© 2003 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
Use of a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil by juvenile and subadult Micropogonias furnieri (Perciformes, Sciaenidae)
Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro Km 47 Antiga Rodovia Rio–São Paulo, 23851-970 Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*Correspondence to M. R. da Costa; tel: +55-21-21-2682-1210; fax: +55-21-21-2682-2806. e-mail: profmar{at}ig.com.br; gerson{at}ufrrj.br.
The white croaker Micropogonias furnieri is a commercially important marine fish that uses bays and other semi-closed coastal areas early in its life. A sampling programme, using beach-seine and otter trawl, was carried out in Sepetiba Bay (22°54'–23°04'S, 43°34'–44°10'W), southern Brazil, from October 1998 to September 1999, with the objective of assessing the patterns of temporal and spatial usage of the bay by white croaker during its early life. Early recruits (total length, TL, 10–50 mm) appear off beaches of the inner bay between October and December, move away from them during late summer and early autumn (January–April), and are caught by trawl offshore from May to September at a TL of 70–150 mm. From May to August, new recruits (10–50 mm) are again found inshore. Fish grow from 10–40 to 70–150 mm during the first year of life in the shallows of the bay, before moving offshore. They cross the deeper waters of the bay as they migrate towards the open ocean. Juveniles (TL 70–150 mm) are most abundant in the inner bay, and subadults (TL 150–200 mm) in the outer and central bay. M. furnieri use semi-closed coastal areas as nursery grounds, before moving out over the continental shelf, where they spawn.
Keywords: Brazil, Micropogonias furnieri, recruitment, Sciaenidae, size structure
Received 3 June 2002; accepted 31 October 2002.