Percepção morfológica de animais aquáticos pela comunidade pesqueira de Acupe, Santo Amaro, Bahia: uma abordagem etnozoológica

Abstract

Ethnozoology has been used successfully in studies of the interaction between zoology andculture. In that body of knowledge, it is common to use a personal terminology to name different animal body parts; thisis known as body topography. The aim of this work is to understand the terms used by the Acupe fishermen (Santo Amaro– Bahia, Brazil) for some of the locally caught animals, analysing them from the perspective of folk knowledge comparedwith the zoological literature. The body topography was studied by presenting picture-cards (N = 100), showing imagesof swimming crabs, shrimps, crabs and fish taken from the scientific literature, to 68 fishermen. The folk terminologyrecorded was divided into three categories: polynomia, suggested function, and anthropomorphic analogy. In at least onecase (crab-catching), this knowledge translates into a method with ethnoconservation implications. The results showedthat the local fishermen have an extensive terminology to name structures and body parts and their functions, and in somecases this knowledge was comparable to that in the zoological literature.

Habits and customs of crab catchers in southern Bahia, Brazil

“…Whereas males have a narrower, more triangular and smaller abdomen, the females (known as “candurua” because their ovigerous form resembles the pouch of the female kangaroo) have a wider, rounded and larger abdomen (known as “apupê”, which refers to where the female crab carries the ovigerous mass). This sexual dimorphism was also reported in other ethno-ecological studies [15, 19, 26, 79] and in other species such as C. guanhumi [5, 42, 80–82], Callinectes spp. [83] and Goniopsis cruentata [84].…”

“…The abandonment of the binomial name (e.g., uça crab ) in Mucuri was also observed in other regions of Bahia, as reported by Souto [5] in Acupe. According to the catchers, this species occupies “soft” mangroves (mangrove areas under intense tidal influence with a predominance of red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle ) in burrows (known as dens to the catchers) approximately 1 m deep.…”

“…This technique is similarly performed in several regions [13, 15, 26, 55–57]. As observed by Souto [5] in the fishing community of Acupe, Santo Amaro, Bahia, the choice of technique is, in most cases, related to the season. According to the catchers interviewed in the present study, the crabs begin to moult in the austral winter and thus construct very deep burrows, making it impossible to remove them using arms or hooks.…”

“…Additionally, the catchers reported that the racoon ( Procyon cancrivorus ) is the greatest natural predator of this species because it mimics the catchers when catching the crab, digging in the mud and pulling the crab out of its burrow. According to Souto [5], the catchers of the fishing community of Acupe reported that racoons capture crabs by placing their tails in the burrows and pulling the crabs out when the crabs had grasped their tails. This myth is told in the north of State of Espirito Santo also.…”

“…The mangrove crab ( Ucides cordatus ) (Linnaeus, 1763) is a particularly important economic and subsistence resource found in all Brazilian mangrove forests [5, 15–24]. The catching of this species represents one of the oldest mangrove extraction practices [25, 26] and the most important mangrove-associated economic activity performed on a commercial scale in Brazil [27], generating approximately U.S.$ 9,469.69 per hectare of mangrove [28].…”