New approaches to basic population ecology studies: Revealing more complex patterns of a small Characidae that inhabit streams

Abstract

Bayesian inference was used to estimate the main population parameters (sex ratio, L50, LWR and somatic growth) and to evaluate sexual dimorphism and growth patterns (isometric/allometric and monophasic/biphasic growth) of Astyanax paranae of the Upper Paraná River. This study brings three statistical differentials: (a) the reparametrisation of the logistic model as a function of L50; (b) the reparameterisations of the LWR models based on the exponential of a piecewise linear regression to evaluate the hypotheses of polyphase growth; and (c) the first application of the recently proposed somatic growth models based only on length data to real data, as well as its expansion and generalisation. The models estimated L50 of females at 37.75 mm and sex ratio at 1.4 females per male. LWR models showed that both sexes presented biphasic growth with a lower increase in weight for males in first stanza. In second stanza, both sexes presented a greater increase in weight. Growth models showed that the growth rates were low, equal for both sexes in early life and slightly higher for females after the eighteenth months old. The studied population inhabits streams, therefore being exposed to constraining conditions that can limit the expression of their whole growth potential since they prioritise energy allocation for reproduction and survival, including reducing L50 in order to ensure the maintenance of the population. Finally, the complex biological patterns that arose from the proposed LWR and growth models demonstrated high potential and applicability for population studies.