South Brazil Bight - Key Species
Brazilian Sardine (Sardinella brasiliensis)
Targetted by the purse-seine fishery, the sardine is the most abundant small pelagic species in Brazilian waters and also the most important stock in terms of capture volume. It exhibits strong schooling behavior and is a planktonic feeder, with fast growth and a short life span. Sardine spawning occurs mainly during spring and summer in the SBB. Other abundant pelagic fish species are the anchovy and the jack mackerel (Trachurus lathami).
Mullets (Mugil platanus & M. curema)
Mullets are abundant pelagic species in shallow coastal waters and estuarine zones. In the Cananéia-Iguape estuarine system mullet is one of the main fishing resources, especially for the artisanal fisheries. Originally a bycatch species in the sardine fishery, M. platanus has become an important target of the purse-seine industrial fleet, especially since 2000. Most of catches occur in winter months, during the reproductive migration.
Mackerel (Scomber japonicus)
S. japonicus is a coastal pelagic schooling species with some epipelagic to mesopelagic distribution over the continental slope. Spawning most often occurs at water temperatures of 15° to 20°C, which results in several spawning periods. The diet of adults includes copepods, other crustaceans, fish and squid. Its predators include tunas, billfishes, white seabass, yellowtail (Seriola lalandi) and other fishes, as well as sharks and sea birds.
Squid (Doryteuthis plei)
D. plei (formerly Loligo plei) is one of the dominant cephalopod species on the continental shelf of the South Brazil Bight and the most important loliginid fishing stock in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina. In these areas, it is mainly fished as a by-catch of the pink-shrimp trawlers and seasonally by coastal artisanal hand-jigging. Doryteuthis species have short life cycles and possibly spawn only once. Doryteuthis plei are important prey of sh and vertebrate species. Studies indicate that D. plei is mostly piscivorous and probably opportunistic, with seasonal and ontogenetic shifts in diet.
Croaker (Micropogonias furnieri)
The white-mouth croaker is found over muddy and sandy bottoms in coastal waters and estuaries where their nursery and feeding grounds are located. Feeding habits vary with ontogenic development and season; juveniles feed on benthic migratory crustaceans and sessile boring molluscs and adults are benthic-feeders,occasionally capturing fish. Croaker is an important regional seafood which is usually marketed fresh or salted.
Cutlass Fish (Trichiurus lepturus)
T. lepturus are generally found over muddy bottoms of shallow coastal waters. Juveniles feed mostly on euphausiids, small planktonic crustaceans and small fish whereas adults feed mainly on fish and occasionally on squids and crustaceans. Large adults usually feed near the surface during the daytime and migrate to the bottom at night.
Weakfish Cynoscion (Macrodon ancylodon)
The king weakfish is a demersal (bottom-feeding) sciaenid species found in South American Atlantic coastal waters from the Gulf of Paria in Venezuela to Bahia Blanca in Argentina. It is an economically important species due to its important abundance and wide acceptance by consumers.
Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)
Skipjack tuna occur in offshore waters near the continental slope, but larvae are restricted to waters with surface temperatures of 15°C to 30°C. They school in surface waters with birds, drifting objects, sharks or whales, and feed on fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and molluscs; cannibalism is common. They are exploited by local commercial fishing fleets (with live-bait fish). Almost 20% (~25,000 mt) of landings in the Atlantic Ocean originate from the South Brazil LME, where skipjack are the most important tuna species.
Lanternfish (Maurolicus stehmanni)
Lantern fish are a mesopelagic species that inhabits the outer continental shelf and slope of the South Brazil LME, where it plays an important role as a forage species in the foodweb. They have a short life span, rapid growth and great fecundity; consequently they are vulnerable to physical or biological changes in the environment.
Shrimps (Xyphopenaeus kroyeri, Farfantepenaeus paulensis & F. brasiliensis)
X. kroyeri, F. paulensis and F. brasiliensis are the most exploited benthic shrimp species in this area. In coastal fisheries these species have sustained intensive trawling. During the shrimp fishery, a large quantity of miscellaneous fishes are also caught as bycatch, most of which is discarded at sea.
Monkfish (Lophius gastrophysus)
Historically, L. gastrophysus was considered bycatch in the commercial shrimp-trawler fishery on the continental shelf, but since 2000 this species has been one of the main targets of the deepsea bottom fishery due to its high international fish market value. The average catch increased from 135 t.year-1 (1986-1995) to 2358 t.year-1 (1996-2003) resulting in a reduction in catches. Monkfish is caught between Cabo Frio (23ºS) and Cabo de Santa Marta (28º30S) in depths greater than 200 m and is mostly piscivorous.
Rays and sharks (Atlantoraja sp, Squatina sp, Carcharhinus sp, Squalus sp, Mustelus sp)
Rays and sharks are landed by several fleets, and skates are taken as bycatch in all demersal (bottom trawl) fisheries. At least 35% of the 169 elasmobranchs species found in Brazilian waters are considered endangered (Instituto Chico Mendes de Biodiversidade, ICMBio, 2011).
Whales and dolphins
A large variety (around 43 species) of whales and dolphins inhabit the waters off Brazil. Species found in the SBB include rorqual whales Balaenoptera sp, humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, marine tucuxis Sotalia fluviensis, fransciscana Pontoporia fluviatilis, Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis, offshore bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncates among others). Whales typically migrate between high-latitude summer feeding areas and low-latitude wintering grounds. The humpback whale migrates to the Brazilian coast to breed and give birth in the winter.
Seabirds (Sula leucogaster, Larus dominicanus, Fregata magnificen,s Sterna eurygnatha)
Some islands of the SBB serve as reproductive sites for several seabirds species. Some of them have been harmed by the shing, especially oceanic species such as albatrosses and petrels in long-lines. These seabirds act as predators feeding on many other marine species.
Turtles
The main species of turtle in the SSB have all received vulnerability classifications by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) . These include the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta (endangered), green turtle Chelonia mydas (endangered), leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea (criticaly endangered), hawksbill sea turtle Eretmochelys imbricate (critically endangered) and olive-ridley sea turtle Lepidochelus olivacea (vulnerable).
As a very diverse ecosystem, there are several other important fish and invertebrate species in the system. Some examples include the fishes Umbrina canosai, Trachurus lathami, Helicolenus lahillei, Ariomma bondi, the yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares, the swordfish Xiphias gladius and the mackerel Scomberomorus spp