As lagostas da família Palinuridae, Panulirus argus, P. laevicauda e P. echinatus são um dos principais recursos econômicos do setor pesqueiro no Nordeste do Brasil. Dentre estas, a lagosta pintada, P. echinatus é a única das espécies capturadas comercialmente que, por não existirem dados suficientes sobre sua biologia e dinâmica, não possui regulamentação específica. Os exemplares amostrados foram capturados manualmente em piscinas recifais localizadas no platô recifal da Reserva Biológica do Atol das Rocas durante o período de julho de 2000 a março de 2001. As fêmeas predominaram na população, representando 66,9% do total de indivíduos amostrados. A amplitude de comprimento total para fêmeas foi de 8,1 a 22,8 cm e, 5,8 a 25,7 cm para machos.

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Esta nota relata o primeiro registro de lixo marinho encontrado na Reserva Biológica do Atol das Rocas (NE, Brasil). A maioria dos resíduos (plásticos, metais, papelão, vidro, nylon, etc..) é de origem estrangeira. O cumprimento de acordos internacionais e uma gestão adequada do lixo marinho no complexo das ilhas do Sudoeste do Atlântico Sul Equatorial poderiam representar formas eficientes de minimizar o problema.

Lobsters play an important trophic role as a top predator in benthic marine ecosystems and also have an economic importance due to your intensive and valuable fishery (Cruz et al. 2015). Rocas Atoll (03°51ʹ S, 033°48ʹ W) is the only atoll in the South Atlantic and one of the smallest in the world (Silva et al. 2001). This marine reserve was the first one to be established in the Brazilian coast and this area has importance to the territorial policy of the Federation due to its remote location off the continental coast, resulting in an increase of the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone. The Marine Reserve includes an area of 360 km² distant and is located 266 km off the mainland coast (Pereira et al. 2013). Rocas has a diverse crustacean fauna from crabs (Callapa sp., Carpilius corallinus, Grapsus grapsus, Ocypode quadrata and Johngarthia lagostoma), lobsters (Panulirus argus and P. echinatus), shrimps (Stenopus hispidus) and others (Grossman et al. 2012). The aims of this study are to provide an updated list of lobsters from Rocas Atoll and also to confirm the presence of the three species belonging to the genus Panulirus White, 1847, from Rocas Atoll Reserve, Brazil.The data (observations and photographs of lobsters) were obtained during expeditions from 1997 to 2014 in the pools formed during low tide at Rocas Atoll and in the sandy islands (Figure 1). Lobsters were recorded at depths of 0-6 m during non-destructive visual censuses with minimum ecosystem interference. Conservation measures in the reserve suggest that researchers do not collect animals if it is not extremely necessary. Data collection was done by snorkeling around each pool and visually searching for lobsters inside crevices, holes and all places inside the pools during day time. The search effort was measured but this is not the aim of this study. Some data are collected around the two islands when individuals were found dead in the sand. Specimens were identified in situ and if necessary photographed to further identification, but it was not necessary to collect any specimen. Identifications were based on the lobster key of Holthuis (1991) and used the main characteristics of color, spine patterns, antenna size, other characters, and those characters were used to describe the morphology of the each species. The classification follows Chan (2010).Six lobster species were recorded on the Rocas Atoll reef during the study. All of them were photographed, except for Panulirus laevicauda (Latreille, 1817

Moringua edwardsi is recorded for the first time at Atol das Rocas, northeastern Brazil. Previous records of the species were located in the western Atlantic Ocean, from Florida to southeastern Brazil, but with many gaps between these regions. A single specimen was collected in Atol das Rocas in July 2007 and it is deposited in the Dias da Rocha Ichthyological Collection. The new record of M. edwardsi fills a geographic distribution gap of this species and complements the inventory of fish species inhabiting one of the most unique marine protected areas in the world.