Biodiversity in the product of the bottom-trawl fishery directed to urugavian lobster, Metanephrops rubellus (Moreira, 1903), landed in the coast of the São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

This study analyses the biodiversity of the bottom-trawl fishery targeted to the urugavian lobster, Metanephrops rubellus, off the coasts from Rio de Janeiro (23°08’S í  41°44’W) to Santa Catarina states (28°55’S í  48°25’W) between 50 m and 270 m deep, which were unloaded at fishing harbours in Sao Paulo State. So that, 177 samples were obtained between 1984 and 2004. This fishery employs the same low selectivity trawl net used to catch pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis and F. paulensis), which is an excellent tool to collect demersal-benthic fauna. In the study, 178 species were identified (69 species of fishes, 40 of mollusks and 69 of crustaceans). Some of these species presented high frequency in the samples (more than 70%): nine of fishes í  Genypterus brasiliensis, Pseudopercis numida, Urophycis cirrata, Genidens barbus, Lopholatilus vilarii, Paralichtys patagonicus, Prionotus punctatus, Lophius gastrophysus and Percophis brasiliensis; two of mollusks í  Loligo sanpaulensis and Eledone massyae; and nine of crustaceans í  Portunus spinicarpus, Parapenaeus americanus, Plesionika edwardsii, Hemisquilla brasiliensis, Munida flinti, Acantocarpus alexandri, Dardanus insignis, Squilla brasiliensis and Stenocionops spinosissima. Species that presented high partake of the habitat with M. rubellus distinguish the "by-catch of M. rubellus faunistic groupâ€Â.