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Community structure of fish larvae in different biotopes of a neotropical river

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Abstract

Spatial heterogeneity is one of the major sources of compositional dissimilarity among fish in different biotopes. The availability and distribution of refuge, food, and habitats for breeding are determinants of the presence of fish species with different life histories, and understanding how this composition is organized along an environmental gradient is important for the protection of fish spawning sites and preservation of conditions that favor the dispersion and growth of their larvae. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate how the ichthyoplankton community is structured in different biotopes (river, lake, and transitional) of a fluvial system and to determine the factors involved in the structuring process. We conducted sampling in the lower Ivinhema River, upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil, during two consecutive reproductive periods between 2010 and 2012. Larvae of long-distance migratory species were more related to the river biotope, while the non-migratory or short-distance migrators were more associated with transitional and lake biotopes. Therefore, our results indicate that the hydrodynamic conditions of the river, especially the flow velocity, as well as the parental reproductive guild, influence the distribution patterns of the ichthyoplankton community.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the financial support through the Long Term Ecological Research Program (PELD—site 6, Process number 558118/2009–7), and Research Support Program (Edital Universal, Process number 480804/2010–9. We thank the Programa de Excelência Acadêmica (PROEX) and the Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia) for providing the infrastructure for research, and the people from the Ichthyoplankton Laboratory (Nupélia) who helped in field collection, sorting, and identification. This study was funded in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES). MMS is grateful to CAPES for a graduate scholarship.

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  1. Merieli Melo-Silva

    Present address: Laboratório de Ictioplâncton - Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, CEP 87020-900, Brazil

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  1. Laboratório de Ictioplâncton - Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, CEP 87020-900, Brazil

    Jislaine Cristina da Silva & Andréa Bialetzki

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Melo-Silva, M., da Silva, J.C. & Bialetzki, A. Community structure of fish larvae in different biotopes of a neotropical river. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 23, 1–12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-021-00066-3

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