Coastal fishes of Rio Grande do Norte , northeastern Brazil , with new records

An updated and reviewed checklist of coastal fishes of the Rio Grande do Norte state, northeastern coast of Brazil, is presented. Between 2003 and 2013 the occurrence of fish species were recorded through collection of specimens, landing records of the artisanal fleet, literature reviews and from specimens deposited in ichthyological collections. A total of 459 species from 2 classes, 26 orders, 102 families and 264 genera is listed, with 83 species (18% of the total number) recorded for the first time in the study area. Additionally, Halichoeres radiatus, Lachnolaimus maximus and Canthigaster james­ tyleri are reported for the first time in the Brazilian coast and nine other species have their geographic distribution extended.


INTRODUCTION
The Rio Grande do Norte state (RN), extreme northeastern Brazil, is located in an important transition area of north-south oriented coastline that abruptly changes its direction to the east-west.In addition to this abrupt change, marked differences can also be seen along the RN shore.On the northern coast, the climate is semi-arid with annual rainfall less than 750 mm and predominance of northeastern winds (Nimer 1989).There are some sparse areas of beachrocks well apart from each other and three large estuarine complexes with numerous channels.The reefs are parallel to the coast and few in number, but with large areas (e.g., 20 km²).Some reefs are poorly known and even not mapped on the Brazilian Navy nautical charts.On the eastern coast, the climate is warm-humid with annual rainfall reaching 1,250 mm and with southeastern winds prevailing (Nimer 1989).The beachrocks are larger and more continuous than northern coast, the three major estuaries are small and without many ramifications, and the reefs are more numerous but smaller and relatively closer to each other than northern coast.The first and only checklist of fish species that occur along the coast of RN was produced in 1988 and comprised 190 species (Soares 1988).This situation improved after 2000 with fish surveys in specific sites of the coast (e.g., Feitoza 2001; Feitosa et al. 2002;Moura 2003;Feitoza et al. 2005;Yokota 2005;Dias 2006;Garcia Jr et al. 2010).Although such investigations have contributed to enhance the information about the local ichthyofauna, it is clear that there is a need to include all records in a single and complete list.Here, we provide an updated checklist of the fishes that occur along the coast of RN based on 10 years of collecting specimens, landing records of artisanal fisheries, examinations of fish collections, and reviewing previous studies of the area.

Study area
Rio Grande do Norte state has about 400 km of coastline divided into a northern coast from Tibau, at the border with Ceará state, to Cabo Calcanhar, and an eastern coast from Cabo Calcanhar to Baía Formosa, at the border with Paraíba state (Figure 1a).The RN coast is under the influence of the surface circulation of the south Atlantic subtropical gyre, where the southern branch of the South Equatorial Current (SEC) flows westward to the Brazilian coast.The SEC bifurcates between 12° and 14° S, forming the North Brazil Current (NBC) to the north and the Brazil Current to the south (Figure 1b).The NBC, although weak, is constant along the Brazilian coast, where at approximately 04° S, 036° W it joins the central branch of the SEC and increase its speed (Lumpkin and Garzoli 2005).

Data collection
The records presented here were obtained between 2003 and 2013 through collection of specimens at more than 80 localities along the coast using hook and line, dip nets, trawl nets, gill nets, hand nets and plastic bags while SCUBA and free diving.During the same period, landing records of artisanal fleet were done in the main fishing ports, examining only boats fishing in localities within the limits of RN coast.Whenever possible, specimens with total length less than 60 cm were preserved and deposited in the ichthyological collection of Laboratório de Biologia Pesqueira (LABIPE) of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil.Additionally, literature reviews were made of fish studies carried out on the RN coast and examination of specimens deposited in the ichthyological collection at the Museu do Mar Onofre Lopes (MMOL) and the Museu de Ciências Biológicas, both from UFRN.Coastal fishes are here defined as fishes that inhabit from estuaries to the continental shelf break.On the northern coast, the continental shelf extends for 40-45 km from the beach line and breaks around 40-50 m depth (Amaro and Ferreira 2012), while on the eastern coast, it extends for 14-30 km and breaks in 50-60 m depth (Vital et al. 2010).Species occurrences in the RN are listed at coast level (records at northern coast and/or eastern coast) and the fish common name used by local fishermen is presented when existing.All species listed were recorded in this study, except those have only been reported in other studies carried out on the RN, which are remarked with "reported by".The species list is presented according to the phylogenetic arrangement proposed by Nelson (2006) and the taxonomy classification of Eschmeyer (2015), except for the family Ariidae (sensu Marceniuk and Menezes 2007).The genera and species are arranged within families in alphabetical order.

Order Lamniformes Family Odontaspididae
Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810) Coast: unknown Remarks: reported by ) of the genus Dasyatis was collected in front of Guamaré, northern coast, on sandy substrate in 12 m depth with trawl net.The female specimen measuring 31 cm disc width and 800 g total weight, was not identified as any Atlantic species described for the genus, being similar to Dasyatis guttata, but with more elongated snout, with pelvic fins projected beyond the posterior margin of the disc and a longer tail (Figure 2a and 2b).This species is under description process.

