Maria, T. F.; Esteves, A. M.; Smol, N.; Vanreusel, A.; Decraemer, W. (2008). Nematodes from sandy beaches of Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biociências, Porto Alegre. 16 (2), 92-103.
180156
Maria, T. F.; Esteves, A. M.; Smol, N.; Vanreusel, A.; Decraemer, W.
2008
Nematodes from sandy beaches of Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This work assessed the nematode composition in three sandy beaches located at Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (22°24’ and 22°57’S; 42°33’ and 43°19’W). These microtidal, sheltered sandy beaches (Bica, Bananal and Coqueiros) were surveyed on January and June 2001, during the low tide. Samples were taken using a PVC core of 10cm2. Nematodes were extracted using the sugar-flotation methodology. The sediment of these beaches was mainly composed of sand and showed a variation between medium to very coarse sediments. In total 6312 specimens were identified up to the genus level or when possible to species level. At the three beaches, 62 genera were found, belonging to 25 families and distributed along of 8 orders. Chromadoridae was the most abundant family in terms of genera. All the families found have also been recorded from previously studied beaches. Amongst the genera found, four of them (Deontolaimus, Dracograllus, Phanodermella and Subsphaerolaimus) were for the first time recorded for Brazilian’s coastline. The number of genera occurring on the Guanabara beaches (31 for Bica, 39 for Bananal and 46 for Coqueiros) is more or less similar to another Brazilian sandy beach whereas these values showed higher variation concerning worldwide tropical and non-tropical beaches. The first occurrence of four genera for the Brazilian coastline suggest the possibility to discover new species in this bay, therefore to the need for further development of nematode taxonomy in Brazil.
Keywords: nematode composition, Bananal beach, Bica beach, Coqueiros beach, Chromadoridae, Deontolaimus, Dracograllus, Phanodermella and Subsphaerolaimus