Repositório RCAAP

The catfish Trachelyopterus striatulus Steindachner, 1877 is a very abundant fish species in reservoirs in Southeast Brazil, and its relative abundance seems to be increasing in several lentic environments. Despite of being a very common species, few information is available on its distribution and other aspects of ecology. The Lajes reservoir (22º42'-22º50'S e 43º53'-44º05'W) is the largest manmade lake for hydropower purposes in Rio de Janeiro State, where this species rank among the top abundant fishes, both in number and in biomass. Its relative abundance were compared in three zones of the reservoir (upper, central and lower), based on a standardized program, during three annual periods (monthly sampling in 1994 and bi-monthly sampling in 1996 and 1997), with a total of three hundred twenty samples, using gill nets. Environmental variables of water temperature, pH and transparency were taken in each sampling occasion, and information on rainfall and level of the water were recorded. Trachelyopterus striatulus showed an increasing abundance during the study period, rising from fifty rank in 1994 to the most abundant fish in 1997, coinciding with decreasing water level, and suggesting that this species take advantage of the harsh conditions in the reservoir to increase population. Highest number and weight were recorded in the upper zone, which presented the lowest transparency. Seasonally no significance (p > 0,05) difference in abundance was found over the whole period.

Alípio de Miranda Ribeiro was one of the foremost Brazilian naturalists of his era and published extensively on all vertebrate groups. His son, Paulo de Miranda Ribeiro (1901-1965), was an ichthyologist, and, as his father, worked at the Museu Nacional, in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. Although the papers of Alípio and Paulo de Miranda Ribeiro are commonly cited, two distinct forms are found: Ribeiro and Miranda-Ribeiro. The use a hyphen between Miranda and Ribeiro (spo-radically), and verified names of ancestor and descendants suggest that the better form for citation is Miranda-Ribeiro. A short biographical note on Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro is provided.

Specimens of Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) an asiatic species were caugth in Capão do Tigre, Curitiba, Paraná, South of Brazil, for the first time, feeding on Tinocallis kahawalnokani (Kirkaldy) (Hemiptera, Aphididae) on Lagerstroemia indica Linnaeus (Lythraceae).

In this survey 1,500 samples of nematodes, representing 151 species, distributed in 20 superfamilies, parasitizing Brazilian mammals (Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Chiroptera. Edentata, Lagomorpha, Marsupialia, Perissodactyla, Primates, Rodentia) and deposited between 1916-1963 in the CHIOC were studied. New host records were established for 52 Parasite species distributed in 15 superfamilies, adding new data to previous reports of mammalian nematodes in Brazil.

Data about activity patterns, hourly and monthly, on five phyllostomid bats, Glossophaga soricina (Pallas, 1766), Anoura caudifer (E. Geoffroy, 1818), Camilla perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758), Sturnira lilium (E. Geoffroy, 1810) and Platyrrhinus lineatus (E. Geoffroyi, 1810), studied over a one year period at the Panga Ecological Reserve, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais state, south-eastern Brazil, are reported and discussed.

Hesperandra thomasi sp. nov. is described and illustrated.

The external features of egg, larva and pupa of Dione juno juno (Cramer, 1779) are described and llustrated, based upon light and scanning electron microscapy.

The externaifeaturesof egg, larvaandpupa of Heliconius erato phyllis (Fabricius, 1775) are described and illustrated, based upon light and scanning electron microscopy.

Plagiometriona (Plagiometriona) dijfusa sp.novo from Conceição da Barra, Espirito Santo State, Brazil, is described.

The Oweniidae consist of five genera of tubiculous polychaetes occurring in all oceans from tropical topolarareas: Owenia Delle Chiaje, 1842, Myriochele Malmgren, 1867, Galathowenia Kirkegaard, 1959, Myriowenia Hartrnan, 1960 and Myrioglobula Hartrnan, 1967. The group is regarded as monophyletic based on the presence of dense fields of bidentate neuropodial hooks. Fourteen species were submitted to a cladistic analysis in PAUP 3.1.1 with the usage of 19 morphological characters.The taxonomic status of the ingroup taxa could be evaluated and it has been found that: (1) Owenia, Myriowenia and Myrioglobula are monophyletic, and (2) Myriochele, and Galathowenia are both paraphyletic taxa.

