Francisco de Paula Severo da Costa Neto
In this project we aim to reveal which species of annual fishes inhabit the Brazilian Chaco. Through collection and proper identification of the fish species we expect to bring up acknowledgment of the distribution of these species, evaluate the habitat structure where they live. The project will also provide the first collected specimens that will be used for further studies about fish biology, such as feeding, reproduction and molecular analyses.
The Chaco, or Gran Chaco, is a domain that occupies a big portion of Southern South America. However, it has a small representation in Brazil, occurring exclusively on the Porto Murtinho City, near the border with Paraguay. Although this narrow distribution, it harbours several species of plants and animals typical of this domain. Although it’s a xeric environment, the Chaco has seasonal flooding's which spares small pools on the landscape where the annual fishes raise, grow and lay eggs. However very few is known about which species occur and what the biological aspects of these species are. The main threat to these populations is the landscape changing in order to cattle ranching. In this context, this project aims to bring up information about annual fishes from the Brazilian Chaco, such as distribution and population dynamics. Furthermore, it will provide the first steps on the knowledge about their basic biology, such as feeding and reproduction.
To achieve these goals we will:
1) Collect individuals from pools located in the Brazilian Chaco and update of the checklist of Fishes of Upper Paraguay Basin;
2) Identifie, characterize and geolocalize the sites and habitats where the annual fish inhabit in the Brazilian Chaco;
3) Organize and digitalize the annual fish vouchers to be deposited in the Collection deposited in the Zoological Collection of Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (ZUFMS).