PESCA E BIOECOLOGIA DO ACARÁ-DISCO Symphysodon aequifasciatus Pellegrin 1904 (PERCIFORMES: CICHLIDAE)

Abstract

This study aimed to review the scientific literature on studies carried out on the “discus” (Symphysodon aequifasciatus Pellegrin 1904). For this, a search for publications was carried out in four scientific databases (Periodicos da CAPES, Google Scholar, Scielo, ScienceDirect and Web of Science Core Collection), using the scientific and common names of the species as keywords. Articles were selected when they presented any of the keywords used in the title or abstract, excluding works from gray literature. After the selection of the articles in the scientific bases, a careful reading was carried out in order to characterize the biology, fishing and commercialization of the species. S. aequifasciatus, popularly known as discus, is an endemic species of the Amazon basin and its exuberant beauty makes it a target of great demand in the aquarium hobby. However, studies on the exploitation of this animal are scarce in free-living environments in the scientific literature. With the great demand for S. aequifasciatus, the production market grew mainly in Southeast Asian countries with a great demand for exports. From 2006 to 2015 S. aequifasciatus was exported a volume of 225,139 individuals and its price exceeds US$ 50 per unit value. Due to the great demand for S. aequifasciatus, its production method has been improving, from the cultivation of wild strains. It is noteworthy that, even being a highly commercialized species, the threat status is classified as "least concern", mainly due to the numerous studies carried out with the species.