MORPHOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES IN SKATES AND RAYS (CHONDRICHTHYES) FROM OFF SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Authors

  • César Corat Ribeiro Prado M. Sc. Centro Avançado de Pesquisas Tecnológica do Agronegócio do Pescado Marinho. Instituto de Pesca, Ponta da Praia, Santos, SP, Brasil.
  • María Cristina Oddone Consultant. Ministério de Pesca e Aqüicultura. Esplanada dos Ministérios, Brasília, DF, Brasil.
  • Manoel Mateus Bueno Gonzalez Professor. Núcleo de Pesquisa e Estudo em Chondrichthyes - NUPEC. Santos, SP, Brasil.
  • Alberto Ferreira de Amorim Scientific Researcher. Centro Avançado de Pesquisas Tecnológica do Agronegócio do Pescado Marinho. Instituto de Pesca, Santos, SP, Brasil.
  • Christian Capapé Professor-Consultant. Laboratoire d’Ichtyologie, Université Montpellier II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, France.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32360/acmar.v41i2.6058

Keywords:

Chondrichthyes, skates, rays, abnormalities, embryonic development, pollution, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

In this paper, the authors report morphological abnormalities observed in six species of skates and rays from off southeastern Brazil, between 2005 and 2008 as follows: the rio skate, Rioraja agassizi (Müller and Henle, 1841); the spotback skate, Atlantoraja castelnaui (Ribeiro, 1907); the eyespot skate, A. cyclophora (Regan, 1903); the pelagic stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea (Bonaparte, 1832); the roughtail stingray, Dasyatis hypostigma (Santos and Carvalho, 2004); and the shortnose guitarfish, Zapteryx brevirostris (Müller and Henle, 1841). The abnormalities observed included pectoral fins non-adherent to the head; incomplete pectoral fin, anophthalmia, and presence of a single clasper. The percentage of abnormal specimens ranged from 0.1 to 1.3. Potential causes of the abnormalities probably occurred during embryonic development, for instance pectoral fins had failed to fuse together in front of the head in early development. Additionally, unfavorable  environmental conditions cannot be excluded, such as the role of chemical pollutants playing a role in embryonic development of skates in egg cases.

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Published

2008-11-01

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Artigos originais