Samples were collected from 10 stations distributed through three sectors in Guanabara Bay during two consecutive years, in order to determine factors that influence the spatial pattern of molluscs and to describe the structure and composition of this community in a eutrophic estuarine system on the Brazilian coast. Although only one species, the gastropodHeleobia australis, comprised 77% of mollusc abundance, 59 species were identified in the bay. In addition toH. australis, three other species were dominant: the gastropodAnachis isabelleiand the bivalvesAmericuna besnardiandErvilia concentrica. The mollusc communities were significantly influenced by the spatial gradient; the outermost sector has marine conditions, and the other sectors are typically estuarine, leading to differences in the composition and abundance of molluscs. The outermost sector showed the highest diversity, which gradually decreased towards the innermost sector where the dominance of a few opportunistic species is favoured by highly organic mud sediments. Sediment type was strongly correlated with mollusc occurrence in the bay. Guanabara Bay showed two indicator species: the bivalveE. concentricaof the outer sector, and the gastropodH. australisof the intermediate sector. Our results suggest that benthic molluscs in Guanabara Bay show characteristics related to levels of environmental impact. A monitoring programme based on this community is needed to evaluate the effects of human impacts on this community and to monitor changes in its biodiversity in Guanabara Bay.
Hydrobiidae is one of the most diverse taxa among limnic and estuarine mollusks. Patterns of spatial and seasonal distribution of Heleobia australis were studied in ten stations over two years, in the urban eutrophic bay of Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Spatial dispersal strategies in adults of this species, analyzed in the laboratory, revealed three patterns: 1) mobility on soft sediments; 2) mobility on hard substrata; and 3) the ability to lift from the bottom to the surface, to again sink down. This facilitate species movement from one location to another by surface currents or attached to floating debris. Thus, individuals are able to escape from an impacted area and further re-colonize other patches after recovering from local impacts. The hypothesis of metapopulation dynamics (source– sink) was analyzed. Two stations with high and constant numbers of individuals were grouped and tested as possible ‘sources’. The number of specimens in the remaining stations was highly variable, even with the complete disappearance and posterior highly dense re-occurrence of the mollusk, whereby these were tested as possible ‘sinks’. Results derived from nested ANOVA supported the hypothesis of metapopulation dynamics in the case of H. australis adults, ex-pressed through opportunistic-species domi- nation of a highly impacted estuarine system, such as Guanabara Bay
Isotopic analysis of Micropogonias furnieri otoliths were used to get insight into palaeoceanographic conditions in the Guanabara Bay and Saquarema Lagoon, Rio de Janeiro state (RJ), located on the southeastern coast of Brazil, under upwelling influence of the Cabo Frio system. Archaeological otoliths come from two Holocene shellmounds (or sambaquis): Galeão and Beirada. For the first time, radiocarbon analysis using high accuracy techniques were performed at Galeão. Age range was determined to be between 5820 and 4980 cal BP, which extends the chronology of human settlement in the Guanabara Bay. Micro-samples of the otoliths were collected sequentially from the core to the edge, to provide continuous δ18O and δ13C isotopic profiles over the lifetime of the individual fish. Derived-δ18Ooto palaeotemperature estimates vary according to seasonality, resulting in a palaeoceanographic variation between 8 to 31°C for Guanabara Bay and 8 and 28°C for the Saquarema Lagoon. Our data indicate that whitemouth croakers were captured during the Middle Holocene from the Guanabara Bay and Saguarema Lagoon and resided in cooler temperatures compared to temperatures of current conditions.
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