RCAAP Repository

A new species of titi monkey, Catticebus, is described based on five specimens obtained from the state of Sergipe, north-eastern Brazil. It is a member of the Personatus group, but is easily distinguished from the other forms. The most noticeable differences are in the pelage coloration, the forehead, crown, and ear being black, and having a zebra-like, striped pattern on the anterior half of the back. Distinct features of its dental morphology and craniometry are also described.

Haematological parameters as erythrocytes, leukocytes and plasma glucose in Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmberg, 1887 were analyzed. Fish were parasitized with Argulus sp. (Crustacea, Branchiura) and treated with 0.4 mg of thriclorphon 500/L water. The effects of parasitism and the action of the treatment were evaluated. Parasitized fish showed greater number of monocytes (P>0.05) and special granulocitic cells (P<0.01) in the peripheric blood than the unparasitized (control) fish. Parasitized fish showed lower number of thrombocytes (P>0.05). Organophosphate treatment presented significantly reduction (P>0.05) in red blood cells (RBC) and hemoglobin.

Species composition and abundance of fishes that escaped from aquaculture facilities during catastrophic flooding in the Paranapanema and Tibagi rivers, in January, 1997 was estimated. In all , 1,292,000 adult individuais belonging to 11 species and 1 hybrid, were introduced into these rivers; only one species was native. The disaster is attributed to the illegal occupation of the river banks, and the non observance of standard measures designed to avoid escapement.

Fifty-three nematode species, related to 9 superfamilies, 13 families and 26 genera, recovered from Brazilian fishes, represented by 75 host species are presented. Thirty-eight nematode species, out of the 53 reported, are also illustrated and included in measurement tables, one is listed and figured, and two only listed. Data on family, genus and subgenus level, are provided.

A small mammal study was carried out in Pamparrão valley, Sumidouro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 1991 to July 1996. The area was characterised by small rural properties with vegetable plantations, pasture lands and small forest fragments. Small mammals were captured in seven line transects along the valley. Eleven small mammal species were captured: the didelphid marsupials Didelphis aurita, Philander frenata and Monodelphis americana, and the rodents Nectomys squamipes, Akodon cursor, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Bolomys lasiurus, Oecomys concolor (Sigmodontinae), Rattus ratlus (Murinae), Proechimys iheringi and Euryzygo-matomys guiara (Echimyidae). The heterogeneous habitat configuration probably allowed the occurrence of marsupials and more rodent species when compared to studies in monoculture areas.

Synapterpes (S.) hanleyi (Pfeiffer, 1846) is characterized by anatomy, synonymy and geographical distribution. Shell and soft parts were studied and important taxonomic characters evaluated and illustrated. These studies give conditions to characterize the species and include it in the genus Synapterpes Pilsbry, 1896 and distinguish S. hanleyi from the other species of Synapterpes s.s. known only by their shells, respectively from Brazil and Colombia: S.(S.) coronatus (Pfeiffer, 1846) and S.(S.) wallisi (Mousson, 1869).

Biological aspects of palemonids, collected from March, 91 to December, 95 in the Ratones Hidrographic Basin, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, have been investigated. Individuals of different sizes of Macrobrachium acanthurus (Weigmann, 1836), Macrobrachium carcinus (Linnaeus, 1758), Macrobrachium olfersii (Weigmann, 1836), Macrobrachium potiuna (Müller, 1880), Palaemonetes argentinus Nobili, 1901 and Palaemon pandaliformis (Stimpson, 1871) were registered. These prawns, showed reproductive strategies, typical of the Palaemonidae (Rafinesque, 1815), associated to species particularities, and seem to adapt to different environmental conditions.

The population structure, reproductive aspects and feeding of Phalloceros caudimaculatus (Hensel, 1868), Poecilia vivipara Bloch &amp; Schneider (1801), Phalloptychus januarius (Hensel, 1868) e Jenynsia lineata (Jenyns, 1842) were studied in five sampling stations in the Ubatiba stream, municipality of Maricá (State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). In relation to the population structure, P. caudimaculatus was more representative upstream; P. vivipara mid-stream and downstream; P. januarius and J. lineata downstream. The species presented preponderance of females, except in the intermediate length classes. The occurence of imatures and females with young pointed out a long reproductive period and favoured areas for reproduction of the four species. The young forms of P. caudimaculatus were more abundant in station 1 (upstream), P. vivipara in station 4 (downstream) and P. januarius and J. lineata in station 5 (Maricá coastal lagoon). The higher occurences of females with young belong to P. caudimaculatus, in station 1 (upstream) and P. vivipara and P. januarius in station 5 (Maricá lagoon). The four studied species presented herbivorous diet and the differences found in the feeding may reflect the differences in the food availability in the microhabitats used by the species. So, we concluded that the studied species presented evident segregation in several levels of the different available resources in the environment.

