Fish assemblages associated with aquatic macrophytes in floodplain lakes in the Lower Solimões River

Abstract

We studied the diversity and species composition of fish assemblages associated with different stands of aquatic macrophytes. The samplings were made during two seasons of the hydrological cycle, the dry and flooding seasons, in two types of macrophyte stands. The first type was monospecific and was composed by floating grass Paspalum repens. The second type was composed by several free-floating species, and was classified as mixed stand. We collected 1,340 fish belonging to 50 species. Characiformes was the dominant group in the two stand types and hydrological seasons. In the stands of P. repens, the species richness and diversity were higher than in the mixed stands, probably due to the greater structural complexity of P. repens.

Keywords

• Amazon
• fish assemblage
• hydrological cycle
• macrophyte stands