Recruitment of migratory Characiforms in the different wetland habitats of Central Amazonia: Subsidies for sustainable fisheries management

• Published in: Journal of applied ichthyology Vol. 36; no. 4; pp. 431 - 438
• Main Authors: Zacardi, Diego M., Bittencourt, Suzana Carla S., Queiroz, Helder L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-08-2020
• Subjects: amazonian floodplains; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic environment; Bedding; Channels; Developmental stages; Dispersal; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Eggs; Fish; Fish eggs; fish larvae; Fisheries; Fisheries management; Fishery management; fishery resources; Flooding; Floodplains; food provisioning; Habitats; Hydrologic cycle; Hydrological cycle; Hydrology; Juveniles; Lakes; Larvae; Mamirauá Reserve; Natural resources; Ontogeny; Recruitment; Recruitment (fisheries); Resource management; River basins; Rivers; Spawning; Spawning grounds; Species; Stocks; Subsidies; Sustainable fisheries; Wetlands
• ISSN: 0175-8659; 1439-0426
• DOI: 10.1111/jai.14040

By promoting the biological recruitment of relevant natural resources, wetlands offer a major ecosystem service. This study investigates the importance of wetland habitats of the central Amazon basin as sites for spawning and/or initial development of seven of the most important commercial Characiforms fish species. In order to confirm this importance, samples of the eggs, larvae, and juveniles of these fish species were collected during the four seasonal phases of the hydrological cycles of 2010 and 2011, in different aquatic environments of the wetland ecosystem in the central Amazon. The results confirmed that the flooding phase is the most important for the spawning of these species, and that they preferred to use the marginal areas of the central Amazon as spawning grounds. The larvae of these species colonize the confluence zone of the rivers and the mouths of the floodplain channels, principally during the initial stages (pre‐flexion) of their ontogenetic development. The channels that connect the lakes to the rivers are the main dispersal route for the larvae, especially those in advanced stages of development (flexion/post‐flexion), towards the internal of the wetland habitats, such as the lakes and large mattresses of floating vegetation. The different wetland habitats of this region provide an extremely important ecosystem service, playing a critical role in the recruitment of commercially‐valuable fish species, and thus require adequate protection and management to ensure the continuity of fisheries and natural stocks.