Mesozooplankton and Ichthyoplankton composition in two tropical estuaries of Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe the composition of two mesozooplankton and ichthyoplanktonestuarine communities in Jandaíra, Bahia (Tabatinga River), impacted by a shrimp farm; and in Conde, Bahia (ItapicuruRiver), a pristine estuary. Samples were collected through horizontal hauls using a net (200 μm mesh size), coupled to aflowmeter, during the ebbing and flooding tides in April, August and December, 2007. In the Tabatinga and Itapicuru Rivers76 and 92 taxa were registered. The most abundant groups were Pseudodiaptomus richardii and Disco sp. Acartia lilljeborgiwas also dominant at Tabatinga, while Temora sp. and decapod larvae were predominant in Itapicuru River, which alsopresented higher densities for most planktonic taxa, particularly fish larvae. A descriptive analysis of the main taxa´s spatialdistribution and new geographical records of Disco sp., P. richardi, Pontellopsis villosa, Macrosetella gracilis, Microsetellarosea, Gonyiopsillus brasiliensis, Agetus flaccus and Ergasilus caraguatatubensis were presented.