Ichthyofauna of the lower course of the Doce River basin, in the states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil

Resumen

Abstract The Doce River basin is one of the main drainages in southeastern Brazil and is characterized by intense historical exploitation of its resources. Although the basin harbors a highly diverse ichthyofauna, most studies on this diversity are concentrated mainly in the upper courses of the basin, in the state of Minas Gerais. We aimed at conducting a survey of fish species in different lotic and lentic environments in the lower course of the Doce River basin in the states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais, and to develop an identification key for the fish species collected, as well as to update the occurrence records of species published in the literature. Our study documented 199 fish species (168 native and 31 non-native) distributed across 21 orders, 58 families, and 137 genera. The most representative orders were: Siluriformes (49 spp.; 24.6%), Characiformes (36 spp.; 18.0%), and Acanthuriformes (27 spp.; 13.5%). Among these recorded fish species, 14 are endemic species and 9 are threatened with extinction. The results presented here provide support for the future implementation of conservation policies by decision-making managers to protect the basin’s aquatic biodiversity.