientais – CFCAm, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Porto Seguro, Brazil;5. Departament of Ecology and Hydrology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain;6. Centro de Ciências Aplicadas e Educação, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Rio Tinto, Brazil;7. Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | This study reports the results of 5 years of monitoring reef fish post-larvae using light traps in the Bay of Tamandaré, north-east Brazil. An annotated checklist of pre-settlement fish species, their frequency of occurrence and taxonomic characteristics are provided. In total, 4,422 post-larval fishes belonging to 36 families, 56 genera and 76 species were captured. The most species-rich families were Carangidae (7), Lutjanidae (6) and Pomacentridae (4), while the families Gerreidae (30.47%), Holocentridae (16.54%), Blenniidae (12.01%), Labrisomidae (8.36%), Lutjanidae (8.29%) and Acanthuridae (5.95%) were the most abundant. This is the first study of the taxonomic diversity and assemblage structure of settlement-stage reef fishes in the tropical south-west Atlantic Ocean. Although a few common species were not captured due to selectivity of light traps, the composition and taxonomic diversity of this first collection suggests that light traps are useful for studies of the early life history of a wide range of pre-settlement reef fishes. |
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| Keywords: | Brazil coral reefs post-larvae fish recruitment sampling methods south-west Atlantic Ocean |
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