Check List 9(3): 540–548, 2013 © 2013 Check List and Authors Chec List ISSN 1809-127X (available at www.checklist.org.br) Journal of species lists and distribution Fishes of Cuniã Lake, Madeira River Basin, Brazil PECIES S Luiz J. de Queiroz 1*, Gislene Torrente-Vilara 2, Fabíola G. Vieira 3, Willian M. Ohara 1, Jansen Zuanon 4, OF Carolina R. C. Doria 1 ISTS L 1 Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Laboratório de Ictiologia e Pesca. Campus José Ribeiro Filho, BR 364, km 9.5. CEP 76801-059. Porto Velho, RO, Brazil. 2 Universidade Federal do Amazonas. Departamento de Biologia. Av. Rodrigo Otávio Jordão Ramos, 3000. CEP 69077-000. Manaus, AM, Brazil. 3 Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento Regional e Meio Ambiente. CEP 76801-059. Porto Velho, RO, Brazil. 4 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Coordenação de Biodiversidade — CBIO/INPA. Av. André Araújo, 2936, Aleixo. CEP 69080-971. Manaus, AM, Brazil. * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: River in Rondônia State, Brazil. A total of 11,949 specimens representing eight orders, 34 families, and 189 species were sampled with This gill, study seine, presents and hand an inventorynets during of thethe ichthyofaunadry and wet ofseasons Cuniã Lake,between situated 2008 in and the 2012. floodplain Most ofof thethe Madeira species in collections (e.g. Acestrorhynchus minimus, Triportheus culter, Oxybrycon parvulus, Tyttocharax madeirae, Trachycorystes trachycorystesrecorded in Cuniã and Lake Scorpiodoras are commonly lyophisus found) or in represent other locations new distributional in the central records. Amazonian floodplains, although some are rare Introduction portion of the lake throughout most of the year. The most The Madeira River is the main tributary of the Amazon important streams are Igarapé Cuniã Grande and Igarapé River basin, especially considering its huge drainage area Cuniãzinho, whose headwaters are located inside another and discharge (Goulding et al. important protected area, the Estação Ecológica do Cuniã the Madeira River Basin in Brazilian territory are divided (ESEC Cuniã). These two protected areas provide a high into two distinct regions that are 2003). disrupted The floodplains by a 300 km of degree of environmental integrity to the hydrographic river stretch of rapids and waterfalls (Torrente-Vilara system of Cuniã Lake. et al. in tributaries of the Madeira River (Rapp Py-Daniel et al. 2011): i) the floodplain of the Guaporé–Mamoré 2007;Recent Torrente-Vilara studies have et shown al. 2011; a high Pedroza fish specieset al. 2012), richness and downstreamrivers, located of upstream the rapids from and thewaterfall confluence stretch, of thewhich Beni is results from several years of ichthyofaunal inventories, directlyand Mamoré connected rivers, to and the ii)main the Amazon sedimentary River’s floodplains lowlands addressed by the authors of this study along the Madeira (Hubert and Renno 2006; Torrente-Vilara et al. 2011) River Basin, indicate that the actual number of species Situated in the lower portion of the Madeira River, Cuniã surpasses 900. Moreover, the accumulated knowledge Lake is a complex of approximately 60 ponds and channels, about the Madeira River ichthyofauna in the Brazilian which are interconnected during the high water season and territory is still very recent (Carmago and Giarizzo 2007; harbor large stands of aquatic macrophytes, submerged Rapp Py-Daniel et al. 2007; Araújo et al. 2009; Pedroza et leaf litter banks, and wooden shores. It stands out as one al. 2012) if compared to the published studies developed in Bolivian areas (e.g. Lauzanne and Loubens 1985; Lauzanne inundated by turbid-water rivers) present between the et al. 1991; Chernoff et al. 2000). Therefore, in this study downstreamof the few large limit “várzea”of the rapids lakes stretch (floodplains (the Teotônio seasonally and Santo Antônio waterfalls, currently submerged by the basic information that may allow for the development of reservoir of the Santo Antônio hydroelectric dam), and managementwe describe strategiesthe fish faunafor the of conservationCuniã Lake, ofproviding aquatic resources in the region. The RESEX Cuniã is one of the few nearly 200 km downstream (Goulding 1980). protected areas in the middle-lower course of Madeira the Cuniãfloodplains Lake isof anthe important Jamari and protected Machado area, rivers, located located in River, and may constitute an important representation of the Reserva Extrativista do Lago do Cuniã (RESEX Cuniã), disturbances resulting from the construction of the Santo plan, and other sustainable uses of natural resources Antônioits typical and fish Jirau fauna, hydroelectric now modified dams. by the environmental arewhere ordinarily local fisheries practiced. are Cuniã