The identification of mechanisms of spatial-temporal variation, obtained from the quantification of natural populations, is a central topic of ecological research. Despite its importance to life-history theory, as well as to conservation and management of natural populations, no studies concerning movement patterns and home range of small stream-dwelling fishes from Brazilian rain forests are known. In the present study we aimed to describe the longitudinal pattern of long distance movement as well as local patterns of short movement (daily home-range) of fishes from a Mata Atlântica stream from Southeast Brazil. We gathered information about movement dynamic in order to discuss the relationship between swimming ability, fish morphology and home range. Long distance movement data were obtained in a mark-recapture experiment held in the field between June and September - 2008, on five sites along the Ubatiba stream. For this study, we had one day to mark fishes, on June-19, and 14 events for recapture. Considering the ten species that inhabit the study area, our study showed that four species: Astyanax janeiroensis, Astyanax hastatus, Parotocinclus maculicauda and Pimelodella lateristriga, moved at least 6 000m in 60 days. The other six species did not present long distance movements, as they were recaptured in the same site 90 days after being marked. For short distance study, movement data were obtained in one mark-recapture experiment held in a 100m long site subdivided into five 20m stretches where fishes were marked with different elastomer colours. We marked 583 specimens that after recapture showed two groups of different movement patterns. The first group was called “Long Movement Group” and the second one was called “Short Movement Group”. The Long Movement Group showed, on average, 89.8% of moving fishes and 10.2% of non moving fishes, against 21.3% and 78.7%, respectively, for the Short Movement Group. It was concluded that fish movement could explain the previously mentioned community stability, and that it is correlated to specific morphological attributes.
Key words: migration, home-range, life history, Characins, Siluroidei, Brazil.
Resumen
A pesar de su importancia en la investigación ecológica, no se conocen estudios sobre patrones de movimiento y del ámbito de hogar de peces que habitan pequeños ríos de los bosques tropicales brasileños. El objetivo del presente estudio fue describir los patrones de movimiento de larga y corta distancia de peces de un arroyo de la Mata Atlântica (22°60” S - 42°48” W). Los datos de los movimientos de larga distancia se obtuvieron mediante un experimento de marcación-recaptura realizado en cinco sitios distribuidos a lo largo de 10km del río Ubatiba. Considerando las diez especies que habitan el área de estudio, observamos que cuatro se movieron por lo menos 6 000m en 60 días. Las otras seis especies no presentaron movimientos de larga distancia. Para los estudios de corta distancia se obtuvieron datos de marcación-recaptura en un sitio de muestreo con 100m de longitud subdividido en cinco tramos de río con 20m. Los especímenes recapturados presentaron dos grupos con patrones distintos de movimiento; un grupo con mayor movimiento y otro grupo de poco movimiento. Concluímos que el movimiento de los peces podría explicar la estabilidad de la comunidad previamente mencionada, y que está correlacionado a los atributos morfológicos específicos.
Palabras clave: migración, ámbito de hogar, historia de vida, Characinos, Siluroidei, Brasil.
The identification of mechanisms of spatial-temporal variation, obtained from the ]]>
Given the importance of such studies in the context of ecological theory, the high number of models developed to assess the movement of fish in temperate regions is well known, mainly for the breeding migrations of salmon from North America and European rivers. These environments can be considered as quite stable, with comparatively reduced habitat ]]>
In the tropics, however, seasonal climatic variations are less marked, with consequent reduced change in the resource availability. This complicates the predictability of the movement pattern of fish and, ]]>
No studies concerning movement patterns and home range of small stream-dwelling fishes from Brazilian rain forests are known, however, previous studies were mainly based on patterns of diversity and population/community structure obtained in studies about longitudinal and lateral distribution (Menezes & Caramaschi 1994, Mazzoni & Lobón-Cerviá 2000, Mazzoni et al. 2004, Mazzoni et al. ]]>
Materials and Methods
Study area: The Ubatiba stream (22°60’ S - 42°48” W) composes a typical small Serra do Mar fluvial system (≈16km long, 42km2) located 70km North from Rio de Janeiro city (Brazil). It is a low altitude stream (<30m.a.s.l.), which waters flow through meadows deforested for agricultural practices and ]]>
Sampling and data analysis: The patterns of both short and long-distance movement of the fish species from Ubatiba stream were analysed. Long-distance movement was determined by a mark-recapture method, between June and September-2008, considering fish movement between five sites along the 10km of the ]]>
One experiment ]]>
figure 1. Once we had finished the marking phase, fishes were returned to the river in the same subsection where they had been captured. We waited 30min and after that, we carefully removed the closing nets, allowing fish to move freely outside and between all subsections. Six hours after the last net removal we reintroduced the closing nets exactly in the same positions where they were during the marking phase; fishes were again electrofished at each sub section separately (recapture phase). The indicatives of absence or presence of fish ]]>
Results
Ten species were ]]>
Table 1).