This research was carried out in twenty counties of the following regions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul: Plain, Central Depression, Plateau and Coast Plain to find out the diversity of mite predators in these places. Forty-six vegetable species were sampled, thirty species of miles of the families Anystidae, Ascidae, Cheyletidae, Cunaxidae, Phyloseiidae and Stigmaeidae were mel. The Phytoseiidae were the mite that presented the greatest diversity, being present in the majority of the sample plants. Most of the Phytoseiidae that were met belong to five species of the Euseius Wainstein, 1962 genus, the second genus of this family was Iphiseiodes DeLeon, 1966, with just one species. The Stigmaeidae come up as second family in number but fewer than Phytoseiidae. In this family, the most common mite belong to the Agistemus Sumers, 1960 genus. The biggest of the mites species (13 species), was met in Morus spp. (Moraceae) and Tabebuia spp. (Bignoniaceae); Phaseolus vulgaris (Papilionaceae); only one species of the mite was met in Campomanesia spp. (Myrtaceae), Phaseolus vulgaris (Papilionaceae) and Rosa spp. (Rosaceae). In Alamanda spp.(Apocinaceae), Ficus spp. (Moraceae), Jacaranda mimosifolia (Bignoniaceae) and Solanum spp. (Solanaceae) were met mites predators. A dichotomic key is presented to separate the families, genus and species of the mites.

The effectiveness of a waste stabilization pond, to remove intestinal helminth eggs and protozoan cysts was studied in San Martin de Porres, Lima, Peru. From September to October 2000 four collections of samples were performed from raw domestic wastewater and from contends of primary, secondary and tertiary ponds. A comparative study of performance of the concentrations methods of Ritchie and Faust was also done. The overall average removal of parasitic forms was as follow: 69.37% from raw water and primary pond; 48.34% from primary to secondary pond; 85.45% from secondary to tertiary pond and 97.69% from raw water to tertiary pond. There was no significant difference in the quantitative performance of Ritchic and Faust methods. Giardia duodenalis (Lambl, 1859) Alexeieff, 1914, Entamoeba coli (Gras, 1879) Casagrandi & Barbagallo, 1895 and Ascaris lumbricoides (Linnaeus, 1758) were detected with both methods. Three other parasites were detected only by Ritchie method: Taenia sp., Rodentolepis nana (von Siebold, 1852) Spasskii, 1954 and Trichuris trichiura (Linnaeus, 1771) Stiles, 1901 and only Faust detected Isospora belli Wenyon, 1923. Overall number of protozoa cysts was higher than the number of helminth eggs. At the end, wastewater had a concentration of 1.5 parasitic forms L¹ what is considered inappropríate for ultimate use in agriculture by current standards.

The aim of this study was to provide information on the biology of a subtropical population ofthe hermit crab Petrochirus diogenes focusing size structure, sex ratio, reproductive period and morphometric relationships. Monthly samples were done between January and December 1995 at Armação of Itapocoroy, Penha, southern Brazil, using two over-trawls in depths from 6.0 to 10.0 m. A total of 126 individuais were collected. Overall sex ratio did not differ from 1:1. When the sex ratio was analyzed for each size class, it was skewed for females in the smallest size classes while males outnumbered females in the largest ones. The mean size (cephalothoracic length) of P. diogenes was 30.61 ± 12.52 mm and the size structure of this population was skewed to the right. Males were on average larger and heavier than both ovigerous and non-ovigerous females, which, in turn, showed similar sizes and weights. The ovigerous females represented 61% ofall females and occurred from January to April and in September and December. The relationship of cephalothoracic length and both cephalothoracic width and crab weight were isometric. Both crab size and weight showed a negative allometry with shell weight, indicating that larger/heavier crabs use proportionally lighter shells than small-sized ones.

During June 1999 to June 2000 one hundred and forty seven females of Hoplosternum littorale Hancock, 1828 were collected from the Curiaú River, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil. The objective of this study was to determine the fecundity and the type of spawning of H. littorale. Analysis of the percentage distribution of the oocyte diameter softh e females, in five different stages of gonadal development, showed that this species is a total spawner. There were two different size graups of oocytes with synchranic development. The total fecundity varied from 9, 144 to 31, 698 mature oocytes.The fecundity, when related to total length and weight, showed that it increases with the enhance in total length and weight.

The Neotropic cormorant is one of the most comm on estuarine birds along SantaCatarina's shore, especially in artisanal fishery areas, where it obtains food easily. During the period from January, 1996 to December, 1999, and of January to December, 2001, the cormorants were monitored monthly in the estuary. The population P. brasilianus (Gmelin, 1789) presented seasonal changes with the same annual pattern of increment of the abundance. Significant differences were recorded between the seasons and the medium abundance of birds. Those differences can be attributed to the events of the life cicle of the species and the oscillations in the estuary water temperature.

