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South Brazil Bight - Ecology

The intrusion of wind-driven cold nutrient-rich waters is an important process enhancing system productivity and favoring the recruitment of small pelagic fish species, such as the Brazilian sardine Sardinella brasiliensis and loliginid squid. The Brazilian sardine stock sustains one of Brazil’s most important fisheries. Loliginid squid (Doryteuthis plei) are thought to play a key ecological role in the ecosystem as predators and prey, linking the pelagic and benthic sub-systems (Gasalla et al., 2010b). Sciaenids (e.g. Micropogonias furnieri, Cynoscion guatucupa, Cynoscion jamaicensis, Macrodon ancylodon) are the most abundant demersal fish species in the shelf, followed by Trichiurus lepturus, Merluccius hubbsi and rays. Other important species in coastal and estuarine zones are the mullets Mugil platanus and M. curema, and in deeper waters around 500 m, the monkfish (Lophius gastrophysus). Generally, demersal fauna is more abundant in depths less than 50 m than at greater depths further offshore, and decapod crustaceans are important prey items for benthic fish species.

One of the most important large pelagic fish species is the skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, generally associated with the western margin of the subtropical convergence. They migrate northward when cold waters from the Malvinas current reaches the slope and shelf. They consume mainly neritic (coastal) and epipelagic (oceanic pelagic – 0 to 200 m) fish and mesopelagic (oceanic pelagic – 200 to 700 m) squid and the small pelagic lanternfish Maurolicus muelleri, which is an important base of the foodweb as forage species.