Acará bandeira, Pterophyllum scalare Cuvier &amp; Valenciennes, 1831 is a Neotropical cichlid fish, which has not been studied under a scientific approach. The objective of this work was to identify and describe the reproductive behaviour involved in the various phases of its reproductive cycle, such as territorial disputes and its establishment, substrate selection for spawning, courtship and mating, selection of mate and parental care. Twenty males and ten females of the study species were observed in the laboratory, over a period of six consecutive months. Behaviour descriptions resulting from these observations were analysed and the results show that the reproductive males are very agressive in the initial phase of reproduction. Agressiveness is a constant variable in encounters between territorial fishes, and possession of territory is of fundamental importance for reproduction of this species. Males with established territories were those which very successful in atracting the females during courtship. The selection of the females were influenced by the possession of territory, the type of substrate available for spawning and the body size. The fish preferred aquatic plants with broad leaves as an adequate substrate for spawning. It was observed that there was a short-term biparental care, before the eggs hatched, during which period the males played an important role in protecting them. After the eggs hatched, the male continued to protect the hatchling in his mouth, but played a lesser role, possibly to seek other females for mating so as to increase his reproductive output. Selection of a good mate by the female and the high degree of parental care were the factors which influence the reproductive success of the study species.

Bithoracochaeta Stein, 1911 and eigth known species are redescribed: B. annulata Stein, 1911; B. atricornis Malloch, 1934; B. flavicoxa Malloch, 1934; B. leucoprocta (Wiedemann, 1830), B. maricaensis Couri &amp; Motta, 1994 , B. nigricornis Malloch, 1934; B. plumata Albuquerque, 1955; B. varicornis (Coquillett, 1900). The redescriptions of B. sociabilis Blanchard, 1937 and B. pacifera (Giglio-Tos, 1893) are not presented because no material was available. A key to identification of the redescribed species is presented.

The neotropical genus Parentheca Berg, 1891 is revised and redescribed with emphasis on male and female genitalia, and placed into "section 1" of Pentatomini which includes those genera lacking a basal spine or tubercle at the abdominal venter. Parentheca subfurcata Berg, 1891 (type species) and Parentheca aeliomorpha Berg, 1891, both from Argentina are redescribed, also with emphasis on male and female genitalia, which are fully illustrated. The lectotype and paralectotype of P. aeliomorpha are designated.

This work consists of age, growth, and circuli formation period determination and the relation of reproduction, temperature, and pluviosity on the growth of S. intermedius Garavello &amp; Britski, 1990. The growth curve was adjusted by the Bertalanfy's expression and the relationship between weight and size was made by the minimum square method to determine the conditioning factor. Gonadossomatic index (IGS) was used to study the reproduction. The assintotic values for length were 33,94 cm and 44,81 cm for males and females, respectively. The circulus were formed annually and the growth was slow and the maximum age was determined to be nine years. The formation of the circuli was influenced by the reproduction, probably allied to other abiotic factors like temperature and rain.

Fifty-five specimens of bluefish, Pomatomus saltator (Linnaeus, 1766), collected at Cabo Frio (23ºS, 42ºW), State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between March 1995 and November 1995, were necropsied to study their infracommunities of metazoan parasites. Sixteen species of metazoan parasites were collected. All fish were parasitized by one or more metazoan. The digeneans were the majority of the parasite specimens collected, with 44.2%, followed by the helminth larval stages (cestodes, acanthocephalans, and nematodes) with 40.6%. The Simpson index for all parasite species was 0.097, indicating lack of dominance by any species in the parasite community. Microcotyle pomatomi Goto, 1899 showed the higher frequency of dominance and mean relative dominance. The parasite species of P. saltator showed the typical overdispersed pattern of distribution. The majority of parasite species showed positive correlation between the host's total body length and prevalence or parasite abundance. Two species, Brachyphallus parvus (Manter, 1947) and Phocanema sp. have differences in their prevalences and abundances in relation to sex of the hosts. The mean diversity in the infracommunities of P. saltator was H'=1.243±0.521, with correlation with the host's total length and without difference between male and female fish. The components of the parasite community of P. saltator showed overall positive association. All pairs confonned by ectoparasites and adult endoparasites species showed signiticant positive association or covariation between their abundances. Five pairs of endoparasites larval species showed positive association or covariation, and two pairs, showed negative association and covariation. The parasite community of P. saltator was dominated by species with high prevalence values, that composed a high number of associations, thus, is considered closer to the interactive type.

