O conhecimento da fauna marinha bentônica brasileira através dos tempos / Knowledge of Brazilian benthic marine fauna throughout time / Knowledge of Brazilian benthic marine fauna throughout time

Ambientes com características geomorfológicas, geofísicas e com organismos peculiares compõem os ecossistemas da plataforma continental e as ilhas oceânicas da costa brasileira. A extensão da costa, a biodiversidade, a alta taxa de endemismos e a escassez de especialistas dificultam o conhecimento da fauna marinha. Apresentamos o estado atual de conhecimento da biodiversidade marinha e as perspectivas para a área no Brasil, com base em revisão bibliográfica sistemática. Constatamos que iniciativas governamentais em diferentes âmbitos têm permitido maior conhecimento das espécies da fauna marinha brasileira, abrindo perspectivas que incluem o uso de ferramentas complexas na descrição dos habitats bentônicos marinhos quanto à sua composição geológica, geofísica e biótica.

The ecosystems of Brazil’s continental shelf and oceanic islands comprise a variety of environments that display unique geomorphological and geophysical features and biotic components. The quest to attain knowledge of Brazilian marine fauna is hampered by coastline length, biodiversity, a high rate of endemism, and a shortage of specialized researchers. Based on a systematic bibliographic review, the article offers an overview of the history, current knowledge, and outlook for the field of marine biodiversity in Brazil. Our findings show that government initiatives have afforded greater knowledge of Brazilian marine fauna species and opened new perspectives, including reliance on complex tools to describe benthic marine habitats in terms of their geological, geophysical, and biotic composition.

Poluiçäo por metais pesados na bacia do rio Sapucaí-Mirim(nordeste do Estado de Säo Paulo, Brasil), pela indústria do couro / Heavy-metal polluition in basin of Sapucaí-Mmirim river (northeast of Säo Paulo State, Brazil), by hide industry

Contamination of the limnic environment is occuring at a fast rate all over the world due to the wide industrial expansion and, at the same time, to the lack of infrastructure for previous treatment of effluents that are dumped into fresh water sources, significantly contributing to the high rates of pollution affecting small and large rivers close to urban centers. The objective of the present study was to analyze the sediment and water of the Sapucaí-Mirim River, an important river in the Northeasten part of the State of Säo Paulo that receives industrial effluents from Franca and Säo Joaquim da Barra, where the major source of pollution is the leather industry which mainly uses Cr for tanning. In the present study we investigated the presence of the metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn at he sites where the Ribeiräo dos Bagres stream empties into the Sä Joaquim stream and the Sapucaí-Mirim River. High metal levels were detected in both regions, with no significant differences between them. The differences detected were loca, with the highest indices being found in the tributaries of the Sapucaí-Mirim River. The metals detected in the water were limited to Cr and Zn, with levels of the order of 0.006 ug/ml to 0.168 ug/ml Cr and 0.002 ug/ml to 0.033 ug/ml Zn. All the metals analyzed were detected in the sediment, with Cr and Zn again being present at highest concentrations. Cr ranged from 17.800ug/g to 242.425 ug/g and Zn ranged from 142.000 ug/g to 1024.000 ug/g. With respect to Cr, the contamination in the region studied was attributed to the leather industry for the manufacturing of shoes