The ichthyofauna of the Alcatrazes archipelago (São Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract

This checklist was compiled from fish species recorded in surveys carried out from 1987 to 2019 in the Alcatrazes Archipelago, in the southeastern Brazilian coast. A total of 229 fish species and eight genera (213 actinopterygians and 24 elasmobranchs) were recorded in the Archipelago, combining in situ and bibliographic data. The most speciose families were Carangidae (16), Sciaenidae (14), Paralichthyidae (13), Serranidae (12), Labridae (11), and Scaridae (10). Of all the registered species, 74% presented economic importance. Another 21 species (8.9%) are illegally used for aquaria in the state of São Paulo. A total of 35% of the species range from moderate to very high vulnerability, including 81.8% of the elasmobranch species. In particular, 26 (11.3%), 22 (9.6%), and 44 (19.2%) species were listed globally, nationally and regionally, respectively, leastwise as vulnerable. Compared to other Brazilian reef systems, as the Laje de Santos Marine State Park, the Queimada Grande and Queimada Pequena islands (29, SP; Cardoso et al., 2019), Alcatrazes showed greater fish biodiversity and also a similar species richness to the Abrolhos Bank. The Alcatrazes Archipelago may be pinpointed as an important fish biodiversity hotspot for Brazilian southeast ichthyofauna, sheltering species of endangered and economically importance.