The Amazon floodplains are covered by forests with a high diversity of tree species that provides ictyofauna indispensable fruits and seeds for its feeding. Some studies of feeding have shown that the tegument structure of seeds found in the digestive tract of fish presented unbroken. Thus, this study had as objective to verify if Triportheus angulatus (Spix & Agassiz, 1829) can be dispersal agent of Bothriospora corymbosa (Bth) Hook. f. (Rubiaceae). The research was developed in the Camaleão Lake, Island of the Marchantaria, Manaus. After the capture the fishes had been taken to the field laboratory, for the removal of the digestive tracts content, where 200 seeds for the experiment had been removed. The seeds of the control had been removed of ripe fruits. The germination and initial radicle emission were controlled daily. In this study it was verified that the main food source of T. angulatus had been fruits and seeds. The germinative performance of the seeds removed from digestive tract was of 88.5% and control 95%. The Indices of Speed Germination (IVG) of the seeds which had passed through the digestive system and the control, presented significant differences, however, the passage of these through the intestine of T. angulatus did not modify its viability. Thus, T. angulatus is one of the dispersal agents of B. corymbosa, contributing with the distribution of this species in the floodplain forests of the Central Amazonian.
Ichthyochory; Seed germination; Triportheus angulatus; Bothriospora corymbosa; Amazon floodplain forest
