%0 Journal Article
%T Population biology of Stellifer rastrifer, S. brasiliensis and S. stellifer in Caraguatatuba Bay, northern coast of S o Paulo, Brazil
%A Ma¨ªra Pombo
%A Marcia Regina Denadai
%A Alexander Turra
%J Brazilian Journal of Oceanography
%D 2012
%I Universidade de S?o Paulo
%R 10.1590/s1679-87592012000300001
%X Ecosystems may reflect environmental changes in many respects, from the debilitation of individuals to alterations in community composition. Equally, population parameters may provide reliable indications of environmental changes. Members of the sciaenid fish genus Stellifer are usually very abundant where they occur, often with two or more species living in sympatry. Here, the population dynamics of three Stellifer species from southeastern Brazil were assessed. Sampling was carried out in shallow marine areas of Caraguatatuba Bay, from August 2003 to October 2004. The species evaluated were Stellifer rastrifer (n=3183), S. brasiliensis (n=357) and S. stellifer (n=116). The area under greater continental influence tended to support more, but smaller individuals. Size variations over time were similar among species and negatively correlated with Krel, which showed smooth fluctuations. The general length-frequency distribution was concentrated between 6.0 and 9.0 cm, and the great majority of females did not present mature gonads during the sampling period. The findings support the existence of a stratification by size for these species, indicating that the area is essential for the development of younger fish. Failure to consider these characteristics for the management of similar areas may have serious implications for these environments. Os ecossistemas podem refletir mudan as ambientais em muitos aspectos, desde o enfraquecimento dos indiv¨ªduos at¨¦ altera  es na composi  o da comunidade. Do mesmo modo, os parametros populacionais podem fornecer indica  es confi¨¢veis de mudan as ambientais. Sciaen¨ªdeos do g¨ºnero Stellifer s o peixes geralmente muito abundantes e em suas popula  es ¨¦ frequente a ocorr¨ºncia de duas ou mais esp¨¦cies simp¨¢tricas. No presente trabalho, a dinamica populacional de tr¨ºs esp¨¦cies de Stellifer do sudeste do Brasil foi avaliada. A amostragem ocorreu em ¨¢guas rasas das zonas marinhas da Ba¨ªa de Caraguatatuba, de agosto de 2003 a outubro de 2004. As esp¨¦cies avaliadas foram Stellifer rastrifer (n = 3.183), S. brasiliensis (n = 357) e S. stellifer (n = 116). Os resultados mostraram que a ¨¢rea sob maior influ¨ºncia continental tende a suportar um n¨²mero maior de indiv¨ªduos menores. Varia  es de tamanho ao longo do tempo foram semelhantes entre as esp¨¦cies e negativamente correlacionadas com o Krel, que apresentou flutua  es suaves. De modo geral a distribui  o de freq¨¹¨ºncia de comprimento ficou concentrada entre 6,0 e 9,0 cm e para a grande maioria das f¨ºmeas as g nadas se apresentaram imaturas durante o per¨ªodo avaliado. Os resultad
%K Stellifer
%K esp¨¦cies simp¨¢tricas
%K plataforma continental rasa
%K distribui  o espa o-temporal
%K caracteriza  o sexual
%K rela  o peso-comprimento
%K Stellifer
%K sympatric species
%K shallow continental shelf waters
%K spatio-temporal distribution
%K sexual characterization
%K weight-length relationship
%U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-87592012000300001