Family Gymnuridae
Gymnura micrura (Bloch & Schneider, 1801   were collected in Pirangi beach, eastern coast, on sandy substrate in about 1 m depth with hook and line.The specimens measured between 13 and 29 cm total length and 14 and 159 g total weight (Figure 4a and  4b).Additionally, other specimens were also recorded in several localities at northern and eastern coast of RN.According to Marceniuk (2005), the species is found in Brazil from southern Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul states.Therefore, the present records are the northernmost occurrence and extends its geographical distribution.146) was collected in Grossos, northern coast, in an estuary channel in 0.5 m depth with hand net, together with several specimens of Atherinella brasiliensis.The specimen measured 9 cm in total length and 7 g total weight (Figure 5).Additionally, other specimens were also recorded in several localities at northern and eastern coast of RN.According to Mattox et al. (2008), the species   and 120) were collected in São Cristóvão beach, northern coast, on sandy substrate in 0.2 m depth with hand net.The specimens measured 13 and 16 cm total length and 13 and 16 g total weight (Figure 6).Additionally, other specimens were also recorded in some localities at northern coast of RN.The species is recorded in Brazil only in the northern region, in Amapá, Pará and Maranhão states (Martins-Juras et al. 1987;Carvalho-Filho 1999;Camargo and Isaac 2001).Thus, present records are the southernmost occurrence and extends its geographical distribution.New record for the northeastern Brazil.17) was collected in front of Upanema beach, northern coast, on gravel substrate in 15 m depth with trawl net.The specimen measured 10 cm total length and 37 g total weight (Figure 7).The species is found in Brazil only in the northern region (Menezes et al. 2003) and the present record is the southernmost occurrence and extends its geographical distribution.New record for the northeastern Brazil.

