Ecologia populacional do camarão sete-barbas Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Heller, 1862) e análise ecológica da fauna acompanhante no litoral catarinense

Abstract

Throughout the Brazilian coast, fisheries for the seabob shrimp, Xiphopenaeus kroyeri, can be found, having significant economic, social and cultural importance. With the low selectivity of the nets, these highly predatory fisheries causes substantial damage to the substrate and benthic community, however being very efficient in catching the target species. In this thesis the data from shrimp trawls of the coast of Santa Catarina were analyzed from different perspectives, resulting in three chapters. In the first chapter, we sought to analyze the distribution of the catch of the seabob shrimp and aspects of its population in Armação do Itapocoroy Penha, SC, over an annual cycle at different sampling depths. In the second chapter we explored the abundance data gathered over thirteen years for other species captured in the same study area, in order to highlight ecological patterns of the community over time. In the last chapter, trawl samples from different fishing spots of the Pinheira beach, Palhoça County, were analyzed in order to check how abiotic factors influences the species composition and ecological descriptors of the fish assemblage. Considering the three studies, it was concluded that the seabob shrimp population shows no stratification between the isobaths, however a large number of young shrimp is found in shallow areas that are not adequately protected by the current closed season. Regarding the bycatch, there were high oscillations of in the specific composition as well as for the ecological descriptors over time, but the pattern of having few common and abundant species and a large number of rare, infrequent species, was seen in all study sites.