Illegal fishing with electrofishing devices in the Po river basin, Emilia Romagna, Italy

Electric fishing is an illegal hunting method, unfortunately widely used by poachers to paralyze fish and to catch many animals in a short time. In Italy, it is authorized only for scientific and conservative purposes. Between 2014 and 2018, the Ferrara section of the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, Italy, received nine cases of potentially illegal electric fishing in Po river and its tributary rivers. Necropsies were performed following standard protocols and samples of different tissues were collected and examined using histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. Gross lesions frequently observed were circulatory alteration phenomena (i.e. multi-organ hyperemia, hemorrhages and congestion, hemopericardium), also found histologically, in addition to multifocal degenerative and necrotic muscular processes that could be attributed to injuries from electric current, as already reported in literature. Immunohistochemical investigations confirmed degenerative and necrotic lesions with myoglobin depletion and a corresponding fibrinogen accumulation. Myoglobin globules were also detected in the renal parenchyma, as consequent of rhabdomyolysis. The results of this study allowed to correlate electric fishing to gross, histologic and immunohistochemical lesions, which together constitute a pathognomonic picture to be considered a reference standard in this type of illegal controversy.

AVANÇOS EM MÉTODOS DE COLETA DE PEIXES E CARACTERIZAÇÃO DE HABITAT DE RIACHOS TROPICAIS

This paper brings some advances in fish data sampling and stream environments. Since the publication in 1999 of volume VI “Ecology of Stream Fishes” in the former Oecologia Brasiliensis journal, today Oecologia Australis, several progresses have occurred. Several methods of collecting fish themselves, have remained the same. However, in relation to the use of electric fishing, collection of eggs and fish larvae, and characterization of physical habitats in streams, there was remarkable development and improvement. The purpose of this article is to present the “state of the art” of these three aspects of sampling fish and habitats in streams. By the end, preparation methods of samples for genetic, stable isotopes and heavy metal analyses are briefly presented

Fish Ecology of the Alto Madre de Dios River Basin (Peru): Notes on Electrofishing Surveys, Elevation, Palm Swamp and Headwater Fishes

Our study analyzes the distribution of fish communities related to the environmental variables of the Alto Madre de Dios River, an Andean-Amazon watershed of southern Peru, between 300 and 2811 m a.s.l. within the Manu Biosphere Reserve. We provide new ecological and diversity data on fishes for these poorly studied rivers and new data for palm swamp habitats. With electric fishing techniques, we collected a total of 1934 fish specimens belonging to 78 species, 42 genera and 15 families. To assess main patterns of diversity we combined SIMPER and ANOSIM with canonical correspondence analysis to obtain an overview of the community structure of fish and their distribution related to aquatic habitats. Our results show an important shift on fish diversity at 700 m a.s.l. separating headwater and middle-lowland communities. Electrofishing was a hindrance due to the depth, flow and low conductivity of the rivers, but also allowed us to capture fish not observed with other techniques. We also compared the use of elevation with slope as an alternative variable for statistical analysis. Our results show that slope offers a solid and equivalent explanation for fish distribution variability, avoids redundance, and instead of giving geographical data offers ecologically solid information.

Relative Methods of Population Measurement and the Derivation of Absolute Estimates

Relative sampling methods usually requiring comparatively simple equipment are described. These often concentrate the animals and provide impressive collections. Factors affecting the size of relative samples are reviewed to show that biological interpretation can be difficult. A wide variety of methods for aquatic and terrestrial sampling are reviewed, including pitfall, interception, light, sticky, and flight traps, electric fishing, drift samplers, and gill nets. The use of baited traps, including vertebrate hosts, is discussed. Removal trapping to estimate population density is described, and R software code listed.

Modular, flexible, low-cost microstructure measurements: the Epsilometer

The Epsilometer (“epsi”) is a small (7cm diameter × 30cm long), low-power (0.15 W) and extremely modular microstructure package measuring thermal and kinetic energy dissipation rates, χ and ε. Both the shear probes and FP07 temperature sensors are fabricated in house following techniques developed by Michael Gregg at the Applied Physics Laboratory / University of Washington (APL/UW). Sampling 8 channels (2 shear, 2 temperature, 3-axis accelerometer and a spare for future sensors) at 24 bit precision and 325 Hz, the system can be deployed in standalone mode (battery power and recording to microSD cards) for deployment on autonomous vehicles, wave powered profilers, or it can be used with dropping body termed the “epsi-fish” for profiling from boats, autonomous surface craft or ships with electric fishing reels or other simple winches. The epsi-fish can also be used in real-time mode with the Scripps “fast CTD” winch for fully streaming, altimeter-equipped, line-powered rapid-repeating near-bottom shipboard profiles to 2200 m. Because this winch has a 25ft boom deployable outboard from the ship, contamination by ship wake is reduced 1-2 orders of magnitude in the upper 10-15 m. The noise floor of ε profiles from the epsi-fish is ~ 10−10 W kg−1. This paper describes the fabrication, electronics and characteristics of the system, and documents its performance compared to its predecessor, the APL/UW Modular Microstructure Profiler (MMP).