The present study proposes a modification of the technique described by PURSER &amp; MOIR (1959) for the quantitative evaluation of rumen ciliate based on an adaptation described by DEHORITY (I984). The modifying process includes: the replacement of two drops of brilliant green dye, for at least four hours, by three drops of lugol solution, for at least 15 minutes. It was made a comparative evaluation of these stainings. It was concluded that lugol solution can replace the brilliant green dye showing the following advantages: staining time reduction and subsequent speeding of sample processing; evidence of skeletal plates of entodiniomorphs making its identification easier; improved observation of small ciliates and inconspicuous structures; improved total counting and generic identification of the ciliates.

Between 1989 and 1995, twenty caves in the Distrito Federal area in mid-western Brazil were assessed for bat species richness, frequency, spatial distribution, behavior, reproduction and inter-specific cohabitation. The general state of conservation of the caves was also assessed. Of the 20 caves studied, 12 were less than 100 m long, five between 100 m and 300 m, and three were longerthan 300 m. Twenty-two species of six different families were observed: 16 species belonged to Phyllostomidae, two to Vespertilionidae and Mormoopidae and one to Furipteridae and Emballonuridae. In this study, 17 species were characterized as Distrito Federal cave dwellers. The most prevalent were Desmodus rotundus, Glossophaga soricina and Carollia perspicillata. The least prevalent were Lonchorhina aurita, Pteronotus gymnonotus and Phylloderma stenops. Since some Anoura caudifer, Platyrrhinus lineatus, Myotis nigricans, Micronycteris minuta, and Eptesicus brasiliensis individuals were captured only while going into the caves early in the night, they were not considered cave dwellers. Even though, they probably use the caves as a daytime roosting place. Surprisingly, Lonchophylla dekeyseri, considered to be the only endemic bat species in the Cerrado ecosystem, was observed in three of the surveyed caves. Further biological studies are necessary to determine the biology of L. dekeyseri and the necessity of its conservation. The bat colonies observed were usually of a small size. Few colonies of D. rotundus and Anoura geoffroyi contained more than 300 individuals of both sexes. Only a inale group of L. aurita was observed in the Distrito Federal area. Twelve of the surveyed caves were hard to access and therefore well protected. Four of the caves received some public visitation, two were located near limestone mines, one was located near an urban area. and one had both public visitation and deforestation near its entrance. In this latter cave, no bats were observed after november 1994, probably due to the urbanization process. Special attention should be given to eight of the surveyed caves in any plan made for the conservation of cave bats in the Distrito Federal area. These caves host a high bat diversity (six or more species) and also shelter two rare and one endemic bat species.

Euctenochira frieirocostai a new species from Japi Mountain, Jundiaí, São Paulo, Brazil, is described.

Pupa of Stephomyia espiralis Maia, 1993, and larvae of Asphondylia communis Maia &amp; Couri, 1992 and Proasphondylia guapirae Maia, 1993 are described and illustrated. Asphondylia maytenuse Maia &amp; Couri, 1992 is transfered to Bruggmanniella Tavares, 1909 and its larva is characterized.

The length/weight relationships are described for Astyanax bimaculatus, A. schubarti, Aphyocharax nasutus, Cheirodon notomelas, Hyphessobrycon callistus, Hemigrammus marginatus, Moenkhausia intermedia, M. sanctae-filomenae and Roeboides paranensis of tropical freshwater fishes in the high Paraná River floodplain. The fishes were caught over a period of 12 month (March 1993 to February 1994). The equations of the length/weight relationships for each species were: Wt=0.0235.Ls3.13; Wt=0.0162.Ls2.89; Wt=0.0179.Ls3.11; Wt=0.0199.Ls3.09; Wt=0.0183.Ls3.10; Wt=0.0140.Ls3.14; Wt= 0.0200.Ls3.21 and Wt=0.0101.Ls3.21, respectively.

New species are described and illustrated: Amblycerus isabelae sp.n., A. bidentatus sp.n., A. denticulatus sp.n., A. similaris sp.n., A. similis sp.n.. A. isocalcaratus sp.n. and A. luciae sp.n.. These species are recorded from Brazil and one of them, A. bidentatus sp.n., also recorded from Paraguai.

The following new species are described: Eburiini - Eburella longicollis (Bolívia, Província del Sara), Cupanoscelis serrana (Brazil, Goiás); Onciderini - Sternycha panamensis (Panamá, Panamá), Cacostola nordestina (Brazil, Paraíba); Apomecynini-Parmenonta chapadensis (Brazil, Mato Grosso), P. maculala (Argentina, Salta); Phacellini - Piola rubra (Bolívia, Santa Cruz), P. unicolor (Brazil, Pará), P. colombica (Colombia, Bolivar); Desmiphorini - Maltonea itaiuba (Venezuela. Mérida). Notes on Piola quiabentiae Marinoni, 1974 and keys to the South American species of Parmenonta Thomson, 1868 and Piola Marinoni, 1974 are added.