“…The Patos-Mirim lagoon system basin covers an area of 201,626 km 2 and is classified as the Lagoa dos Patos Ecoregion (N° 334, Abell et al 2008). The fish fauna comprises 200 native freshwater species (Bertaco et al 2016) and at least 18 non-native freshwater fish species from diverse origins (Asia, Africa, North America, European and the Río de la Plata basin) (Loureiro et al 2020;Bertaco & Azevedo 2023). However, differences in species distribution are remarkable within each major drainage in Rio Grande do Sul State, but most of these patterns have not been explored or adequately described (Bertaco et al 2016).…”