Haemulidae distribution patterns along the Northeastern Brazilian continental shelf and size at first maturity of the most abundant species
Introduction
The Haemulidae are one of the most abundant fish families along the Brazilian coast (Rangel et al., 2007, Souza et al., 2007). They inhabit various habitats, but mostly use reef environments because of the resources they provide (Souter and Linden, 2000). They play important ecological roles in the reefs by regulating invertebrate abundance and transferring nutrients across habitats (Holmlund and Hammer, 1999, Appeldoorn et al., 2009, Araújo et al., 2018). Species of this family are also considered good quality food fishes and are widely consumed across the globe by coastal residents, especially in tropical regions (Munro, 1996, Lindeman and Toxey, 2002). In addition, this family is important to the underwater tourism industry because members of this family are often the most abundant on artificial reefs and shipwrecks (Uyarra et al., 2009, Honório et al., 2010).
According to the latest Brazilian official statistics, 14000 metric tons of grunts were landed in the Northeast region between 1997 and 2007, which generated a profit equivalent to $9.3 million (IBAMA/CEPENE, 1997, IBAMA/CEPENE, 1998, IBAMA/CEPENE, 1999, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2000, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2002, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2003, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2004, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2005, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2007a, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2007b, IBAMA/CEPENE, 2008). The average production per year of haemulids during this period doubled from 711 t in 1997 to 1550 t in 2007. Grunts are usually captured by pole and line, traps, and gill nets. They are also a common bycatch of the shrimp trawling fisheries (Lindeman and Toxey, 2002, Eduardo et al., 2018b, Silva-Júnior et al., 2019). In Northeast Brazil, Haemulon plumierii, H. aurolineatum, and H. squamipinna used to be Bycatch of the lobster and goatfish fisheries (Lessa et al., 2009). Currently, haemulids and lutjanids are commonly caught by artisanal fisheries as the target species, owing to the decrease in abundance of lobster and goatfish (Lessa et al., 2009, Marques and Ferreira, 2010).
Despite their ecological and economic importance, many biological aspects of this family are still unknown or knowledge is restricted in terms of spatial coverage. Available studies do not integrate information about population structure, distribution, abundance, and the habitats occupied by these species. Previous studies in Northeast Brazil have mainly investigated specific aspects of population dynamics, such as the length–weight relationship (Eduardo et al., 2019), reproduction (Silva et al., 2012, Shinozaki-Mendes et al., 2013a, Shinozaki-Mendes et al., 2013b, Eduardo et al., 2018b), feeding (De Almeida et al., 2005, Pereira et al., 2015), age and growth (Vasconcelos-Filho et al., 2018, Eduardo et al., 2018b). According to the regional and global International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessments (Icmbio, 2018), haemulids are not under imminent threat and are classified in the Least Concern category, except H. plumierii, whose threats are recognized, however, because there is not enough available information for an evaluation, the species is categorized as Data Deficient.
The present study investigated the diversity and length at first maturity (L) of the main haemulid species in Northeast Brazil. Considering that reefs are highly complex environments that provide areas for reproduction, feeding, and shelter for many different species (Lindeman and Toxey, 2002, Almary, 2004), this study also evaluated haemulid distribution, abundance, and special patterns related to habitat use in the area. The findings of this study improve the overall knowledge of haemulids and can be used to assist stock assessments, species extinction risk evaluations, and the detection of priority areas for conservation.
Section snippets
Study area
The study area (Fig. 1) comprised the Northeast Brazilian continental shelf, between the states of Rio Grande do Norte (RN) and Alagoas (AL) (5–9S). With a narrow shelf, this eastern part of the Northeast region, located a few degrees north of the southern branch of the South Equatorial Current nearshore bifurcation (Ekau and Knoppers, 1999), is demarcated by river mouths and estuaries (Knoppers et al., 1999). The relatively low concentration of nutrients and the consequently low primary
Oceanographic conditions
The oceanographic conditions at sampling stations were rather similar among surveys and regions (Supplementary Material1). Bottom temperatures were higher during the second survey performed in summer, but overall, ranged from 25.5 °C to 29.6 °C (mean: 27.5 °C), while salinity and dissolved oxygen varied from 36.4 to 37.5 (mean: 36.9) and 4 mg L to 4.4 ml L (mean: 4.2 ml L), respectively.
Haemulidae diversity in Northeast Brazil
A total of 2976 individuals, belonging to five genera and 10 species, were captured. These were
Discussion
This study provides new and integrative information about the diversity, distribution, and population biology of the main haemulids along the northeast coast of Brazil. It contributes to our knowledge on spatial patterns of abundance and habitat use by these species across an Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA) (CBD, 2014).
In this study, 10 species of Haemulidae were collected. They comprised of five genera that were dominated by the genus Haemulon. Lessa and Nóbrega
Conclusions
For management measures and conservation of haemulids, special attention should be focused on the inner shelf of the southern coast of Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte, as these areas are species rich, have high species abundances, and high juvenile biomass. If management plans are to have a broader conservation impact, the management actions should address all parts of the shelves between 8°–9°and 5°–6°S. Despite implementation of conservation measures and increased efforts to conserve these
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Catarina Cardoso de Melo: Writing - original draft, Review, Formal analysis, Investigation. Andrey Paulo Cavalcanti Soares: Formal analysis. Latifa Pelage: Formal analysis. Leandro Nolé Eduardo: Methodology. Thierry Frédou: Conceptualization and editing. Alex Souza Lira: Methodology. Beatrice Padovani Ferreira: Editing. Arnaud Bertrand: Funding acquisition, Project administration and editing. Flávia Lucena-Frédou: Conceptualization, Project administration, Supervision and editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the French oceanographic fleet for funding the at-sea survey ABRACOS 1 and 2 and the officers and crew of the R/V Antea for their contribution to the success of the operations. The present study could not have been done without the work of all participants from the BIOIMPACT Laboratory. We thank the CAPES which provided student scholarship to Catarina Cardoso de Melo, Leandro Nolé Eduardo, Alex Souza Lira, Latifa Pelage, and Andrey Paulo Cavalcanti Soares. We also thank CNPq
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