Spatial and temporal variation in fish species diversity and composition in streams of Ivinhema River basin, upper Paraná River

Abstract

Aiming to describe the spatial and temporal patterns of the fish species diversity and composition in seven streams of Ivinhema basin, upper Paraná River, monthly samples were realized from January to December/2002. Forty six fish species were found, being estimated the occurrence of fifty five species in these streams. The species richness and evenness did not present seasonal variation, however, presented spatial (between streams) variations. The Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM) also suggested that only spatial variation in species composition is significant. The species richness presented significant correlation with the stream width (r = 0.80) and depth (r = 0.78). The evenness presented significant correlation only in mean number of collected individuals (r = -0.91). Only stream width explained significantly the distribution of main fish species in the sampled streams. Some species as H. marginatus, A. dentatus, M. sanctaefilomenae occurred mainly in larger streams and A. fasciatus and B. stramineus occurred mainly in shallow streams and with high water velocity, indicating the importance of hydrological characteristics in species distribution. The physical characteristics of the streams are more important than temporal variations in fish assemblages organization of sampled streams.