Zooplankton from the Maracajaú Reefs, Northeastern Brazil.

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the diversity and the abundance of the reef zooplankton in the Maracajaú reefs. Samples were collected with two plankton nets (65 and 300 micrometers mesh size, each) from February to June/2000 at three stations in a transect perpendicular to coast. Plankton biomass in the 65 µm fraction varied from 45.19 mg.m -3 to 316.45 mg.m . In the 300 µm fraction biomass varied from 9.33 mg.m -3 to 43.16 mg.m -3 . Zooplankton presented 61 taxa. Copepods were the most diverse taxa with 23 species. Euterpina acutifrons, Oithona oswaldocruzi, Oithona hebes, Oithona sp., Parvocalanus crassirostris, Acartia lilljeborgi, Bivalvia and Gastropoda larvae, Trilocularina sp., Balanus sp. larvae, Spirillina sp., Polychaeta larvae, Brachyura (zoea) and Oikopleura longicauda occurred in more than 75% of the samples. The zooplankton followed a seasonal pattern, with the highest numbers occurring during the rainy season (February). A high density of microzooplankton was found which varied from 1,917 ind.m and a maximum of 1,617 ind.m -3 . Species diversity was intermediate (~2 bits.ind -1 ) and eveness relatively high (~0.78). Samples could be joined into 3 groups, mainly influenced by rainfall. Species similarity presented 5 groups: oceanic, neritic, a mixture of neritic and oceanic, reef and estuarine. Our data suggest a dynamic relationship between the zooplankton communities characteristic of inshore water trapped by the coastal boundary layer and more offshore plankton communities.

Community Structure of the Tintinnids (Ciliophora: Spirotrichea) in the Region of Abrolhos (Bahia, Brazil)

“…This hypothesis was not rejected because significant differences were found between the results of the samples collected in the different areas (ANOVA p = 0.017). The nature of the tintinnid community found in the PP area fits well with the pattern found in the Maracajaú reefs by MAYAL et al (2009), NEUMANN-LEITÃO et al (2009), andMELO et al (2002). Studies performed in other coastal tropical areas show the same pattern of tintinnid composition with many agglutinated species (GODHANTARAMAN, 2002;JYOTHIBABU et al, 2006).…”

“…The tintinnids alone reached very high density values in some samples, and their mean density values in each area were close to the highest density values found in the Maracajaú reef system for the entire microzooplanktonic community. Although the tintinnid biomass values were lower than the microzooplanktonic biomass values found by other authors in reef systems (MELO ET AL., 2002;MAYAL et al, 2009;NEUMANN-LEITÃO et al, 2009), the tintinnids play a very important role in energy transfer within these ecosystems. They are characterized by intense feeding activity, being able to consume up to 70% of the daily primary production (BEERS and STEWART, 1971), and their feeding activity is sometimes similar to that of copepods (CAPRIULO and CARPENTER, 1980;CAPRIULO and CARPENTER, 1983).…”

“…MAYAL et al (2009), NEUMANN-LEITÃO et al (2009) andMELO et al (2002) found eight tintinnid species while studying the plankton of the Maracajaú reefs in the State of Rio Grande do Norte in the northeastern region of Brazil. Seven of these species had agglutinated loricae.…”

“…Although MELO et al (2002), NEUMANN-LEITÃO et al (2009) present no specific quantitative data for tintinnid ciliates, they do present quantitative data for the entire microzooplankton community, which varied between 1,917 and 47,620 ind.m -3 . The total density values for the tintinnid community in the Abrolhos region varied between 257 and 160,559 ind.m -3 (as shown in Table 1), which highlights the importance of these ciliates in the ecosystem.…”

The plankton from Maracajaú reef ecosystem (Brazil) – offshore coral reefs under multiple human stressors

“…Laborel [7] was the first who mentioned coral occurrence besides other fauna and flora in this area. Mayal et al [8] presented the results of studies about five coral species in the area, Melo et al [9] studied the zooplankton and Feitosa et al [10] the reef ichthyofauna.…”