The aim of this work was to get some knowledge about the populational structure of the two sympatric freshwater shrimp species, Potimirim glabra (Kingsley, 1878) and Potimirim potimirim (Müller, 1881) in the Sahy River, Mangaratiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The specimens were sampled monthly from September 1997 to February 1999 by sieving the marginal vegetation, on rocky surface and among litter on river bottom, with 15-minute effort per sampling period. The animals were sorted sexed and their total and cephalothoracic length were measured. A total of 4,889 individuals were collected in Sahy river: 3,281 P. glabra and 1,608 P. potimirim. The sex ratio for all collected individuals was 1:1 for P. glabra and 1:2.3 for P. potimirim. In both populations, five sexual maturity stages were determined and the populations were constituted mainly of adult freshwater shrimps. This study shows the difference between the recruitment of juveniles along these species. The recruitment for P. glabra occurs throughout the year, except in Spring, while P. potimirim was recorded only in Autumn. The seasonal distribution of ovigerous females of P. glabra is similar to P. potimirim, with reproduction on Spring and Summer.
Atyidae; freshwater shrimps; populational structure; Potimirim; recruitment
