This study describes the biological importance of Guajará Bay (Belém, Pará, Brazil) for fish fauna and presents a diagnosis of water quality in the main channel and creeks, using the icthyofauna as an ecological indicator. A total of 567 individuals from 40 species were identified. About 58% of these use Guajará Bay as a nursery ground, 49 and 81% use the bay as a breeding and feeding ground, respectively. There were no significant differences between environments as measured by the diversity index; however, fish relative abundance (catch per unit of effort) was greater in the creeks than in the main channel. A significant difference was detected in the fish fauna inhabiting the main channel compared with the creeks. In the main channel, icthyofauna significantly differed during December relative to other months.

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Fish diversity in the Amazon Basin is recognized as one of the highest in the world. However, information on the estuarine ichthyofauna of the region is still fragmented and based on localized inventories. This study reports on an inventory carried out in the estuaries of São Caetano de Odivelas and Vigia, State of Pará, a poorly known area within the Amazon Estuary. Two research cruises of four days long each were undertaken in 2003, one in June (austral winter) and other in December (summer), with use of gill nets, traps, cast net and hook-and-line. It was collected 1,689 individuals, including 58 species from 23 families, all of them previously recorded in the Amazon Estuary. Perciformes, Siluriformes and Clupeiformes were the most diverse taxa, comprising 73.8% of the species. From the 58 recorded species, 24% are pelagic, 50% are demersal and the remaining have pelagic-demersal habits. Coastal-marine species predominated in the region.