Fishing effort and catch composition of urban market and rural villages in Brazilian Amazon.

The management of small-scale freshwater fisheries in Amazon has been based usually on surveys of urban markets, while fisheries of rural villages have gone unnoticed. We compared the fishing characteristics (catch, effort and selectivity) between an urban market and five small villages in the Lower Tocantins River (Brazilian Amazon), downstream from a large reservoir. We recorded 86 and 601 fish landings in the urban market and villages, respectively, using the same methodology. The urban fishers showed higher catch per unit of effort, higher amount of ice (related to a higher fishing effort, as ice is used to store fish catches) and larger crew size per fishing trip, but village fishers had a higher estimated annual fish production. Conversely, urban and village fishers used similar fishing gear (gillnets) and the main fish species caught were the same. However, village fishers showed more diverse strategies regarding gear, habitats and fish caught. Therefore, although it underestimated the total amount of fish caught in the Lower Tocantins River region, the data from the urban market could be a reliable indicator of main fish species exploited and fishing gear used by village fishers. Monitoring and management should consider the differences and similarities between urban and rural fisheries, in Amazon and in other tropical regions.

Diet and feeding behavior of Kyphosus spp. (Kyphosidae) in a Brazilian subtropical reef

The present study analyzed and compared diet and feeding behavior (substrate use, position in water column, interactions with other fishes) of Kyphosus spp. (sea chubs) in a Brazilian subtropical reef. Juveniles (< 160 mm) of Kyphosus incisor consumed both algae and invertebrates, which were mainly calanoid copepods. Juvenile and small adults of also observed foraging in the water column. We thus provide the first record of omnivory for Kyphosids in the southwest Atlantic Ocean.

Este trabalho analisa e compara a dieta e comportamento alimentar (uso do substrato, posição na coluna d'água, interações com outros peixes) de peixes do gênero Kyphosus, em um recife subtropical no Brasil. O estudo foi realizado na Ilha de Búzios, litoral sudeste do Brasil, de 1998 a 2000. Para as análises da dieta os peixes foram coletados com redes de emalhar de espera durante a noite e anzol e linha durante à tarde. Também foram efetuadas observações subaquáticas do comportamento alimentar dos peixes. Juvenis de Kyphosus incisor se alimentaram tanto de algas como de invertebrados, que consistiram principalmente de copépodes calanoides. Juvenis e adultos pequenos de peixes do gênero Kyphosus foram observados forrageando na coluna d'água. Nós apresentamos o primeiro registro de hábito alimentar onívoro em peixes do gênero Kyphosus no sudeste do Oceano Atlântico.