On the north coast of the State of Santa Catarina (Brazil), the Itajaí-Açu River mouth shows a low-saline water plume on the internal shelf with strong density gradients. This oceanographic condition has a possible influence over the pelagic community, and it has been little investigated on the Brazilian coast. The present work seeks to evaluate the spatial and temporal variations of the zooplankton community in the area of influence of the Itajaí-açu River, and its relations with the abiotic forces of temperature (seasonal variation) and salinity of the river plume. For this purpose, 14 monthly oceanographic cruises were carried out during the years 2002 and 2003, to obtain physical and chemical parameters, and zooplankton hauls in 9 sampling points. The zooplankton analyses were carried out at the lowest taxon possible to characterize the resident community of the river mouth. It was observed that the zooplankton presented the highest densities in winter and spring. The species with higher densities and frequencies of occurrence were Paracalanus quasimodo, Parvocalanus crassirostris, Acartia lilijeborgi, Temora stylifera, T. turbinata, and Penilia avirostris, indicating a prevalence in this region, of Tropical Water from the Brazil Current and greater similarity with the coastal community of the Southeast region of Brazil. However, even for the species typical of Tropical Water, there were alterations in dominance of the species, due to the seasonality and level of flow rate of the river on the salinity of the internal shelf of the study area.
Zooplankton; Itajaí-Açu River; River plume; Santa Catarina