Análise de desempenho zootécnico de dois corais da família Zoanthidae cultivados em aquários

Abstract

Corals of the genus Zoanthus have a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical regions, being common on the coast of Northeastern Brazil, but they are under constant anthropogenic threats, despite their great ecological importance and abundance, it is still poorly studied. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the performance of two morphotypes of Zoanthus sp. cultivated in a low cost and maintenance system. For the development of the research, the cultivation was carried out from February to June 2021, with the matrices of Zoanthus sp. obtained in local commerce, in Fortaleza/CE, from which two morphotypes were chosen: "zoanthus fire and ice" and "zoanthus rasta", fixed in cement bases and later transferred to the cultivation aquarium, with daily control of parameters environmental and partial water changes every two weeks. Data were submitted to Student's t-test with an alpha of 0.05, in pairs for the mean. The results showed no statistical difference in the zootechnical performance of the two corals. Although the applied management has been able to keep the animals growing satisfactorily, it is recommended that improvements be made in later cultivations.