subjected Lake hasto aa managementsurface area of 18,000 ha and is connected to the Madeira River by a Materials and Methods Study site periods there is a small but direct contribution from the The samplings were conducted in the Cuniã Lake Madeira42-km-long River channel. waters Duringto Cuniã normal Lake. seasonalThis contribution flooding and small direct tributaries (8°19’13.7” S, 63°28’18.5” becomes negligible in the dry season, even though the channel does not completely disconnect from the main October and March, while the dry season is from April river. Some small forest streams empty at the northern toW; September.Figures 1 and The 2). mean The floodvalues season of local occurs limnological between 540 Queiroz et al. | Fishes of Cuniã Lake characteristics, measured only during a part of the work by specialists afterwards (see Acknowledgements). et (±2.57), water transparency measured with a Secchi disk al. (2003) and Eschemeyer and Fong (2013) for 1.52trips m(November (±1.17), electrical 2008–March conductivity 2010), were:6.74 µS/cm depth (±4.44), 3.38 m The taxonomic classification of species follows Reis pH 5.7 (±1.18), dissolved oxygen 3.99 mg/l (±1.81), and to 70% ethanol, and voucher specimens were deposited water temperature 29.2°C (±2.07). supraspecific categories. TheDepartamento specimens were de Biologiatransferred da Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UFRO-I), Porto Velho, Fish collection Statein the of fish Rondônia, collection Brazil of the (Table 1). Instituto three nearly complete hydrological cycles, from November Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais 2008The to fish January fauna 2012was sampledduring theon 25implementation occasions along of RenováveisThe fish (IBAMA, sampling collecting was authorized permits: by51/2009, the April the research program Monitoramento e Conservação da Ictiofauna do Rio Madeira, supported by Santo Antônio Energia, a consortium formed by several companies Results2009–March and 2011; Discussion and 109/2011, May 2011–April 2012). responsible for constructing, operating, maintaining, and A total of 11,949 specimens representing 189 species, monitoring the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric power plant. eight orders and 34 families were collected (Table 1). Sampling devices included passive collecting techniques Similar studies conducted in the Madeira River Basin have recorded 133 species from the Maderinha, Roosevelt that occupy the water column, and active collecting (seine and Jatuarana rivers (Camargo and Giarrizzo 2007), 447 netsand equipmentand hand nets) (gill tonets) sample intended shallow to samplemarginal the habitats fishes species in the Aripuanã and middle Madeira Rivers (Rapp (aquatic macrophyte banks, leaf litter banks, and small Py-Daniel et al. 2007), 74 in Belmont Stream (Araújo et al. streams). A set of thirteen gill nets (mesh sizes of 30, 40, 2009), and 160 in the Guariba River (Pedroza et al. 2012). 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and 200 mm Fish inventories conducted in lakes in the Brazilian Central between opposite knots) with a total catching area of 431 Amazon (Mérona and Bittencourt 1993; Saint-Paul et al. m2 was exposed during a 24-hour cycle at each sampling 2000; Siqueira-Souza and Freitas 2004; Soares et al. 2006) Lake; Siqueira-Souza and Freitas 2004) and 172 species 10%occasion, formalin and reviewed solution, for transported fishes every tofour the hours. laboratory, (Pratohave found Lake; fishSaint-Paul richness et rangingal. 2000). between High differences 41 (Maracá in The fish samples were labeled and preserved in the sampling efforts employed in those studies hinder an and identified to species level. A thorough revision of the taxonomic identity of the fishes was carried out accurate comparison of the fish species richness in each Figure 1. Location of the sampling sites in Cuniã Lake, Rondônia State, Brazil. 541 Queiroz et al. | Fishes of Cuniã Lake of the regional ichthyofauna. Cichlidae (20 species), the in a single lake system represents an outstanding diversity second largest family regarding species richness in the evensite. Nevertheless, for Amazonian finding standards. nearly two hundred fish species present study, and Serrasalmidae, the third, with 16 The high number of species registered in this study species, are composed of species that typically inhabit lakes and other lentic environments, and contributed diversity of environments sampled, and the combined use strongly to the high species richness observed in Cuniã probably reflects the large collecting effort applied, the Lake. heterogeneity is known as one of the main factors that Approximately 9% of the species could not be assigned contributeof different totypes increasing of fishing species gear. Inrichness