Introduction: Cryphiops caementarius, is an endemic prawn from river ecosystems in Southern Perú and Northern Chile. In these watersheds, natural populations are threatened by multiple anthropic interventions such as mining activities and fishing pressure, but also, by increasing impacts of invasive exotic predators. Information related with predation on C. caementarius is scarce representing a major knowledge gap to ensure suitable management and conservation practices. Accordingly, the further deepening in relevant aspects such as the estimation of populations losses due to predators has been indicated as critical by relevant agencies as FAO. Objective: To conduct a complete registry and classification of C. caementarius predators, updating the knowledge for the Andean region. Methods: A thorough bibliographic review on existing information on C. caementarius' predators from Perú and Chile was carried out calculating percentage of occurrence, relative frequency of species, zoogeographic origin, trophic structure, phenotypic attributes, river zone that inhabits and life stage of incidence. The registry was complemented using semi-structured interviews from prawn´s fishers in central-Northern Chile. Results: C. caementarius is predated along the entire fluvial network (estuary, potamon and rhithron) by 21 species of opportunists, carnivores, omnivores and herbivores, mostly aquatic vertebrates. In turn, these belong to 15 families and six guilds of native, exotic and cosmopolitan species. Approximately 86 % predate on adult prawns, whilst, 71 % on juveniles and 24 % on larvae. More than 40 % of the predation pressure seems to be exerted by native waterfowls and 24 % by exotic fish. Conclusions: The results emphasize the relevance for conservation of native species of predators in the Andean region and the need of control measures on exotic species in a latitudinal basis. Accordingly, this review may serve as an initial decision-making tool for future conservation efforts both on prawns and native biota, but also supporting restocking actions, fisheries management plans and risk assessment for C. caementariuspopulations across the Andean region.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a pause in people's activities and a socio-economic crisis worldwide due to confinement. This situation is an unprecedented opportunity to understand how these changes may impact biodiversity and its conservation, as well as to study human-nature interaction. Biodiversity plays an essential role in conservation and economic activities, and in countries with greater inequality and low gross domestic product (GDP), biodiversity could have a low priority. Moreover, how biodiversity is prioritized in a society impacts how the citizens view it, and digital news tends to shape biodiversity narratives. The aim of this work was to determine the main trends in biodiversity-related news categories during the COVID-19 pandemic in countries with terrestrial and marine hotspots and relate them to the socioeconomic and public health context of each country. For this, we searched for news on biodiversity and Covid-19 in the first 6 months of the pandemic and related them to GDP, Gini-index, deaths, and infections by Covid-19. Results showed that conservation, public policies, and use of natural resources stood out as the main news categories across countries, with a positive narrative and mostly related to terrestrial rather than marine environments. On the other hand, the socio-economic and public health characteristics of each country had an influence on which aspect of the biodiversity was reflected in the media. For example, countries with greater inequality were associated with tourism news, additionally, countries with low GDP, high cases, and deaths by Covid-19 were associated with news about cultural diversity. In contrast, countries with high GDP and low inequality were associated with news about zoonosis, research and development, public policies, and alien and invasive species.

Cryphiops caementarius es un camarón anfídromo nativo de relevancia ecológica y pesquera en cuencas hidrográficas del norte de Chile. Esta especie representa un componente importante de la identidad cultural de las comunidades de camaroneros que subsisten de ella, otorgando servicios ecosistémicos para el bienestar social. Actualmente, las poblaciones se encuentran altamente amenazadas, principalmente por la escasez hídrica y modificación de hábitat producto de la peor sequía de los últimos 10 años en la zona centro-norte de Chile y la consecuente sobreexplotación de los recursos hídricos para usos humanos. Si bien existen medidas de administración vigentes para la actividad extractiva de camarones, como talla mínima de extracción y veda biológica, esta actividad no es reconocida formalmente por la institucionalidad pesquera nacional, existiendo desconocimiento de aspectos básicos de su funcionamiento, como la cantidad de camaroneros asociados, estado actual de sus poblaciones y sectores históricos de pesca. En este contexto, el objetivo principal del presente estudio fue caracterizar en conjunto con las organizaciones de camaroneros de la cuenca del río Choapa, el sistema socio-ecológico en cual subyace la pesquería de C. caementarius, durante el período 2019–2021, a través de: i) la recopilación del conocimiento tradicional de las organizaciones de camaroneros, ii) un seguimiento de la pesquería a través de registros recopilados por los camaroneros durante sus faenas de pesca, y iii) la construcción de un modelo conceptual basado en la percepción de los actores del sistema relacionados con la actividad camaronera local. A partir de estos resultados, se presentan recomendaciones para la implementación de plan(es) de conservación y manejo que apoye(n) la sostenibilidad de la pesquería de C. caementarius en la cuenca del río Choapa. Se discute una probable extinción local de sus poblaciones en la zona altitudinal alta de la cuenca y en ríos tributarios, y una posible conducta migratoria facultativa por la severa fragmentación y degradación del hábitat fluvial. Se concluye, que es necesario diseñar y desarrollar en conjunto con los actores sociales, acciones de conservación y manejo orientadas a apoyar la toma de decisiones locales y otorgar mayor resiliencia a la especie y a la pesquería en un contexto de gran vulnerabilidad ambiental dado el actual escenario de escasez hídrica que afecta a esta cuenca y a otras del norte de Chile.