Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T23:59:01.969Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental variables influencing the Callinectes (Crustacea: Brachyura: Portunidae) species distribution in a tropical estuary—Cachoeira River (Bahia, Brazil)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2010

Fabrício Lopes de Carvalho  and
Erminda da Conceição Guerreiro Couto
Fabrício Lopes de Carvalho*
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sistemas Aquáticos Tropicais, CEP 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
Erminda da Conceição Guerreiro Couto
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sistemas Aquáticos Tropicais, CEP 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F.L. de Carvalho, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sistemas Aquáticos Tropicais, CEP 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil email: fabricio@inibio.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The genus Callinectes comprises seven species of blue crab found on the Brazilian coast, almost all are recorded in Cachoeira River estuary. The objective of this study is to analyse distribution of Callinectes species in the estuary of Cachoeira River (Ilhéus, Bahia). Monthly collections were conducted in the low tide of neap tide for a year and in five stations distributed according to the estuary salinity gradient. Six traps were assembled and submerged at each station for two hours. Sediment samples were collected for granulometric characterization and measuring of organic matter content. Temperature, salinity and pH were also measured in the bottom water, as well as water transparency at the start of each collection. Five species were collected: Callinectes danae, C. ornatus, C. exasperatus, C. larvatus and C. bocourti. The species presented different distribution patterns based on the salinity gradient and transversal profile of the estuary. Only C. danae was found in all collection points, and was the most abundant species throughout the study period. Callinectes ornatus was restricted to external estuarine areas, which presented higher salinity and transparency values. Callinectes larvatus predominantly occurred in the external station and estuary partitions, mainly in the margin. In spite of the occurrence of C. exasperatus throughout the entire estuary, this species was restricted to the margin. This study supports the assumption that species distribution patterns of this genus are the result of both variable influence, namely salinity, and complex intraspecific and interspecific relations between the congeneric species.

