Ichthyofauna of urban streams in the western region of Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

The western region of Paraná State is drained by the Paraná River Basin, which has several streams. Many headwaters streams are located in urban or rural areas and undergo several impacts, such as chemical alterations, deforestation, habitat disruption, and biological invasions. The present study presents a species list of fish from three streams of different municipalities, with different degrees of urbanization and regimes of land use, aiming at inventorying the fish species that occur in these particular environments. Sampling was carried out quarterly from June 2010 to March 2011 using electrofishing. We captured 25 species of 20 genera, 13 families, and six orders, among which we found two non-native and one migratory fish species. The species list presented here contributes to build a database on fish species distribution patterns in altered environments, and to set the ground for future actions of biodiversity management and conservation.