Characterization and influence of environmental factors on stream fish assemblages in two small urban sub-basins, Upper Paraná River

Abstract

To quantify the influence of environmental descriptors on fish diversity and abundance in two small urban sub-basins in the Upper Paraná basin, we carried out two sampling series in the dry season (June and July) and two in the wet season (November and December), by means of a sieve (80 × 120 cm) and a standardized effort (20 throws) per site. We collected 1,667 fish belonging to 20 species. Serrapinnus notomelas was the most abundant species, followed by Oligosarcus pintoi. The variations in species richness and evenness were explained by water electrical conductivity, stream depth, and stream width. The Cluster Analysis results showed a clear differentiation among the sites, with significant spatial differences and no seasonal variation in species composition. The first two axes of the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) explained 55% of the variation in species abundance, and the main determinants of species distribution were stream width and water conductivity and turbidity.