Diversidade da comunidade associada à Carijoa riisei em naufrágios de diferentes profundidades em Pernambuco.

Abstract

The octocoral Carijoa riisei is distributed in the Western Atlantic Ocean, Pacific, Caribbean and most recently in Mexico, it can be found at depths of more than 30 meters, including in Pernambuco shipwrecks. This species has an arborescent estolonial structure that provides a favorable environment for the development of various organisms, among which are macroinvertebrates, organisms of utmost importance for ecosystem processes. This work aims to investigate if the difference in depth between Pernambuco shipwrecks influences the fauna composition associated with C. riisei. The octocoral samples were collected in four Pernambuco shipwrecks located in the Pernambuco Artificial Shipwreck Park, in Recife, with different depths (between 20 and 30 meters), during the dry (December) and rainy (July) seasons of 2018, using SCUBA equipment. Later, in the laboratory, the colonies passed by washing processes and the macrofauna was retained in a 250 μm sieve, sorted, counted and identified to the smallest possible taxonomic group. In total, 3143 individuals associated with C. riisei were collected, distributed in 52 taxa. The Amphipoda and Polychaeta groups were the most representative in all shipwrecks, with a relative abundance of 66% (dominant taxon) and 22% (slightly rare taxon), respectively. The Taurus shipwreck had a higher species richness associated with the octocoral colonies than the other shipwrecks, especially during the rainy season. The composition of the associated fauna was different among the shipwrecks, but the difference in depth between the shipwrecks was not relevant for this differentiation. Therefore, other abiotic factors may have been responsible for this difference in species richness and composition among shipwrecks.