Figure 5 in Continental fishes from the Tambaba Environmentally Protected Area, Paraíba State, Brazil

Figure 5. Species of fish from Tambaba APA hydrographic basins: (a) Sphoeroides spengleri, 90.3 mm SL; (b) Sphoeroides testudineus, 73.3 mm SL; (c) Syngnathus pelagicus, 153.8 mm SL. Pratagi River micro-basin in Rio Grande do Norte State, (Ramos, 2012). A small-sized species, Poecilia vivipara, Brazil. Gouveia et al. (2017) registered 18 freshwater spe- popularly known as "guarú", "guru" or "barrigudinho" also cies, distributed within seven families and five orders in holds no commercial interest to local fishing communi- Guaribas Biological Reserve UC and surrounding areas ties. These three species combined correspond to 67% from the Camaratuba River hydrographic basin. These of the total captured specimens. Small-sized species studies are incongruent with the present analysis but it are often used in the aquarium trade, as is the case for is noticed a similar number of species to that those regis- species from Characidae and Poeciliidae (Nelson, 2006; tered for the coastal rivers of the Atlantic Forest in NCCD Magalhães & Jacobi, 2013), although this secondary acecoregion. tivity was not observed within the Tambaba APA. Characiformes, Characidae is the most representa- Hemigrammus unilineatus was recognized in coasttive group among the freshwater fishes in the Tambaba al rivers from the Atlantic forest biome in the Brazilian APA. This result is congruent with previous studies on the northeast region (Buckup et al., 2007; Menezes et al., 2007; freshwater ichthyofauna from the NCCD hydrographic Langeani et al., 2009; Gouveia et al., 2017) even though basins (e.g., Torelli et al., 1997; Ramos et al., 2005; Paiva the type-locality of this species is in Trinidad Island, West et al., 2014; Silva et al., 2014; Rodrigues-Filho et al., 2016; Indies (Reis et al., 2003). Historical relationships between Costa et al., 2017; Gouveia et al., 2017; Teixeira et al., 2017; the Atlantic and Amazonian forests explain the natural Oliveira-Silva et al., 2018; Ramos et al., 2018). These re- distribution of this species in the Brazilian northeast results differ from the general pattern of dominance that gion (Wang et al., 2004; Menezes et al., 2007; Dagosta & is noticed for the NCCD ecoregion as provided in Lima de Pinna, 2017; Teixeira et al., 2017). et al. (2017); Siluriformes has the highest number of spe- In the marine-estuarine ichthyofauna, Perciformes cies (143 vs. 132 Characiformes). However, species of is one of the largest groups of the study area as previ- Characiformes dominate when each basin of the NCCD ously observed in other Brazilian northeastern estuaries is evaluated individually as pointed out in Oliveira-Silva (e.g., Teixeira & Falcão, 1992; Alves & Soares-Filho, 1996; et al. (2018), and according to the authors the greatest Santos, 2000; Araújo et al., 2000; Paiva et al., 2008; Reisnumber of Siluriformes for this ecoregion occurs due to Filho et al., 2010; Oliveira-Silva et al., 2008; Teixeira et al., the greater number of endemic species of this order for 2017). Among the species recognized for this order, the each individual basin that would explain the apparent occurrence of Centropomus undecimalis (known as "rodominance of Siluriformes when these numbers are put balo-flexa" or "camorim") must be highlighted due to its together. commercial importance such as it is noticed for most sea The three most abundant freshwater species, bass species in the artisanal, industrial and recreational Hemigrammus unilineatus, Astyanax bimaculatus fisheries (Fujimoto et al., 2009). This species occurs from (Characidae), and Poecilia vivipara (Poeciliidae), are North Carolina (U.S.A.) to Uruguay, including Gulf of small-sized autochthonous species. The first two species Mexico and Caribbean Sea (Fricke et al., 2019). belong to the group commonly known as "piabas" (in Atherinella brasiliensis and Mugil curema, popularly Portuguese), which do not provide any commercial inter- known as "sauna" and "tainha" respectively, are the most est to most of the local population. Local fishermen often abundant marine-estuarine species that also exhibit employ these species as bait for capturing larger species. schooling behavior, which explains the large number of The abundance of "piabas" is due to schooling behavior, specimens collected. The former species is considered which facilitates the collection of specimens in the field generalized, opportunistic omnivorous feeders in estuar-