Ichthyologic survey in the Santos Bay, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

An ichthyofaunistic catalog of 79 species, belonging to 32 families, was done, based on 47 samples. They were collected by a trawl net at "Ponta da Praia" - Santos Bay, near the channel of access to the estuary,at night, from March 1979 to August 1983. The family Sciaenidae presented the highest number of species (13), foIlowed by the family Carangidae, that with 11 species dominated the largest quantity of samples, in a percentage of 44.6 from the total. The family Clupeidae, with just 4 identified species, represented 32.5% of all the analyzed individuals. The species that presented higher relative abundance in the samples were: Oligoplites saliens, Sardinella brasiliensis, Chloroscombrus chrysurus, Harengula clupeola, Pellona harroweri, Mugil curema, Cetengraulis edentulus, Diapterus rhombeus, Pomadasys corvinaeformis, and Opisthonema oglinum. This study poses the reasons and proposes the ichthyofaunistic characterization of the sampling area, by the group of the most frequent species in the samples, independently of their relative abundance. These species were: Harengula clupeola, Centropomus spp, Mugil curema, Micropogonias furnieri, Menticirrhus americanus, Pomadasys corvinaeformis, Oligoplites saliens,and Pellona harroweri that have not appeared in less than 50% of the samples, in all the seasons of the year. On the other hand, there is probably a prey-predator relationship involved in the occurrence of larger specimens of Centropomus spp and Trichiurus lepturus near shaIlow waters and surf line, characterized by the presence of juveniles of several species.