Environmental characterization of the Cananéia coastal area and its associated estuarine system (São Paulo state, Brazil): Considerations for three Penaeoidean shrimp species

Abstract We analyzed monthly samples from seven stations located in coastal and estuarine areas in the Cananeia region (Sao Paulo, Brazil) from July 2012 through May 2014 with the aim of characterizing the physicochemical parameters and to investigate the influence of these environmental factors on the abundance patterns of penaeid shrimp. Individuals were collected using a shrimp boat, and the environmental parameters were obtained from the water column using a multiparameter probe and from the sediment using a Petersen grab. Spatially, the mean values of the temperature and chlorophyll a concentration were higher in the estuary than in the ocean, and the greatest part of the substrate was composed of fine sediment, with Phi size (granulometry of sediment) tending to have higher mean in the ocean. Therefore, we observed a dynamic estuary and conservative adjacent coastal area where shrimp were more influenced by variations in salinity, preferably in the ocean stations, but we also observe the presence of Litopenaeus schmitti and Rimapenaeus constrictus in estuarine stations (meso and polyhaline areas).