345 Vol.51, n. 2 : pp.345-351, March-April 2008 BRAZILIAN ARCHIVES OF ISSN 1516-8913 Printed in Brazil BIOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL Reproduction Period of Mimagoniates microlepis , from an Atlantic Forest Stream in Southern Brazil Marcelo Rennó Braga ¹, José Marcelo Rocha Aranha ²* and Jean Ricardo Vitule ³ Departamento de Zoologia; Universidade Federal do Paraná; C.P. 19020; 81531-990; Curitiba - PR - Brasil ABSTRACT Mimagoniates microlepis was collected between January and December/2002. Three sample points were chosen at higher, medium and lower portions of Ribeirão river, located at the east of Paraná state. The reproduction period was observed by the frequency of gonad developmental stages, variation of the gonosomatic relation (RGS) and gonad condition (K). The average length at the first sexual maturity (L 50 ) and the average length when 100% of individuals were adults (L 100 ) were calculated. The intensity of the reproductive activity (IAR) was estimated at each sample point. The reproduction period started in the winter and ended at the end of spring. The high values of IAR encountered demonstrated that the reproductive activity occurred in the whole study area, mainly at the middle portion of the river. Apparently M. microlepis synchronize its fecundation and spawning with the rain regimes using the most suitable times for the cospecific encounters and offspring survival . Key-words: Coastal stream, Blue tetra, East basin INTRODUCTION * among others characteristics, were used as a specific characteristic of the subfamily The coastal streams are often considered as Glandulocaudinae (Menezes, 1992), but a study unstable environments (Amaral et al., 1998; of Weitzman et al. (2005) found the evidence Castro, 1999). Fast changes in the water level that the scales and fin rays of the caudal organ of occur mainly during the summer, causing the males of the tribe Glandulocaudini were not physical changes in the environment and homologous with that of other tribes of dragging the fishes, among others creatures Glandulocaudinae. As proposed by downstream. The changeable ambient conditions Weitzman et al. (2005) the members of the tribe of these streams must have a decisive role in the Glandulocaudini should be recognized as the selection of flexible characteristics of the fishes subfamily Glandulocaudinae and the remaining such as the reproductive period, age of the first tribes of the former Glandulocaudinae included maturation, longevity and growth (Amaral et al. , in the subfamily Stevardiinae. 1999). Among the species of fishes that inhabit M. microlepis is an inseminating species; the the Atlantic Forest is the blue-tetra, female is inseminated by the male and retains Mimagoniates microlepis, which belongs to the live sperm cells in her ovary. There is no Characidae family and Glandulocaudinae evidence of the oocytes fertilization in the subfamily. The presence of glandular tissue and ovaries (Burns et al., 1995). M. microlepis modified scales at the caudal fin of the males, presents a small size. The males are bigger than the females and reach around 6.5 centimeters. * According to Mazzoni and Iglesias-Rios (2002) Author for correspondence Braz. arch. biol. technol. v.51 n.2: pp.345-351, Mar./Apr. 2008 346 Braga, M. R. et al. its behavior is diurnal, preferring shallow waters of an area, allowing the planning of conservation with medium to slow water velocity. Its actions (Hartz et al., 1997; Dias et al., 1998). geographic distribution encloses clear water The present work had its objective to analyze coastal streams of the eastern Brazil, extending some reproductive tactics of M. microlepis in a from south the of Bahia to the northeast of Rio littoral river of Paraná State. Grande do Sul, being also found in some areas of the high Iguaçu river (Weitzman et al.1988). Despite being a relatively abundant fish in the MATERIAL AND METHODS littoral rivers, few studies had been directed to M. microlepis. The insemination, testis and The study was conducted at the Ribeirão river sperm morphology of Glandulocaudinae fishes, which belonged to the sub-basin of the including M. microlepis had been analyzed by Paranaguá bay in the Atlantic basin (Maack, Burns et al. (1995). Mazzoni and Iglesias-Rios 1981). This river starts at the Prata mountain (2002) studied the longitudinal distribution of M. ridge in the National Park Saint-Hilaire/Hugo microlepis at Rio de Janeiro, concluding that its Lange, at an altitude of 766 meters above sea occurrence seemed to be correlated with the level and has its mouth at the Paranaguá bay presence of the vegetal covering. Lampert et al. (Takeuti et al. , 1999). According