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When a freshwater invader meets the estuary: the peacock bass and fish assemblages in the São João River, Brazil

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Abstract

Peacock basses (Cichla spp.) are native to the Amazon basin but introduced to different parts of the world. Almost thirty years ago, Cichla kelberi was introduced in an impoundment of the São João River, a coastal system in southeastern Brazil. Recently, this cichlid invaded the estuarine section of the basin. This study aims to analyze spatial and temporal variations in catch of C. kelberi and fish assemblage structure along the estuarine stretch of this river and how abiotic variables affect their distribution. Sampling was performed in four segments downstream of the dam. Principal component analysis revealed that abiotic variables displayed temporal and spatial variation, in part due to the salinity gradient, that were more pronounced in the dry season. Cichla kelberi occurred in all segments, but mainly in shallow and vegetated habitats of the middle course and barely in the most downstream. Eighty-one fish species were recorded, nine of which were non-native, representing 33.4% of total catch. A redundancy analysis indicated that the fish assemblages showed marked spatial variation, mostly related to the salinity gradient. The lowermost segment of the river was dominated by marine species, the only locality where non-native species summed less than 40% of the catches. In the upstream segments, higher oxygen levels and lower temperatures influenced the occurrence of most species. Higher salinity of the estuary seems to limit the spread of C. kelberi, but the invader may reach adjacent basins in years of exceptional floods. The eurihalinity and piscivory of C. kelberi partly explain its invasive success.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the partnership made in the field work with Erica Pellegrini and Vagner dos Santos. We also thank students of the Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes and Laboratório Integrado de Zoologia of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro for help in the samplings and laboratory work. The authors thank Arthur Bauer for the map and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. P. A. Catelani also thanks CAPES for the sandwich doctorate scholarship (CSF-PVE-S 88887.127845/2016-00). Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) provided research grants for F. M. Pelicice. E.G.B. was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (projects CGL2016‐80820-R, PCIN-2016-168, and RED2018‐102571‐T) and the Government of Catalonia (ref. 2017 SGR 548). The comments and suggestions made by the Reviewers and the Editor helped to improve earlier versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais e Conservação, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade - NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Avenida São José do Barreto, 764, Macaé, RJ, 27965-045, Brazil

    Paula Araujo Catelani

  2. Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade – NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Avenida São José do Barreto, 764, Macaé, RJ, 27965-045, Brazil

    Ana Cristina Petry

  3. Núcleo de Estudos Ambientais - NEAMB, Universidade Federal do Tocantins – UFT, Rua 3, Quadra 17, Porto Nacional, TO, 77500-000, Brazil

    Fernando Mayer Pelicice

  4. GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

    Paula Araujo Catelani & Emili García-Berthou

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  1. Paula Araujo Catelani
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Catelani, P.A., Petry, A.C., Pelicice, F.M. et al. When a freshwater invader meets the estuary: the peacock bass and fish assemblages in the São João River, Brazil. Biol Invasions 23, 167–179 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02363-w

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