Aline P. M. Medeiros

Bio: Aline P. M. Medeiros is an academic researcher from Federal University of Paraíba. The author has contributed to research in topics: Beta diversity & Biology. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 6 publications receiving 43 citations.

Diet and trophic organization of the fish assemblage from the Mamanguape River Estuary, Brazil

Abstract: The present work aims to characterize a fish assemblage from a northeastern Brazilian estuary according to its diet and trophic organization along the estuarine-reef gradient. Sampling was performed at the Mamanguape Estuary, and fishes were collected using three types of nets at seventeen sites, grouped into four regions according to salinity range: reefs and the lower, middle, and upper estuary. The most abundant species were Atherinella brasiliensis , Mugil curema , and Sphoeroides testudineus . The highest species abundance and richness was observed for the lower estuary. Zooplankton was the most consumed category, recorded for fortytwo species. Among the guilds, piscivores were the most abundant, followed by crab eaters. Herbivores, mostly represented by Abudefduf saxatilis , had a higher abundance in reefs, being correlated according to ANOSIM analysis to this region, while piscivores and crab eaters showed a high contribution to inner regions of the Mamanguape Estuary.

Deep reefs are not refugium for shallow-water fish communities in the southwestern Atlantic.

Abstract: The deep reef refugia hypothesis (DRRH) predicts that deep reef ecosystems may act as refugium for the biota of disturbed shallow waters. Because deep reefs are among the most understudied habitats on Earth, formal tests of the DRRH remain scarce. If the DRRH is valid at the community level, the diversity of species, functions, and lineages of fish communities of shallow reefs should be encapsulated in deep reefs.We tested the DRRH by assessing the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of 22 Brazilian fish communities between 2 and 62 m depth. We partitioned the gamma diversity of shallow ( 30 m) into independent alpha and beta components, accounted for species' abundance, and assessed whether beta patterns were mostly driven by spatial turnover or nestedness.We recorded 3,821 fishes belonging to 85 species and 36 families. Contrary to DRRH expectations, only 48% of the species occurred in both shallow and deep reefs. Alpha diversity of rare species was higher in deep reefs as expected, but alpha diversity of typical and dominant species did not vary with depth. Alpha functional diversity was higher in deep reefs only for rare and typical species, but not for dominant species. Alpha phylogenetic diversity was consistently higher in deep reefs, supporting DRRH expectations.Profiles of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversity indicated that deep reefs were not more heterogeneous than shallow reefs, contradicting expectations of biotic homogenization near sea surface. Furthermore, pairwise beta-diversity analyses revealed that the patterns were mostly driven by spatial turnover rather than nestedness at any depth. Conclusions. Although some results support the DRRH, most indicate that the shallow-water reef fish diversity is not fully encapsulated in deep reefs. Every reef contributes significantly to the regional diversity and must be managed and protected accordingly.

Distribution patterns of the fish assemblage in the Mamanguape River Estuary, North-eastern Brazil

Abstract: The Mamanguape River Estuary was studied along a continuum ranging from shallow sandstone reefs adjacent to the river mouth up to the limit of influence of seawater, the upper portions of the estuary. Fish samples were gathered using three types of nets along 17 sample sites, grouped in four regions according to salinity range (reefs and low, middle and upper estuaries), to seasonality (dry and rainy seasons) and to habitat usage (marine visitor, marine estuarine-opportunist, marine estuarine-dependent, estuarine resident and estuarine & marine). Differences were found in the fish assemblages along the estuarine-reef gradient, with most species (n = 30) being considered marine, estuarine-opportunists or estuarine-dependent, according to its abundance and distribution. A low number of species (n = 11) were considered estuarine residents. Some species exhibited significant differences in spatial distribution pattern, in which juveniles and adults predominated in different portions of the estuary, su...

Composition of the fish fauna in a tropical estuary: the ecological guild approach

Abstract: Ecological guilds have been widely applied for understanding the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. This study describes the composition and the spatio-temporal changes in the structure of the fish fauna and the movements between the estuary and the coast of a tropical estuary, the Itapissuma/Itamaraca Complex (IIC) in northeastern Brazil. Fish specimens were collected during the dry and rainy seasons in 2013 and 2014. A total of 141 species of 34 families were recorded. Almost half of the species (66 species, 47%) were exclusive to the estuary and 50 species (35%) to the coast; 25 (18%) were common to both environments. Marine species were dominant in both richness and biomass as they explore the environment during part of their life cycle, whereas estuarine species were dominant in abundance. Marine stragglers displayed a higher richness, abundance and biomass in the coastal waters. The estuarine environment was dominated by zoobenthivores in terms of richness, while detritivores prevailed in abundance and biomass. Zoobenthivores had the highest richness and abundance in coastal waters, while piscivores had the highest biomass. The IIC supports a rich fauna with a diverse trophic structure and is an important feeding and development area for migratory species.

Fish composition and assemblage structure in tropical monsoonal estuaries: Estuarine use and feeding guild approach

Abstract: The structure of fish guilds was analysed in four tropical monsoonal estuaries, namely Zuari, Mandovi, Terekhol and Kali, along India's western coast. The fish were sampled from 2017 to 2019 both temporally and spatially: temporally in three seasons, named with reference to the monsoon as before (February–May), during (June–September), and after (October–January) the monsoon and spatially from the upper, middle, and lower stretches of the estuaries. The composition of fish guilds was similar for the four estuaries but varied with the season and the location (gradient). The dominant guilds consisted of marine species, both juveniles and seasonal migrants, and carnivores and omnivores.