Effects of the upwelling system on the assessment of reproductive parameters of the caridean shrimp Nematopalaemonschmitti (Holthuis, 1950) in the Western Atlantic

Abstract

Nematopalaemon schmitti (Holthuis, 1950) is a caridean shrimp of the Palaemonidae family (Rafinesque, 1815) (Martin & Davis, 2001), distributed on the marine and estuarine waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean in shallow areas to 75 m depth (Ferreira et al., 2010;Holthuis, 1980). This species plays an important trophic role in the structure of non-consolidated environments both as a carnivorous predator and as a prey item for higher trophic levels (Herrera et al., 2017;Marioghae, 1989). Furthermore, it constitutes part of the bycatch taken in penaeid shrimp fisheries of high economic interest in Brazil, for example, seabob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Heller, 1862) (Costa et al., 2016).In the marine environment, the upwelling regions are considered as the most productive areas in the ocean due to cold and rich nutrient waters (Smith, 1968). Most of the regions of coastal upwelling in the world are located on the east coast of oceans: in Peru, Ecuador, California, and Oregon on the Pacific Ocean and northwest Africa and southern Benguela on the Atlantic Ocean (Franchito et al., 2008). However, on the Brazilian coast, the most intense upwelling system occurs on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, at Cabo Frio (23ºS, 42ºW) in Rio de Janeiro state (RJ), which is responsible for a high degree of biological enrichment and crucial importance for the entire biological community and conse-