Impact of oceanographic conditions ondistribution and abundance of larval fish in northern brazil

Abstract

This study presents a qualitative and quantitative description of ichthyo-plankton related to the parameters temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen of the coastal and oceanic waters of the state of Maranh~ao/Brazil. The samples were collected in 67 stations during the dry season (11 and 12/1997, 7 and 9/2001) and the rainy season (6/1999) using a bongo net with mesh apertures of 500 µm. The depth of the tows varied from 20 m above the bottom at shallow stations up to 200 m at offshore stations. The fish larvae were examined to be identified up to the level of species. Only families with a frequency of occurrence of more than 40% were used in this analysis. A combination of univariate and multivariate analyzing techniques was used to define the community structure of the fish larvae.