Keywords

habitat sharingsegregationmigrationswimming-crabs
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , June 2011 , pp. 793 - 800
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Almeida, A.O., Coelho, P.A., Santos, J.T.A. and Ferraz, N.R. (2006) Crustáceos decápodos estuarinos de Ilhéus, Bahia, Brasil. Biota Neotropica 6, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atrill, M.J., Power, M. and Thomas, R.M. (1999) Modelling estuarine Crustacea population fluctuations in response to physical–chemical trends. Marine Ecology Progress Series 178, 89–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BAHIA, SEPLANTEC CEI (1993) Informações básicas dos municípios baianos: Região Litoral Sul. Salvador: Governo do Estado da Bahia.Google Scholar
Baptista, C., Pinheiro, M.A.A., Blankensteyn, A. and Borzone, C.A. (2003) Estrutura populacional de Callinectes ornatus Ordway (Crustacea, Portunidae) no Balneário Shangri-Lá, Pontal do Paraná, Paraná, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 20, 661–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branco, J.O. and Fracasso, H.A.A. (2004) Biologia populacional de Callinectes ornatus (Ordway) na Armação do Itapocoroy, Penha, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 21, 91–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branco, J.O. and Masunari, S. (2000) Reproductive ecology of the blue crab, Callinectes danae Smith, 1869 in the Conceição Lagoon system, Santa Catarina Isle, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 60, 17–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branco, L.O. and Lunardon-Branco, M.J. (1993) Aspectos da biologia de Callinectes ornatus Ordway, 1563 (Decapoda, Portunidae) da região de Matinhos, Paraná, Brazil. Arquivos de Biologia e Tecnologia 36, 489–496.Google Scholar
Buchanan, B.A. and Stoner, A.W. (1988) Distributional patterns of blue crab (Callinectes sp.) in a tropical estuarine lagoon. Estuaries 11, 231–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmona-Suárez, C.A. (2009) Swimming crab community ecology in an estuarine complex in western Venezuela (Decapoda, Portunidae). Nauplius 17, 19–27.Google Scholar
Chacur, M.M. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. (2001) Spatial and seasonal distributions of Callinectes danae (Decapoda, Portunidae) in Ubatuba Bay, São Paulo, Brazil. Journal of Crustacean Biology 21, 414–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, W.E. (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods. Journal of Sedimentary Research 44, 242–248.Google Scholar
Fausto-Filho, J. (1980) Callinectes affinis a new species of crab from Brazil (Decapoda, Portunidae). Crustaceana 39, 33–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garçon, D.P., Masui, D.C., Mantelatto, F.L.M., McNamara, J.C., Furriel, R.P.M. and Leone, F.A. (2007) K+ and NH4+ modulate gill (Na+, K+)-ATPase activity in the blue crab Callinectes ornatus: fine tuning of ammonia excretion. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 147, 145–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lunardon-Branco, M.J. and Branco, J.O. (1993) A fauna de Brachyura acompanhante de Menticirrhus littoralis (Holbrook, 1860) na região de Matinhos e Caiobá, litoral do Paraná, Brasil. Arquivos de Biologia e Tecnologia 36, 479–487.Google Scholar
Mansur, C.B. (1997) Distribuição ecológica do gênero Callinectes Stimpson, 1860 (Crustacea, Portunidae) no estuário do Rio Acaraú, Enseada de Ubatuba (SP). Master's dissertation. Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, Brazil.Google Scholar
Mantelatto, F.L.M. (2000) Allocation of the Portunidae crab Callinectes ornatus (Decapoda, Brachyura) in Ubatuba Bay, northern coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. Crustaceana 12, 431–443.Google Scholar
Mantelatto, F.L.M. and Fransozo, A. (1996) Size at sexual maturity in Callinectes ornatus (Brachyura, Portunidae) from the Ubatuba Region (SP), Brazil. Nauplius 4, 29–38.Google Scholar
Mantelatto, F.L.M. and Dias, L.L. (1999) Extension of the known distribution of Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867) (Decapoda, Portunidae) along the western tropical south Atlantic. Crustaceana 72, 617–620.Google Scholar
Mantelatto, F.L.M and Fransozo, A. (1999) Reproductive biology and moulting cycle of the crab Callinectes ornatus Ordway, 1863 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae) from Ubatuba region, São Paulo, Brazil. Crustaceana 72, 63–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masui, D.C., Furriel, R.P.M., McNamara, J.C., Mantelatto, F.L.M. and Leone, F.A. (2002) Modulation by ammonium ions of gill microsomal (Na+, K+)-ATPase in the swimming crab Callinectes danae: a possible mechanism for regulation of ammonia excretion. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C 132, 471–482.Google ScholarPubMed
Masui, D.C., Furriel, R.P.M., Mantelatto, F.L.M., McNamara, J.C. and Leone, F.A. (2003) Gill (Naq, Kq)-ATPase from the blue crab Callinectes danae: modulation of Kq-phosphatase activity by potassium and ammonium ions. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B 134, 631–640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melo, G.A.S. (1996) Manual de identificação dos Brachyura (Caranguejos e Siris) do Litoral Brasileiro. São Paulo: Plêiade/FAPESP.Google Scholar
Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. and Fransozo, A. (1995) On the distribution of Callinectes ornatus Ordway, 1963 and Callinectes danae Smith, 1869 (Brachyura, Portunidae) in the Fortaleza Bay, Ubatuba, Brazil. Iheringia, Série Zoologia 79, 13–25.Google Scholar
Norse, E.A. (1978) An experimental gradient analysis: hyposalinity as an ‘upstress’ distributional determinant for caribbean portunid crabs. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 155, 586–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oksanen, J., Kindt, R., Legendre, P., O'Hara, B., Simpson, G.L., Solymos, P., Stevens, M.H.H. and Wagner, H. (2009) Community Ecology Package. R Package Version 1.15-2. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=veganGoogle Scholar
Oliveira, A., Pinto, T.K., Santos, D.P.D. and D'Incao, F. (2006) Dieta natural do siri-azul Callinectes sapidus na região estuarina da Lagoa dos Patos, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Iheringia, Série Zoologia 96, 305–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pereira, M.J., Branco, J.O., Christoffersen, M.L., Freitas-Junior, F., Fracasso, H.A.A. and Pinheiro, T.C. (2009) Population biology of Callinectes danae and Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea: Brachyura: Portunidae) in the south-western Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89, 1341–1351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pita, J.B., Severino-Rodrigues, E., Graça-Lopes, R. and Coelho, J.A.P. (1985) Levantamento da família Portunidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) no complexo baía-estuário de Santos, SP, Brasil. Boletim do Instituto de Pesca 12, 153–162.Google Scholar
Projeto Mata Atlântica Nordeste (1994) O manguezal, a mata da esperança e a área urbana em 50 anos (1944–1994). Ilhéus: CEPLAC/Jardim Botânico de Nova Yorque.Google Scholar
Robles, R., Schubart, C.D., Conde, J.E., Carmona-Suárez, C., Alvarez, F., Villalobos, J.L. and Felder, D.L. (2006) Molecular phylogeny of the American Callinectes Stimpson, 1860 (Brachyura: Portunidae), based on two partial mitochondrial genes. Marine Biology 150, 1265–1274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Severino-Rodrigues, E., Pita, J.B. and Graça-Lopes, R. (2001) Pesca artesanal de siris (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) na região estuarina de Santos e São Vicente (SP), Brasil. Boletim do Instituto de Pesca 27, 7–19.Google Scholar
Severino-Rodrigues, E., Guerra, D.S.F. and Graça-Lopes, R. (2002) Carcinofauna acompanhante da pesca dirigida ao camarão-sete-barbas (Xiphopenaeus kroyeri) desembarcada na Praia do Perequê, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Boletim do Instituto de Pesca 28, 33–48.Google Scholar
Souza, M.F.L. (2005) Nutrient biogeochemistry and mass balance of a tropical estuary: estuary of Cachoeira River, Northern Brazil. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Science 31, 177–188.Google Scholar
Taissoun, E.N. (1969) Las especies de cangrejos del genero ‘Callinectes ’ (Brachyura) en el Golfo de Venezuela y Lago Maracaibo. Boletin del Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas 2, 1–112.Google Scholar
Teixeira, R.L. and Sá, H.S. (1998) Abundância de macrocrustáceos decápodas nas áreas rasas do complexo lagunar Mundaú/Manguaba, AL. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 58, 393–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, A.B. (1974) The swimming crabs of the genus Callinectes (Decapoda: Portunidae). Fishery Bulletin 72, 685–798.Google Scholar