BIOMETRY OF CARANGID FISH AS BY-CATCH IN ARTISANAL PINK SHRIMP FISHING IN THE AMAZON ESTUARY

Abstract

The analysis of morphometry and length-weight relationships (LWR) contribute to the expansion of the set of information available for the conservation of fishery resources, being fundamental to mitigate the anthropogenic effects caused in the natural environment by artisanal shrimp fishing. The aim of this study was to analyze the morphometry and estimate the LWR for two species of fish of the family Carangidae (Oligoplites spp.) in an estuarine Amazon region, Northern Brazil. In the Guajará-Mirim estuary, the seasonality of the seasons (rainy and dry periods) mainly affects water salinity, with greater frequency of the O. saurus species in the rainy season and O. palometa in the less rainy one, the differences between the morphometric measures of the species of the genus Oligoplites captured by the shrimp trawl, indicate the occurrence of small individuals, with the species O. palometa showing negative allometric growth and O. saurus positive allometric, , being the first records of LWR estimates, contributing to the bioecological knowledge of the species.