The crustaeeans of Aeglidae family oeeur in South America's fresh water enviranments, featuring as important links in the food chains. The present article has the intention to give an acount of the results from investigations made from April/2000 to July/2001 on the biological and ecological features of Aegla leptodactyla Buckup & Rossi, 1977, an endemic species from the headwaters of the Rio Pelotas Basin in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The sampling was performed at the Rio da Divisa, tributary of Rio Pelotas, municipal district of São José dos Ausentes, Rio Grande do Sul. The animais were collected with a hand net (puçá) at four different sites of the river. High contents of dissolved oxygen was verified, with a medium value of 108% and alow conductivity (avarage of 13.7mS/cm). The water mean temperature was 16ºC and the pH remained neutral, average of 7.5. The velocity of the water current varied from 0.54 to 0.78m/s. A total of 1,323 males and 1,112 females of A. leptodactyla was sampled. Ovigerous females were observed from April through September and the smallest egg bearing female measured 14.09 mm cephalothorax length. The recruitment took place in November and December. The sex-ratio of the population was 1.19 males for 1 female.

To verify the possible occurrence of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1761) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) in a rural area in Northern Paraná, Brazil, a water tank was installedon a farm, to work as an artificial breeding site. Collections were carried out every 15 days, during a period of 2 years. 12,876 Culicidae larvae, belonging to 10 different species, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, were collected, indicating their occurrence.

Monitoring of the shorebirds of the Diamanle Branco saline located at the municipality of Galinhos, in the coast of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, was initiated in 1998, with qualitative surveys, bird traps using mist net, captured and banding and field observations on the diet of some species. Parameters such as constancy were verified, specific diversity was calculated through Pearson correlation, We registered 21 species of shorebirds, as follows: Pluvialis squatarola (Linnaeus, 1758), Charadrius semipulmatus Bonaparte 1825, renaria interpres (Linnaeus, 1758), Tringaflavipes (Gmelin, 1789), T. melanoleuca (Gmelin, 1789) and Actitis macularia (Linnaeus, 1766). It was observed the reproduction of Charadrius collaris Vieillot, 1818, C. wilsonia Ord, 1814 and Himantopus himantopus (Müller, 1776), in the surroundings of the saline evaporation tanks. The observation of Calidris himantopus (Bonaparte, 1826) in the evaporation tanks comprised the first record of the species in Northeastern Brazil. It was verified that A. interpres, T. flavipes, T. melanoleuca and Calidris pusilla (Linnaeus, 1766) feed upon A rtemia franciscana (Kellog, 1996) in the first hours ofthe day in the evaporation tanks. The mean diversity comprised 2 and 3, and the results of equibility showed that the species are well distributed in the samples. A positive association was registered between Haematopus palliatus Temminck, 1820, C. collaris, C. wilsonia, and H. himantopus. These, in turn, associated inversely to A. interpres, A. macularia, C.pusilla and C. minutilla (Vieillot, 1819), which is possibly due to the fact that some species are resident, reproducing in the locality, with movements distinct from that specie wich migrate during the boreal winter. Traps, surveys, re-lraps, and recovers indicate that the Diamante Branco saline comprises na important area for the conservation of the shorebids.

Results of a decapad fauna survey canducted during the AquaRAP expeditian to Río Tahuamanu and Río Manuripi Basins, in the Departmentaf Panda, Balivia, in September, 1996 are presented. Ten species of shrimps and crabs, representing three families and six genera were faund. New recards for Balivia were Macrobrachium depressimanum Pereira, 1993, Macrobrachium brasiliense (Heller, 1862), Acetes paraguayensis Hansen, 1919, Sylviocarcinus devillei H. Milne-Edwards, 1853, Sylviocarcinus maldonadoensis (Pretzmann, 1978), and valdivia serrata White, 1847.

The new species of didemnid ascidian, Trididemnum maragogi sp. nov., is described from the Northeastern Brazilian coast. Many small colonies aggregate on calcareous algae. They are brown and more or less covered by spicules, depending on exposure to the sun, which suggests the presence of symbiotic algae. This species is characterized by a non pigmented zooid with a very long oral siphon bordered by six finger-like lobes, a branchial sac with anterior and posterior non perforated areas, a short muscular process on the esophageal peduncle and a testis with one large follicle partially surrounded by 6-7 coils of the sperm duct.