Anchoa tricolor (Agassiz, 1829) is the only anchovy of commercial importance in Sepetiba Bay, supporting an intensive commercial fishery by small sized seine boats provide of hydroacustics sounder detecting device. This study analyses the accompanying fauna in the A. tricolor fishery, and the influence of environmental parameters in fish composition. Seven samples were taken with a seine net between March and September 1999, capturing 114,430 fish, comprising 17 species and 11 families. Engraulidae and Clupeidae were the most abundant families, accounting to 94.2 % of the total number of fish. A. tricolor was the most abundant species contributing to more than one half of the total numerical abundance, followed in decreasing order by Anchoa januaria (Steindachner, 1879), Sardinella brasiliensis (Steindachner, 1789) and Harengula clupeola (Cuvier, 1829). A. tricolor showed a highly significant positive correlation with salinity, transparency and depth. A. januaria showed the opposite, being inversely correlated to these parameters and directly correlated to temperature. Clupeidae, on the other hand, seems to show a wider distribution in relations to these environmental parameters.
Anchoa tricolor; Engraulidae; pelagic fishes; Sepetiba Bay
