Resumo A distribuição espacial do camarão-rosa Farfantepenaeus subtilis (Pérez-Farfante, 1967) foi estudada a partir de dados oriundos da pesca industrial, os quais foram associados às características geológicas e oceanográficas dos ambientes bentônicos da plataforma continental do Amazonas. A partir do uso de um sistema de informações geográficas (SIG), este trabalho teve como objetivo calcular a abundância relativa do camarão rosa baseada na captura por unidade de esforço (CPUE) e compará-la com dados batimétricos, tipo de estrutura sedimentar, taxa de sedimentação e salinidade de fundo. Como resultado, nós podemos afirmar que a abundância relativa (em CPUE) não está uniformemente distribuída. A análise espacial indica que o esforço do arrasto da pesca industrial foi realizado na região frontal do delta submerso (foreset) do Amazonas, entre 40 e 60 m de profundidade. Nesta região, os camarões são responsáveis pela bioturbação dos sedimentos e geração de uma estrutura sedimentar chamada lama mosqueada. Na região do foreset, as taxas de sedimentação foram de até 10 cm/yr; o processo de ressuspensão foi reduzido e a salinidade de fundo mostrou-se alta (~ 36). Parece que todos estes fatores definem uma área estável de lama com intensa bioturbação. Esta notável atividade biológica é explicada pela ocorrência de alta abundância de F. subtilis que parece ter sido originada pela alça microbiana. A partir da combinação de dados pesqueiros com dados ambientais em um SIG, é possível identificar um padrão de distribuição de abundância do camarão rosa e outros recursos pesqueiros de importância econômica, assim como compreender como eles variam espacialmente.

Abstract The spatial distribution of the southern brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus subtilis (Pérez-Farfante, 1967) was studied based on industrial fishing fleet activities and is associated with geological and oceanographic characteristics of the benthonic environments on the Amazon continental shelf. Using a geographical information system (GIS) this paper sought to calculate the relative abundance of brown shrimp based on catch per unit effort (CPUE) and compare it with bathymetry, type of sedimentary structure, sedimentation rate and bottom salinity. As a result, we have concluded that the relative abundance (in terms of CPUE) is not uniformly distributed in space. Spatial analysis indicates that commercial trawling efforts were made in the (foreset) region of the subaqueous Amazon delta at depths of 40 to 60 m. In this region, prawn are responsible for the bioturbation of the sediments and the creation of a sedimentary structure called mottled mud. In the foreset region, sedimentation rates progressively increased up to 10 cm.yr-1; re-suspension was reduced and bottom salinity was high (~ 36). It appears that all of these factors define a stable muddy area with intense bioturbation. This notable biological activity is to be explained by the occurrence of a high F. subtilis abundance that appears to originate in a microbial loop. We concluded that by combining fishery information with environmental data from a GIS, it was possible to identify abundance distribution patterns for southern brown shrimp and other economically important fishery resources and to understand how they change on a large spatial-scale.

The present study aimed to characterize the biodiversity of the Stomatopoda species found off the coast of the northern Brazilian states of Amapá and Pará, within the region's Exclusive Economic Zone. Two distinct sectors were surveyed, to the north and to the south of Cape Norte. The specimens were collected during fishery surveys carried out between 1996 and 1998 by the Revizee Program, using bottom shrimp trawl nets. The specimens were identified at the Crustaceans Laboratory of the Center for Research and Management of Fishery Resources of the Northern Coast and the Carcinology Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco. The 189 identified specimens represented Lysiosquilla scabricauda (Lamarck, 1818) (n = 2), Parasquilla meridionalis Manning, 1916 (n = 1), Squilla empusa Say, 1818 (n = 6), and Squilla lijdingi Holthuis, 1959 (n = 180). Only three species were collected in each of the survey sectors, with L. scabricauda and S. lijdingi being captured in both sectors. Squilla lijdingi was dominant in both sectors, whereas the other species were considered to be rare. Squilla lijdingi was very frequent in the northern sector, although the other stomatopods were infrequent. In the southern sector, L. scabricauda was sporadic, S. empusa was frequent, and S. lijdingi was very frequent. A significant difference was observed in the number of specimens captured in both sectors. The Shannon index was 0.6144 bits.ind-1 for the northern sector and 0.2708 bits.ind-1 for the southern one, whereas equitability was 0.3876 in the North and 0.1708 in the South. The stomatopods were collected at depths between 32 and 109 m, and were captured primarily on gravelly bottoms in the northern sector, and on muddy substrates in the southern sector. Stomatopods were more abundant in the northern sector during the dry season from June to November, whereas they were more common in the South during rainy season, from December to May.