Estado de conservação do Camurupim Megalops atlanticus (ACTINOPTERYGII: MEGALOPIDAE): uma revisão sistemática entre 2010 e 2019

Abstract

The tarpon Megalops atlanticus (Valenciennes, 1847) is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters. Due to overexploitation, they are included in Brazilian list of threatened species. Was conducted a bibliographic survey to analyze the studies on M. atlanticus on an attempt to identify the knowledgement gaps, as well as to propose measures that help in the conservation process for this species. The selection of articles was made through the Prisma protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes). The “advanced search” mechanism was used in Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Scielo databases by the keyword “Megalops atlanticus”. The several articles were divided into three sections: population dynamics, conservation, and exploitation. Furthermore, were recorded the location and habitat for each study. Twentyfive articles were selected, most of them published in 2018, distributed throughout the American continent, with only one work from the Brazilian territory. Brazil does not have effective monitoring of M. atlanticus overexploitation, showing that the implementation of monitoring programs is required. Even with recognized vulnerability, there are still few studies from Brazil. Studies on species biology are necessary to assist its conservation, thus, the results presented may stimulate future research in Brazilian territory, contributing to the preservation of this species.