Genetic structure analysis of the Brycon orbignyanus in the Paraná River Basin for environmental conservation

• Grant number: 10/51990-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2010
• End date: May 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Fausto Foresti
• Grantee: Fausto Foresti
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Disorderly exploitation of freshwater resources is causing huge impacts on fish natural populations, specially overfishing, pollution, introduction of exotic species, dam construction, and destruction of ciliary forest. FAO (2004) reports that, in 2002, 93 million tonnes of fish were removed directly of natural populations in the world. Piracanjuba (Brycon orbignyanus) is a species that periodically migrates for reproduction and/or feeding, and is very appreciated because of the quality of meat and aggressive behavior, desirable for sport fishing. This species is distributed in the Paraná river Basin and became an endangered species due to predatory fishing and environmental degradation, entering the Brazilian list of endangered species as critically endangered. The conservation biology aims to preserve the genetic variability of natural populations, since populations with low levels of genetic variation may have reduced opportunities for further development compared to selective pressures, which increases their likelihood of extinction. Preservation of genetic variability may also have an important function to facilitate the identification of significant evolutionary units for the conservation. Based on this, this project plans to conduct a population study of B. orbignyanus in different parts of the Paraná River basin, using microsatellite markers to learn about their population structure and contribute to conservation and management projects. (AU)