Ichthyofauna of the rio Itatinga in the Parque das Neblinas, Bertioga, São Paulo State: composition and biogeography

Abstract

Little is known about the ichthyofauna from South American coastal plain, specially concerning the Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest) rivers and streams, as there are regions little explored which may have nondescribed or rare species. An example is the Parque das Neblinas, a Natural Patrimony Private Reserve (RPPN) in the Bertioga municipality, São Paulo state, where no ichthyofaunal study had been done before. The park's hydrography is made up by the rio Itatinga with its various tributary streams, which flow into the Itapanhaú river basin. Nine sites were sampled using sieves, seines and gill nets; 1,086 specimens of seven species, three orders and five families were captured. The most representative species were Astyanax paranae, Phalloceros caudimaculatus, and Coptobrycon bilineatus. Four of those collected are on the Brazilian list of endangered species: Coptobrycon bilineatus, Glandulocauda melanogenys, Pseudotocinclus tietensis, and Taunaya bifasciata; one, Trichomycterus sp., has an undefined taxonomic status, possibly being a non-described species. The richness of species found in the upper part of the rio Itatinga is typical of the Mata Atlântica headwaters, which can also be due to headwater capture of part of the upper rio Tietê. This is the first record of Coptobrycon bilineatus in the coastal drainage, hitherto restricted to the upper Paraná river system. The distribution of Taunaya bifasciata and Pseudotocinclus tietensis is also extended. The fauna sharing found here confirms the biogeographical common history hypothesis among southeastern coastal and Brazilian Shield drainages.Keywords: endangered species�� fauna sharing�� conservation�� coastal river�� fauna inventory�� southeastern Brazil. A ictiofauna da planície costeira do leste da América do Sul é pouco conhecida, especialmente em relação aos rios e riachos da Mata Atlântica, existindo regiões pouco exploradas, que podem abrigar espécies raras ou não descritas para a ciência. Exemplo dessa situação é o Parque das Neblinas, uma Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (RPPN) no município de Bertioga, estado de São Paulo, onde nenhum levantamento ictiofaunístico havia sido feito até o presente. A hidrografia do Parque é formada pelo rio Itatinga e seus vários riachos afluentes, que deságuam na bacia do rio Itapanhaú. Foram amostrados nove pontos utilizando peneiras de arroz, redes de arrasto e redes de espera, que resultaram na captura de 1.086 exemplares de peixes, de sete espécies, três ordens e cinco famílias. As espécies mais representativas foram Astyanax paranae, Phalloceros caudimaculatus e Coptobrycon bilineatus. Resumo

Biogeography of freshwater fishes from the Northeastern Mata Atlântica freshwater ecoregion: distribution, endemism, and area relationships

“…Thus, the ichthyofaunistic similarity of the Paraná and basins of eastern Brazil becomes stronger further south. Faunistic interchanges may have occurred between the rio Paraíba do Sul basin, one of the largest eastern rivers, and the rio Tietê, a tributary of the rio Paraná (Menezes, 1972;Ribeiro, 2006;Serra et al, 2007). Hypotheses explaining that interchange are discussed by various authors (e.g., Ab 'Saber, 1957;Armbruster, 1998;Quevedo & Reis, 2002;Ribeiro, 2006), and are beyond the scope of this study.…”

Coptobrycon bilineatus (Ellis, 1911) (Characiformes: Characidae): redescription and comments on its phylogenetic relationships

“…Other species collected at the rio Itatinga are Astyanax paranae, Glandulocauda melanogenys [= G. melanopleura Ellis, 1911sensu Menezes & Weitzman, 2009, Taunaya bifasciata, Trichomycterus sp. [= T. iheringi (Eigenmann, 1917)], Pseudotocinclus tietensis, and Phalloceros caudimaculatus [= P. reisi Lucinda, 2008] (Serra et al, 2007).…”

“…In spite of their restricted geographic distribution, recent surveys in the northern Andes and Serra do Mar, respectively, have uncovered new species of Grundulus (Román-Valencia et al, 2003 and enlarged the area of distribution of Coptobrycon bilineatus (Serra et al, 2007), suggesting the possibility of discovering other new taxa, which may provide more information on the clade. Serra et al (2007) suggested that the occurrence of Coptobrycon bilineatus together with Glandulocauda melanogenys [= G. melanopleura (Ellis, 1911) sensu Menezes & Weitzman, 2009], Pseudotocinclus tietensis, and Astyanax paranae, in a coastal drainage of the São Paulo State, was due to headwater capture of the upper Tietê by the rio Itatinga, similar to what happened in other drainages in that part of southeast Brazil (see Ribeiro et al, 2006, for a description of the tectonic processes and additional examples).…”

“…The recent collection of a large series of Coptobrycon from the rio Itatinga (Serra et al, 2007), a tributary of the rio Itapanhaú, an independent small coastal river system in São Paulo State, prompted a redescription of this monotypic and enigmatic genus.…”

Ichthyofauna of Rio Jurubatuba, Santos, São Paulo: a high diversity refuge in impacted lands

“…This unique system represents a highly threatened environment whose ichthyofauna was not frequently explored by ecological studies focusing on the whole fauna, yielding a still poor knowledge of its stream fishes (Castro & Menezes 1998, Vilella et al 2004, Serra et al 2007). Detailed publications regarding fish communities of the Atlantic Rainforest include basins from the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul (Costa 1987, Buck & Sazima 1995, Araújo 1996, Aranha et al 1998, Mazzoni & Lobón-Cerviá 2000, Esteves & Lobón-Cerviá 2001, Fogaça et al 2003, Vilella et al 2004 (Sabino & Castro 1990, Uieda, V.S.…”