Morphological differentiation among migratory fish species from the Paraná River basin

Authors

  • Lucileine de Assumpção Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia de Produção e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos
  • Maristela Cavicchioli Makrakis Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia de Produção e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos
  • Sergio Makrakis Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia de Produção e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos
  • Pitágoras Augusto Piana Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Centro de Engenharia e Ciências Exatas
  • Patrícia Sarai da Silva Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia de Produção e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos
  • Ariane Furtado de Lima Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Pós-graduação em Recursos Pesqueiros e Engenharia de Pesca, Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia de Produção e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos
  • Domingo Rodriguez Fernandez Itaipu Binacional, Setor de Ictiologia

Keywords:

morphology, swimming performance, fineness ratio, migratory fish

Abstract

This study characterized the morphological differences among migratory fish species from the Paraná River Basin. A total of 177 adult fish of Leporinus elongatus, Leporinus macrocephalus, Prochilodus lineatus, Salminus brasiliensis, Pimelodus maculatus, Pinirampus pirinampu, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans, Pterodoras granulosus, and Rhaphiodon vulpinus were sampled in the Canal da Piracema, a fish passage system at Itaipu Dam, Paraná River. The migratory species were analyzed through 22 morphometric measurements and fineness ratio to identify morphological patterns related to swimming performance. Four species groups were indicated by the Cluster analysis: I) R. vulpinus; II) P. corruscans; III) L. macrocephalus, L. elongatus, P. lineatus, P. maculatus, and S. brasiliensis - measurements of head height and anal fin length formed this group; and IV) P. granulosus and P. pirinampu - measurements of maximum body width and caudal peduncle width contributed to form this group. The morphometric variables that most contributed to the distinction were head length and mouth width for groups I and II. The species R. vulpinus and P. granulosus differed from other species, showing fineness ratios of 9.4 and 3.7, respectively. Leporinus elongatus, L. macrocephalus, P. lineatus, P. maculatus, and S. brasiliensis showed significant differences from other species, with ratios ranging from 4.57 to 5.19, indicating that these species may be better swimmers. Long-distance migratory species using the Piracema Canal to ascend upstream areas differed morphologically, morphological characteristics such as a narrow caudal peduncle and maximum body length, besides to the values of the fineness ratio, were essential to differentiate the migratory species.

Downloads

Published

2012-12-01

How to Cite

Assumpção, L. de, Makrakis, M. C., Makrakis, S., Piana, P. A., Silva, P. S. da, Lima, A. F. de, & Fernandez, D. R. (2012). Morphological differentiation among migratory fish species from the Paraná River basin. Biota Neotropica, 12(4). Retrieved from //www.biotaneotropica.org.br/BN/article/view/1022

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Loading...