ESTRUTURA POPULACIONAL DO ARATU Goniopsis cruentata (LATREILLE, 1803) NO ESTUÁRIO DOS RIOS PIAUI/REAL, ESTADO DE SERGIPE, BRASIL

Abstract

Artisanal fishing of aratu occurs throughout the northeastern coast, but their total catch is only estimated for three states, Pernambuco, Sergipe and Bahia. The aratu fishing is intense and few studies on the biology of the species, population dynamics and socioeconomic has been published. Therefore, this work aimed to characterize the population structure and reproductive aspects of G. cruentata, landed in the communities of Cajazeiras and Pontal, in Sergipe. The collections were made monthly when the new moon, from March 2015 to February 2016. The results showed that the carapace width (LC) of the animals ranged in Cajazeiras 25 to 53.8 mm and 59.6 mm in Pontal. Cajazeiras and Pontal showed different patterns for the percentage of females and males, considering the frequency of carapace width. Females were predominant in 26-48 mm class in Cajazeiras and in Pontal from 28 to 44 mm. The males were the majority in the longest lengths in Cajazeiras and Pontal, the result indicates that the males dominate in the longest lengths. Mature female maturation was found throughout the study with greater frequency in September in both mangroves studied. The estimated result of the wide average carapace at first maturity of females in Cajazeiras indicated value of 33.2 mm and males equal to 36.5 mm; Pontal for the female values was 31.2 mm and 36.8 mm male.