Inventário e caracterização da ictiofauna da praia da Pedra Rachada, Paracuru – CE

Abstract

Reefs are characterized by environments of vast diversity and species richness. Marine ichthyofauna, at some stage in their life cycle, can use these ecosystems for food, shelter, nursery and breeding. In Brazil, these ecosystems can be found more frequently on the coast of Maranhão, extending to the region of Abrolhos in Bahia. Environmental factors strongly nfluence the incidence of coral communities. Anthropogenic factors such as the constant activities in the coastal zone and also natural changes in the environment impact the structure of these ecosystems. Because of these impacts, reefs are classified as ecosystems with significant degradation. The present study was carried out on the beach of Paracuru -CE, where monthly and daytime visual censuses were carried out in tide pools, from May 2014 to August 2016, with the purpose of obtaining knowledge of the ichthyofauna presnt in this environment. After the censuses, the occurrence, geographical distribution, residence, association with the substrate, trophic category, vulnerability and degree of threatened species that compose the Ítia assembly were recorded. Thirty-three species belonging to 22 families were registered, where the family with the highest number of individuals was Haemulidae, which justifies the predators of mobile invertebrates being the most abundant. Most species occur only in the Western Atlantic. It was observed that permanent residents are not very abundant and uncommon, however, this category was the one that presented the largest number of species, an expected result since these species present specific adaptations to live their whole life cycle in tide pools. About 37% of the species were found to be associated with all substrate categories (rock structure, position in the water column, sand and intermediate zone). Fisheries and anthropogenic activities in the region are the main threats to the species. However, according to the information obtained on the IUCN RedList website, 64% of the species recorded in this study have a degree of '' Unconcernant '' vulnerability. This study is of great importance as it will serve as a basis for future work to be carried out in the region, besides being important for the creation of possible management plans so that these habitats and the community that inhabits it are conserved in an appropriate way.