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Aim: This study investigated changes in copepod abundance and the influence of environmental variables in a reservoir with fish farming using cages, on temporal and spatial scales. We hypothesised that the copepod abundance will increase when influenced by changes in environmental variables due the increase of nutrients originating from fish farming. Methods A 120-day sampling of copepods and environmental variables was carried out in a subtropical reservoir of the Paraná River basin (Rosana reservoir), upstream and downstream of three sets of cages with different fish stocking densities. A Principal Component Analysis was conducted to characterise sampling periods and points through environmental variables. The differences between copepod abundance according to sampling periods and points were tested by ANOVA. Results We observed higher maximum values for most nutrient concentrations and dissolved oxygen in the final stage of the experiment and in the location of cages installation. The copepod abundance increased sharply during the first days of the experiment and then decreased during the following periods with a tendency towards returning to the initial conditions at the final stage of the experiment. A significant difference in copepod abundance between the location of cages installation and downstream was showed. In addition, turbidity, chlorophyll-a, and nitrate significantly predicted copepod abundance. Conclusion The results suggested that the changes in copepod abundance over time are influenced by environmental variables, evidenced by the increase in nutrient concentration after the cage installation, related to the increase in the practice of fish farming. The environmental variables related to system productivity were linked to the availability of food resources. Thus, our hypothesis that copepod abundance is increased due the alterations in environmental variables caused by the increase in the practice of fish farming using cages was corroborated.

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large‐scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications.

Fish farming in net cages is considered as an alternative to food production in response to elevated population growth, and zooplankton is an important resource to the development of this economic activity. We (i) compared microcrustacean composition in eutrophic and oligotrophic habitats under net tank infl uence, (ii) investigated changes in species distributions in these habitats, and (iii) indicated which chlorophyll-a concentrations presented thresholds that alter community structure. We expected different responses of species to changes in chlorophyll-a concentration due to net cage management, as chlorophyll-a represents an estimate of food availability.Microcrustacean samplings and chlorophyll-a estimation were made upstream, downstream and close to the net cages, during 120 days, in the Rosana Reservoir (Brazil). Species composition differed signifi cantly (p<0.05) among habitats where in the eutrophic environment was found the largest number of species. However, only in the eutrophic habitats did frequency of occurrence and relative abundance of some species change with chlorophyll-a variation. Thus, net cage management infl uenced species distribution only in the most productive habitat. These responses can affect ecosystem processes related to trophic dynamics as secondary productivity and nutrient cycling.