Scorpaena plumieri Bloch, 1789 Beatriz
Coast: north and east Scorpaena n. sp.Mangangá Coast: north Remarks: on 24 June 2004, a specimen (LABIPE 12) of the genus Scorpaena was collected in front of Porto do Mangue, northern coast, on gravel substrate in 9 m depth with trawl net.The specimen measuring 18 cm total length and 230 g total weight was not identified as any Atlantic species described for the genus, due the presence of a conspicuous backturned V-shaped mark on the nape (Figure 8a and 8b).This species is under description process.Meek & Hildebrand, 1928 Coast: north and east Metzelaar, 1919 Coast: north and east Epinephelus niveatus (Valenciennes, 1828) + Garoupa pintada Coast: east Gonioplectrus hispanus (Cuvier, 1828) Coast: north Remarks: on 17 June 2009, a specimen was collected in front of Caiçara do Norte beach, northern coast, on rocky substrate in about 40 m depth by a boat fishing with gill nets.The specimen measured 29 cm total length and 380 g total weight (Figure 9).In Brazil, the species is recorded only in Trindade Island, 1160 km distant from the coast of Espírito Santo state (Gasparini and Floeter 2001) and in Pernambuco state (Oliveira and Barbosa 2010).The present record is the northernmost occurrence and extends its geographical distribution.The species measured 45 cm total length and 370 g total weight (Figure 10).The species is found in Brazil only in the northern region (Carvalho-Filho 1999) and the present record is the southernmost occurrence and extends its geographical distribution.New record for the northeastern Brazil.214) was collected in Diogo Lopes, northern coast, in an estuary channel in 0.5 m depth with hand net.The specimen measured 10 cm total length and 24 g total weight (Figure 11).In the western Atlantic Ocean, the species is described to occur from Florida and Bermudas to Brazil (Menezes et al. 2003), but without specifying sites at Brazilian coast in which it has been registered.This record confirms its occurrence in northeastern Brazil.The specimen measured 23 cm total length and 62 g total weight (Figure 13).In the western Atlantic Ocean, the species is described to occur in Florida, Carolinas, Bermudas and Caribbean Sea and in Brazil on oceanic islands of Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas and São Pedro e São Paulo (Menezes et al. 2003).Additionally, Rocha et al. (2005) reported the collect of two individuals of this species on the northeastern coast of Brazil, but without specifying the occurrence site or fish data.Thus, present record confirms the occurrence of this species on the Brazilian coast.(Walbaum, 1792) Coast: east Remarks: on 28 December 2010, a spear gun sport fishermen collected a specimen in front of Muriú beach, eastern coast, on rocky substrate in about 30 m depth.The specimen measured 56 cm total length and 5600 g total weight (Figure 14) and unfortunately, it was not possible to preserve it.Luiz et al. (2013) reported the presence of this species on the northeastern coast of Brazil, but without specifying the occurrence site or fish data.Thus, present record confirms the occurrence of this species on the Brazilian coast.reef substrate in about 20 m depth with plastic bag while SCUBA diving.The specimen measured 6 cm total length and 10 g total weight (Figure 15).Canthigaster jamestyleri differs from all Atlantic congeners (more similar to C. figueiredoi) by the presence of a small irregular dark spot on the dorsal fin base and the absence of dark dorsal and ventral margins on the caudal fin (Moura and Castro 2002).In the western Atlantic Ocean the species is described to occur in the southern USA and Gulf of  Soares (1988) recorded the occurrence of Lycengraulis barbouri (a synonym of L. batesii), Trachinotus glaucus (a synonym of T. ovatus) and Ogcocephalus radiatus in RN coast.By analyzing specimens identified as belonging to these species at MMOL, it was verified that in fact, they are L. grossidens, T. goodei and O. vespertilio, respectively.According to the latest compilation, 1,297 species of marine fishes were found on the Brazilian coast (Menezes et al. 2003), of which about 35% is recorded in the coast of RN.Most species presented here (358) was recorded on both coasts; however, 52 species were exclusively recorded on the northern coast and 42 species exclusively on the eastern coast.These exclusive records may be the result of differences in habitat characteristics between these coasts.As example, estuarine species like Anchoa januaria, A. tricolor, Lycengraulis batesii, Achirus achirus and Gymnachirus nudus were recorded only in northern coast, where are the larger estuarine habitats of RN.Otherwise, oceanic species like Polymixia lowei, Thunnus atlanticus, Sphoeroides pachygaster and Ranzania laevis were recorded only in the eastern coast, where the continental shelf is narrower.With regard to the number of species, the results demonstrate that the coastline of RN is richer than it was suspected, and that this can be considered reasonably known to date.However, surveys on deeper habitats as well as the use of higher sampling effort may result in additional records.The composition of fish fauna of RN coast is recognized for having high similarity to the fish fauna of the neighbor states of Paraíba and Pernambuco (Floeter et al. 2001;Moura 2003;Feitoza et al. 2005;Freitas and Lotufo 2014).However, this similarity was always tested using the fish fauna of a few localities of RN rather than all species occurring along the coast.Previously zoogeographical hypothesis based only on small-scale local lists or on few families should be tested using a comprehensive regional checklist, as presented herein.Of the 459 species recorded in RN, 27 are Brazilian endemic fishes and 37 species have recently been included in the National List of Endangered Fauna, under some degree of threat (MMA, 2014).Of these 37 species, 27 are captured by commercial fishing in RN, and now legally prohibited from being caught and marketed.The large number of new records for the RN coast (83) reflects the existence of few local inventories and shows how the lack of studies influences the state of knowledge in a specific area.Ultimately, this can affect the quality and effectiveness of management strategies applied to the fish stocks.As an example, between 2000 and 2005, fishery monitoring sponsored by the government on the RN coast registered a capture of approximately 2,385 tons in the category named "serra", represented by Scomberomorus brasiliensis (MMA 2006).However, our records show that S. regalis, a morphologically similar species, is also captured simultaneously in the same habitats as S. brasiliensis, and is included in the same category.The same occurs with species of Centropomus spp., Coryphaena spp., Epinephelus spp., Mugil spp., Sparisoma spp., family Ariidae and order Pleuronectiformes.Therefore, only one stock is being evaluated when in fact there are two or more.Only with a better understanding of the local fish fauna and a monitoring designed by species, it will be possible properly to monitor the level of exploitation of local fish stocks.In this sense, this checklist provides a great increment in the knowledge of the coastal fishes of RN and represents the first steps for improve the fishery management of this area.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.A: Geographical localization of the Rio Grande do Norte state (RN).B: Schematic representation of the northern and eastern coast of RN.NBC: North Brazil Current; cSEC: central branch of the South Equatorial Current.
Garcia Jr. et al. | Coastal fishes of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil is discontinuously found in western Atlantic Ocean in localities of Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and in Brazil at Alagoas, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states.Thus, the occurrence on the RN coast extends the geographic distribution of this species in Brazil and may indicate that the discontinuity of records is possibly caused by misidentifications of A. brasiliensis, a very similar species.
Garcia Jr. et al. | Coastal fishes of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Garcia Jr. et al. | Coastal fishes of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil + Cavalo marinho Coast: north and east Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933 + Cavalo marinho Coast: north and east Micrognathus crinitus (Jenyns, 1842) Peixe cachimbo Coast: east Micrognathus erugatus Herald & Dawson, 1974 * + Peixe cachimbo Coast: north Family Aulostomidae Garcia Jr. et al. | Coastal fishes of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil record is the northernmost occurrence and extends its geographical distribution.Garcia Jr. et al. | Coastal fishes of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil LABIPE 25) was collected in João da Cunha reefs, northern coast, on reef substrate in about 30 m depth with fish trap.