Journal of Fish Biology (2016) doi:10.1111/jfb.12944, available online at wileyonlinelibrary.com
Habitat residency and movement patterns of Centropomus parallelus juveniles in a subtropical estuarine complex F. A. Daros*†, H. L. Spach† and A. T. Correia*†‡§ *Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR), Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal, †Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Campus Politécnico, Caixa Postal 19031, 81531-900 Curitiba, Brasil and ‡Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Fernando Pessoa (FCS/UFP), Rua Carlos Maia 296, 4200-150, Porto, Portugal (Received 2 August 2015, Accepted 8 February 2016) Sixty Centropomus parallelus juveniles were collected in March 2013 in two locations (Tromomó and Guaraguaçu) inside the Paranaguá estuarine complex, southern Brazil. The habitat residency and movement patterns of the individuals were inferred from Sr:Ca ratios and age recorded in the otoliths. Data suggest that the species spawns preferentially in brackish areas mainly from October to January, and that growth rate during the early juvenile stage could be influenced by environmental salinity. Furthermore, the data also show that C. parallelus can occupy diverse salinity habitats and migrate among marine, brackish and freshwater areas within the Paranaguá estuarine complex, showing a high environmental plasticity and adaptation. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
Key words: Centropomidae; life cycle; microchemistry; microstructure; sagitta.
INTRODUCTION The fat snook Centropomus parallelus Poey 1860 is an important euryhaline species in recreational and commercial fisheries (Mendonça & Katsuragawa, 2001), and its high retail value (Alvarez-Lajonchère & Tsuzuki, 2008) means that it has a large aquaculture potential (Corrêa & Cerqueira, 2009). It inhabits inshore waters, estuaries and coastal lagoons of the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic, occurring from Florida to the southern coast of Brazil (Rivas, 1986). In the Paranaguá estuarine complex (PEC), C. parallelus is found in several environments, ranging from marine coastal areas to freshwater streams (Spach et al., 2004; Felix et al., 2007; Contente et al., 2011; Vitule et al., 2013). Centropomus parallelus is now considered as amphidromous, i.e. it migrates between fresh water and salt water during a portion of its life cycle (Riede, 2004; Silvano et al., 2006; Fortes et al., 2014). It has a feeding regime mainly based on fishes, insects and crustaceans, although early juveniles are also zooplanktivorous (Corrêa & Uieda, 2007; Alvarez-Lajonchère & Tsuzuki, 2008; Feltrin-Contente et al., 2009). It is a protandric §Author to whom correspondence email: atcorreia.ciimar@gmail.com
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