Search

The trichomycterid catfish Listrura menezesi, new species, is described from a flooded area adjacent to Rio das Panelas, Rio São João basin, Cachoeiras de Macacu municipality, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. It represents a most valuable remnant of Atlantic Forest biome that still resists the devastation of Brazilian coastlands. Listrura menezesi can be distinguished from its congeners, except L. boticario and L. depinnai, by the absence of a dorsal fin. It mainly differs from L. boticario and L. depinnai by a continuous midlateral dark stripe along the entire body (vs. discontinuous) and a longitudinal row of irregular dots along the dorsal limit of the abdomen extending for nearly the entire body (vs. only on the posterior half of the body in L. boticario and not forming a distinct row in L. depinnai). Although the new species shares with L. boticario and L. depinnai the absence of dorsal fin, recent phylogenetic analyses show a close relationship between L. menezesi and L. macaensis, the latter having a dorsal fin. A putative apomorphic condition for this clade is presented: the abrupt widening on the mesethmoid axis starting posteriorly on the horizontal through the middle region of the autopalatine (vs. anteriorly, on the horizontal through the anterior region of the autopalatine). Listrura menezesi comes as an addition to the ichthyofauna of the Rio São João drainage, a region extensively sampled for the past 20 years and supposedly well known. This paper also highlights the vulnerability of this species and the possibility of its disappearance in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazilian Cerrado biome is the largest and richest tropical savanna in the world. In order to understand the effects of climate changes on the hydrology of the Cerrado basins, this paper investigates the hydrological impacts of climate change throughout the 21st century under different emissions scenarios on the streamflow and on the droughts in the Sono, Manuel Alves da Natividade and Palma basins, located in the Brazilian Cerrado. For this purpose, the SWAT hydrological model driven by the downscaling of the HadGEM2‐ES and MIROC5 global climate models associated with RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios were used in three time slices (2011–2040, 2041–2070 and 2071–2099). The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSFI) were used to characterize droughts. In general, the results showed that the duration, intensity and frequency of the meteorological and hydrological droughts are expected to increase during the future periods. However, the hydrological droughts are projected to be larger than the meteorological droughts. Reductions in the streamflow are indicated in all future time slices and under both RCPs, especially, during dry periods, which may cause negative impacts in the ecological functions of the Cerrado biome, risk for reduction of the recharge of aquifers and risk for the electric energy production in northern Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]