CHARACTERIZATION OF FAUNA AND FLORA ASSOCIATED WITH THE MACROALGAS MARICULTURE SYSTEM DEVELOPED ON PITANGUI-EXTREMOZ-RN BEACH
surf zone, ichthyology, mariculture.
Gracilaria birdae macroalgae mariculture is being developed experimentally on Pitangui beach, Extremoz, RN, with floating rafts as cultivation structures approximately 200m from the beach at low tide. The present work aimed to carry out a preliminary survey of the microflora communities and the accompanying fauna in the Gracilaria birdae macroalgae cultivation, located in the coastal coastal region of Pitangui, Extremoz / RN. The experiment was carried out through systematic collections around the floating rafts of Gracilaria birdae macroalgae and Pitangui beach surf zone. Planktonic samples were obtained using 20 and 68 µm mesh plankton nets collected at the surface around a newly installed 9m long raft. The collected planktonic material was fixed in 4% formaldehyde solution and identified under optical microscope, with the help of marine plankton identification keys. The ichthyofauna was collected using a “picaré” trawl, with dimensions of 20m in length, 1.5m in height and 5mm mesh between nodes. The phytoplankton community was composed of the genera Bellerochea sp., Odontella sp., Striatella sp., Coscinodiscus sp., Fragilaria sp., Hemidiscus, sp. Rhabdonema sp., Triceratium sp., Campylodiscus sp., Chaetoceros sp. And Asterionella sp. The zooplankton community presented: Foraminifera, Copepoda: Oithona sp and Corycaeus sp .; Euterpine acutifrons; Parvocalanus crassirotris, Paracalanus quasimodo and Acartia lilljeborgi; Cifonaut Larva (Bryozoa) and Bivalve Larva (Mollusca). The identification of ichthyofauna presented the following taxa Haemulidae (Conodon nobilis), Engraulidae (Anchoa sp.), Sciaenidae (Larimus breviceps), Menticirrhus sp. and Polydactylus virginicus and Achiridae (Trinecter paulistanus), showing six species and four families, three belonging to a single family, the Sciaenidae. These preliminary analyzes will assist in further studies related to the analysis of impacts on plankton diversity and richness resulting from Gracilaria birdae macroalgae cultivation in a balsa culture system, as well as records of the ichthyofauna for the Pitangui beach surf zone.