The geographical differentiation of Macrodon ancylodon (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) in the Brazilian coast between Lat. 18º36'S and 32º10'S: phase I

Abstract

Multiple range tests according to Kramer, 1956 were performed on 3 meristic and 15 morphometric characters of "pescada-foguete" (Macrodon ancylodon) samples collected off coast near Conceição da Barra (Espirito Santo State), Atafona, Macaé, Ubatuba cities, Bom Abrigo Island and Rio Grande do Sul State coast. It was also observed morphological differences in otoliths collected at each region. The number of statistical differences among samples and different morphological characteristics presented by otoliths suggested the existence of four populations along the studied area: (1) along Espírito Santo State coast; (2) near the region between Atafona and Macaé coasts; (3) along São Paulo, Paraná and north Santa Catarina States coasts and (4) along Rio Grande do Sul State coast. Probably the differentiation was caused by different environmental conditions observed among regions. Other papers about life history corroborate these results except for the Espírito Santo population about which there is no biological information up to the moment.