Alimentação da comunidade de peixes de um trecho do rio Alimentação da comunidade de peixes de um trecho do rio Alimentação da comunidade de peixes de um trecho do rio Alimentação da comunidade de peixes de um trecho do rio Ceará Mirimem

The food consumed by a community of fish in a section of the Ceara Mirim river, Taipu, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil , was analyzed. The present study is based on an analysis of the stomach contents of 261 specimens belonging to six species of fish in a 200 m section of the Ceara Mirim river, in Umari (5o 37' 47" S and 35o 37' 9" W), in the Taipu district of Rio Grande do Norte state. Monthly collections were performed between february, 2001 and april, 2002, with 4-hour fishing periods using casting nets, hooks, sieves and bottom-dragging nets with 5 mm-thick mesh. The relative importance of the diet items was measured by frequency of occurrence, numerical frequency and Kavakami and Vazzoler's (1980) food index. The nutritional coefficient was also determined. It was verified that the species consume mainly algae, aquatic plants, insects, crustaceans, mollusks and sediment. In light of the findings, it can be inferred that the food consumed by the species is located in the living environment.