Threatened fish spawning area revealed by specific metabarcoding identification of eggs and larvae in the Beni River, upper Amazon

Type Article
Date 2020-12
Language English
Author(s) Miranda-Chumacero Guido1, 2, 5, Mariac Cédric3, 5, Duponchelle Fabrice4, 5, Painter Lilian1, Wallace Robert1, Cochonneau Gérard6, Molina-Rodriguez Jorge2, Garcia-Davila Carmen5, 7, Renno Jean-François3, 5
Affiliation(s) 1 : Wildlife Conservation Society, Bolivia Program, La Paz, Bolivia
2 : Unidad de Limnología, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia
3 : Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Université de Montpellier, Unité Mixte de Recherche Diversité Adaptation et Développement des Plantes (UMR DIADE), 34394, Montpellier, France
4 : Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), MARBEC (Univ Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD), Montpellier, France
5 : Laboratoire Mixte International - Evolution et Domestication de l’Ichtyofaune Amazonienne (LMI - EDIA), IIAP - UAGRM - IRD, UMR DIADE, 7 rue Cuvier, CP 32, 75231, Paris cedex 05, France
6 : Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Unité Mixte de Recherche Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (UMR GET), Observatory HYBAM, Montpellier, France
7 : IIAP, Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Laboratorio de Biología y Genética Molecular (LBGM), Carretera Iquitos-Nauta km 4.5, Iquitos, Perú
Source Global Ecology And Conservation (2351-9894) (Elsevier BV), 2020-12 , Vol. 24 , P. e01309 (11p.)
DOI 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01309
WOS© Times Cited 13
Keyword(s) Ichthyoplankton, Prochilodus, Brachyplatystoma, Zungaro, Dams, Arid extraction
Abstract

Identifying fish spawning areas is of great ecological and conservation importance as fishes are suffering increasing threats levels from anthropogenic activities. However, to date very few studies have done so in the Amazon basin. In the Beni River located in the upper Madeira basin, fishers reported that a particular ecotone near Rurrenabaque city was a fish reproduction area. To test the importance of this zone as a spawning site, we conducted an ichthyoplankton survey during the month when reproduction is most likely to occur. The specific identification of larvae and eggs was made with a metabarcoding analysis. With this approach 13 different fish species of high importance for regional and local fisheries were identified, including the long-distance migratory gilded catfish (Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii), considered as endangered in the upper Madeira. Combining the development time of morula-gastrula egg stages with the integrated current velocity of the river, we identified a spawning area that ranges between the last gravel beaches close to Altamarani community and the San Miguel del Bala community on top of Suse strait, the last foothill of the Andes. This spawning area further extends upstream in the Madidi and Pilon Lajas protected areas and Tacana and Tsimane indigenous communities, when considering eggs in final embryo stage. This portion of the Beni River, at the Andean foothills, is heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities, ranging from unmanaged fisheries to contamination coming from the extraction of fluvial aggregates, upstream gold mining, deforestation associated with a sugar cane mill, an existing downstream dam, and projected upstream dam projects. Some urgent solutions for the conservation of this already impacted area are proposed. Confirming fish spawning zones, although difficult, is crucial to inform the definition of priority areas for conservation and management measures, in particular when these sites host endangered species.

Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 40 1 MB Open access
Supplementary data 7 MB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

Miranda-Chumacero Guido, Mariac Cédric, Duponchelle Fabrice, Painter Lilian, Wallace Robert, Cochonneau Gérard, Molina-Rodriguez Jorge, Garcia-Davila Carmen, Renno Jean-François (2020). Threatened fish spawning area revealed by specific metabarcoding identification of eggs and larvae in the Beni River, upper Amazon. Global Ecology And Conservation, 24, e01309 (11p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01309 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00654/76658/