Usage patterns of an artificial reef by the fish community on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

The mitigation or restoration of human impact in aquatic environment comprises some actions as the deliberate settlement of artificial reefs. Artificial reefs are well known by brazilian official fishery administrators as a mean of increasing fishery production.. The main objective of this study is to determine the role of habitat complexity and benthic community as modelling agents to the fish community. Prefabricated concrete modules were used for the construction of a reef complex at a selected area in January/2002. Different module types (with and without holes and benthic community recovery) were distributed in 12 groups. Aiming to verify the existence of possible significant differences among the fish community related to each module type monthly samples consisted of gill nets. The presented patterns could be attributed to seasonal influence more than to a preferential colonization process. The higher abundance of pelagic fishes in May at all types of reef modules can only be explained as a seasonal phenomenon. The absence of significant differences between the values of CPUE and species richness among the reef modules can be attributed to the sampling method used, which seems to be selective for pelagic or demersal fish on a flat bottom.