For the short ]]>
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The first group, called “Long Movement Group” (Table 2), was formed by A. janeiroensis, A. hastatus, P. lateristriga and P. maculicauda. This group presented high values of non-recaptured fishes (MovO), small values of fishes that were recaptured in the same subsection where they had been marked (nMov), high values of non marked individuals that were captured during the recapture event (nMrk) and high values of moving individuals (MovB and MovA) that were recaptured ]]>
Table 2).
Astyanax janeiroensis showed 94.6% of moving individuals, with 32.1% being recaptured outside their marking subsection; 67.9% were not recaptured. Maximum displacement was 20.0m/6h and 80.0m/6h for sub sections below and above from their marking sub section, respectively (
Table 2, Fig. 2). Astyanax hastatus showed 80.4% of moving individuals, with 14.4% being recaptured outside their marking subsection; 85.6% were not recaptured. Maximum displacement was 40.0m/6h and 80.0m/6h for subsections below and above from their marking subsection, respectively (Table 2, Fig. 2). Pimelodella lateristriga showed 89.7% of moving individuals, with 48.6% being ]]>
Maximum displacement was 20.0m/6h and 60.0m/6h for subsections below and above from their marking subsection, respectively (Table 2, Fig. 2). Parotocinclus ]]>
Table 2, Fig. 2).
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The second group, called “Short Movement Group” (Table 2) presented high values of recaptured fish (Rc) and low values of fishes moving inside and outside the study area. Only 19% of the marked individuals showed some evidence of movement (e.g. recapture outside their marking subsection and non-recaptured fish). Among the six species comprising this group, five (H. malabaricus, C. interruptum, M. microlepis, G. brasiliensis and R. quelen) showed short movement between the subsections, whereas one, ]]>
Table 2, Fig. 3).
Discussion
Movement of an ]]>
sensu Grossman, 1982). Following this, the movement pattern showed by these four species could explain the highly temporal stability previously mentioned by Mazzoni & Lobón-Cerviá (2000) to the Ubatiba fish community.
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Fish with restricted home ranges face different challenges than the ones that travel over large areas. Our results have shown clear differences in the movement pattern of the studied species. Mean values of recaptured individuals of each species showed that the first group belonging to the “Long Movement Group” was more homogeneous than the one belonging to the “Short Movement Group”. The distance and habitat over which animals move have an important bearing on the fitness and ultimately, on the structure of ]]>
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According to Nathan (2008), the home range of a species normally reflects the distances travelled by individuals of a population and is defined as a measure of total effort spent for the development of the whole vital activities (e.g. feeding, reproduction and shelter). However, many studies have shown that movement patterns in a given area are positively related to feeding requirements and food availability (Huey & Pianka 1981), territoriality (Hansen & Closs 2005), stream/river size (Woolnough et al. 2009) and fish body ]]>
With increasing fragmentation of water bodies worldwide, knowledge about the extension of the habitat ]]>
]]>
We noticed that the various species that composed the community of the study area differed as to the temporal patterns of movement. Although our experiments have covered only a small period of field study, we observed that fish species gathered in two large groups characterized by distinct patterns of movement. The first group, so called “Long Movement Group”, was formed by A. janeiroensis and A. hastatus, “tetras” species of ]]>
incertae sedis group (sensu Reis et al. 2003) and by the Siluroidei P. lateristriga and P. maculicauda. In fact, the ability to swim and displace have been recurrently observed for these characids and catfish species (Casatti & Castro 2006). The morphological design of some catfishes has been also associated to the swimming behaviour and could explain the high values of ]]>
P. lateristriga and P. maculicauda. Our results support these observations, since the four mentioned species showed shifts at distances up to 4 000m over a period of 60 or 90 days. The other species mentioned in the present study have been poorly explored, with no or incomplete knowledge about their life history. Nonetheless, they are known by their benthonic behaviour and the association to marginal or sheltered areas in the streams where they occur (Mazzoni & Iglesias-Rios 2002a, Mazzoni & Iglesias-Rios ]]>
We conclude that stream-dwelling fishes from Ubatiba showed different patterns of movement and home range. There is one group of long movement with maximum displacement of 80.0m/6h and 60.0m/6h to, respectively, above and below of the marking site and one group of short movement with maximum displacement of 20.0m/6h, to both above and below of ]]>
Data on movement ]]>
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Acknowledgment
We acknowledge to the staff of Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes/Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro for helping in the field work. To Javier Lobón-Cerviá (MNHN/ CSIC – Madrid) ]]>
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*Correspondencia: Rosana Mazzoni: Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Av. São Francisco Xavier 524, CEP 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil; mazzoni@uerj.br Ricardo Iglesias-Rios: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro / Instituto de Biologia / Departamento de Ecologia. C.P. 68020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil; rir@biologia.ufrj.br 1. Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Av. São Francisco Xavier 524, CEP 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil; mazzoni@uerj.br 2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro / Instituto de Biologia / Departamento de Ecologia. C.P. 68020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil; rir@biologia.ufrj.br
Received 26-X-2011. Corrected 09-V-2012. Accepted 11-VI-2012.