Fish fauna in low-order streams of the Piquiri River, Upper Paraná River basin, Brazil

The South America ichthyofauna encompasses the highest diversity of the world, however is highly threatened by anthropogenic actions. The fish fauna of nine low-order streams, tributaries of the Piquiri River and impacted by aquaculture, agriculture and urbanization were sampled in the present study. Samplings were done quarterly from December 2017 to September 2018 at three sites in each stream, using a portable electric fishing device in 50-meter segments. A total of 14,507 individuals were collected, belonging to six orders, 20 families, 46 genera, and 70 species. The highest richness and abundance were found for the orders Characiformes and Siluriformes. In this study, nine species that had not been recorded were found, totaling 163 for the basin. In addition, 14 non-native species were captured. The presented list of species contributes to the existing database of ichthyofauna distribution in Neotropical streams, denoting that it is underestimated in the region, mainly in low-order tributaries. The present study reinforces the importance of inventories and monitoring in environments with high biodiversity and sensitive to anthropogenic actions.

Development of a fish-based index for the assessment of the ecological status of Lake Balaton in the absence of present day reference condition

A fish-based index is proposed to indicate the ecological status of Lake Balaton, Hungary in accordance with the standard of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). The Balaton fish index (BFI) synthetises information of 13 lake-specific fish metrics including gillnetting and electric fishing data of species richness of native assemblages, relative abundance, biomass and age structure of native key species, representation of non-native species and general health status. The main anthropogenic pressures considered were the degradation of littoral habitats, invasion of non-native fish species, eutrophication and fishing/angling including stocking. Ecological quality ratio (EQR) is assessed by relating actual fish assemblage metrics to the supposed undisturbed reference status of Lake Balaton reconstructed by expert judgement based on recent and historic information on the fish fauna and its changes. Values of BFI were consistent and indicated good ecological status of Lake Balaton in the period of 2005–2018. This study provides an example on how an EQR assessment methodology might be established in unique habitats with no possibilities for statistical evaluation of pressure-respond relationships and exact determination of the reference status.

First records of non-native species Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) in an important South American hydrographic system

Aim The objective of this work is to record the occurrence of non-native species Macrobrachiun rosenbergii in water bodies of the Piquiri River basin, State of Paraná, Brazil, an important South American hydrographic system. Methods Samples were obtained from October 2015 to June 2016 and from September 2017 to September 2018, using traps and electric fishing equipment (portable alternating current generator, 2.5 kW, 400 V, 2A) in the Piquiri River and two tributaries. Results 16 M. rosenbergii specimens were caught, 11 females and 5 males. Conclusions Our results indicated the introduction of the species M. rosenbergii into the Piquiri River basin by aquaculture activity. The constant insertion of new specimens by the productive sector may, in the short term, maintain populations with large number of individuals, causing potential damage to the native biodiversity.

Fishes community composition and patterns of species distribution in Neotropical streams

The ichthyofauna of streams in the Neotropical region is not yet fully known. This study aims to investigate the ichthyofauna composition of six streams of the Ijuí River sub-basin, Rio Grande do Sul State, inserted in the Uruguay River basin, as to contribute to the knowledge of fishes species richness and distribution in the south of Brazil. Sampling was carried out between July 2015 and May 2016, bimonthly, using the technique of electric fishing to collect the fishes. Spatial variations (per sampled stream) in the ichthyofauna composition were tested with a permutational multivariate analysis of variance. In total, we collected 5,029 individuals from 55 species, 13 families and five orders. From these species, 17 are endemic to the Uruguay River basin. Five species alone represented approximately 70% of the ichthyofauna abundance sampled. Our hypothesis that the fish community composition is not homogeneous along the streams sampled was confirmed and we observed that species complexity increases from the upstream closest area to the downstream according to the river continuum concept.