to the (2003) studied the feeding habit of M. classification of Köeppen (1948), the climate in microlepis at Rio Grande do Sul, observing a the region is tropical, super humid, without a dry diet consisting basically of allochtone season and frosts. The rains are well distributed arthropods, mainly insects, corroborating the during the year, being June and July the driest results of Sabino and Castro (1990) and Aranha months and January and February the rainiest. (2000) in the littoral rivers of São Paulo and Annually the pluviometric levels are superior to Paraná, respectively. Through the studies of the 1000 mm (Fig. 1) and the average annual air reproduction one can understand the temperature varies from 17 to 21ºC (Maack, mechanisms that involve the perpetuation and 1981; Simepar, 2005). modification of species. It also contributes for the understanding of the use that the fishes make 350 300 250 200 150 100 Pluviosity (mm) Pluviosity 50 0 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Figure 1 - Month pluviosity at east of Paraná state during 2002 (Simepar, 2005) Three samples points were chosen, P1 at an upper sieves and small trawl nets (1.30x1.40m with o section of Ribeirão river basin (25 35'17''S; 2mm mesh). The fishes were measured, weighed o o 48 38'01''W), P2 at a middle section (25 36'02''S; and the sex and stage of the gonad activity were 48º37'19''W) and P3 at a lower section of the river identified according to methodology described by (25º35'21''S; 48º36'40''W). During the rainy period Vazzoler (1996). The reproductive period was the flash floods provoked the rises of the water observed by the variation of the gonosomatic level, modifications of the physical habitat and an relation (Vazzoler, 1996): increase of the turbidity and water velocity. RGS = Wo /Wt ×100 The specimens were collected monthly from January through December of 2002, using the Braz. arch. biol. technol. v.51 n.2: pp.345-351, Mar./Apr. 2008 Reproduction Period of Mimagoniates microlepis , from an Atlantic Forest Stream in Southern Brazil 347 ( Wo=gonad weight ; Wt=total weight ) RESULTS and gonad condition (Isaac-Nahum and Vazzoler, A total of 550 specimens of M. microlepis were 1983): dissected for the analysis, 262 were females and 288 were males. At sample point 1, 160 K = Wt / Lt b −Wc / Lt b individuals were captured, 70 exemplars were females and 90 were males. At sample point 2, 207 (Wt=total weight; Lt=total length; Wc=Wt-Wo; individuals were captured, 115 were females and b=angular coefficient of Wt/Lt ) 92 were males. At sample point 3, 183 specimens were captured, 104 were females and 79 were The frequency of the individuals in the mature males. The smallest individual captured had 1.5 gonad development stage. The average length at cm but its sex could not be determined. The size of the first sexual maturity (L 50 ) and the average the females varied from 2.3 to 5.4cm and the size length when 100% of individuals were adults of the males varied from 2.3 to 7.0cm. The (L 100 ) were calculated accordingly to Vazzoler females presented the largest values of average (1981). The intensity of the reproductive activity RGS in August (RGS=10.81), September (IAR) was estimated at each sample point as (RGS=20.86) and October (RGS=16.32). For the proposed by Agostinho et al. (1993), using the males the largest were observed in July formula as below: (RGS=3.87), August (RGS=3.31) and September (RGS=3.44) (Fig. 2). The largest average values of the gonad condition for the females were obtained in August (K=9.62E-04), September (K=1.62E-03) n n RGS ln N i + i i and October (K=1.16E-03) and for the males in i July (K=3.52E-04), August (K=3.61E-04) and ∑ni Ni RGS e IAR = x100 September (K=3.31E-04) (Fig. 3). The analysis of n ln N i +1 the frequency of the gonad developmental stages m demonstrated the largest frequency of the mature ∑ni females in September and October and males in July and August (Fig. 4). The frequency of the Ni, corresponded to the number of the individuals higher immature females and males was in in the sample unit; ni was the number of the January. The average length at the first maturation mature individuals at the sample unit; Nm was the (L 50 ) for the females was in a length class of 2.5 ├ number of individuals at the biggest sample unit; 3.0cm and the L 100 was in a length class of 4.0 ├ nm was the number of the mature individuals at 4.5cm. The L 50 for the males was established the biggest sample unit; RGSi was the average inside a length class of 3.0 ├ 3.5cm and the L 100 gonosomatic relation at the sample unit; RGSe was inside a length class of 4.0 ├ 4.5cm. the largest individual value of the gonosomatic relation.