ABSTRACT. Natural diet of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Decapoda, Portunidae) in the Patos Lagoon estuary area, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The Southern Brazil blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1869 is the most abundant crab of the genus Callinectes in Patos Lagoon estuary. Although this species is widely distributed throughout the Patos Lagoon estuary area, there is little information about its natural diet. This species is an important predator and has a significant influence on its prey populations. The aim of this study was to check the natural diet of blue crab through the foregut contents analysis. Crabs were collected using an otter trawl net from March 2003 to March 2004. After collected, crabs were preserved immediately in 10% formaldehyde. The carapace width, weight and sex were measured for each individual. The foregut of each crab was removed and stored in 70% ethanol. Blue crab feeds on a wide variety of sessile and slow moving invertebrates. The main item was Detritus, followed by the suspension-feeder mollusk Erodona mactroides Bosc, 1802 (Erodonidae). Sand grains and the small crustaceans of class Ostracoda, were an important component of the foregut contents, but sand grains were not considered food. Setae and pieces of Polychaeta and some seeds of submersed higher vegetation of Ruppia maritima L. (Potamogatonaceae) (beaked tasselweed), and Zannichellia palustris L. (Potamogatonaceae) (homed pondweed), were also found. This study has as purpose to provide information for a long-term protection and conservation of blue crab population and also to characterize its relationship with the macrobenthic communities in the Patos Lagoon estuary. RESUMO. Na região estuarina da Lagoa dos Patos, o siri-azul Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1869 é o mais abundante dentre as espécies do gênero. Apesar do siri-azul exercer influência sobre as comunidades bentônicas, por ser considerado um predador do topo da cadeia alimentar, não existem muitos estudos sobre aspectos ecológicos, inclusive sobre a composição e variabilidade sazonal de sua dieta natural, neste estuário. O objetivo principal deste estudo foi investigar a composição da dieta do siri-azul, evidenciando possíveis relações com a comunidade bentônica da região estuarina da Lagoa dos Patos. O período de estudo foi de março de 2003 a março de 2004, com coletas bimestrais. Os organismos foram coletados com auxílio de rede de arrasto de fundo, com malha de 13 mm entre nós opostos. Ainda em campo os animais foram fixados em formol 10%. Após a coleta os animais foram separados quanto ao sexo, medidos (largura e comprimento da carapaça -cm) e pesados (peso -g). Após a triagem, os animais foram dissecados e os intestinos retirados e pesados. As análises dos conteúdos alimentares dos siris demonstraram que os hábitos alimentares são diversificados, constituindo-se principalmente de invertebrados bentônicos. O item encontrado com maior freqüência foi Detrito, seguido pelo molusco filtrador Erodona mactroides Bosc, 1802 (Erodonidae). Crustáceos ...
Mangroves are highly productive environments that play important ecological and socioeconomic roles; however, they have been impacted to different degrees in most countries worldwide. The knowledge of which organisms inhabit this environment and their ecological interactions is the first step towards its conservation. The natural variability of environmental factors in mangroves provides numerous niches available to different species. Meiofauna have patchy patterns of distribution that are related to the availability of resources. Hence, meiofauna are expected to present a high diversity of different taxa occupying the different microhabitats offered by mangroves. This work aims to test the hypothesis that the assemblage structure of Nematoda varies significantly among mangrove microhabitats and to contribute knowledge on the meiofauna diversity in mangrove environments. This work was carried out in a mangrove region at Pernambuco state, Northeastern Brazil. Qualitative samples were collected in nine microhabitats which show different characteristics mainly in terms of presence of vegetation or another organism and sediment grain size. Univariate and multivariate analysis were applied to Nematoda genera abundance data. Our results demonstrate the existence of significant differences among microhabitats regarding nematode assemblage structure corroborating the hypothesis. Different Nematoda assemblages are present in at least seven microhabitats. These assemblages are composed of nematode genera with different trophic and morphological features, demonstrating a strong relationship between morphological diversity and ecological plasticity. Furthermore, this study also demonstrates the importance of the conservation of this ecosystem and its attributes.
Within a subtropical estuary in southern Brazil, an experiment was carried out to test the hypotheses that the deposit feeding macrofaunal polychaete Laeonereis acuta affects nematode community structure and the vertical distribution patterns of nematodes in sediments. Inclusion cages were deployed with two different densities of the polychaete and meiofaunal nematodes were sampled from six different vertical sediment layers: 0–1, 1–2, 2–4, 4–6, 6–8 and 8–10 cm depth. Although L. acuta did change the vertical distribution of both nematode and trophic groups in the sediment, allowing nematodes to inhabit deeper sediment layers, there were no apparent effects of different polychaete densities.
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