Known as "Blue Amazon", the Brazilian Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) has one of the richest marine ecosystems of the world with a huge potential of seabed resources. Focusing on the state of Brazil, the present study describes the state of the art of Brazilian maritime mining operations in the EEZ and areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BNJ), and further analysis it in the light of the main institutional arrangements and the compliance with the articles of The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) related to seabed resources. Thus, UNCLOS' articles related to Brazilian seabed resources were evaluated for the EEZ and areas BNJ, as well as their resources and policies implemented for research, prospection and exploitation of them. In the period between 2000 and 2017, after 22 years of UNCLOS ratified in Brazil, most of these assessments were speculative and focused on the exploitation of seabed resources in the EEZ in the near future. Recent studies in areas BNJ showed, for the first time, the economic and political interest in exploiting the cobalt-rich crust (Rio Grande Rise) and polymetallic nodules (North Brazilian Chain). Despite the low levels of investment and technologies to explore huge depths in Brazilian EEZ and areas BNJ, the scientific programs and national policies pointed the resources of relevant mineral interest. Conservatively, the seabed resources of Brazilian EEZ and areas BNJ presented several peculiarities in the marine environment that demand certain instruments of mineral and environmental legislation be created in Brazil. Also, most of Brazilian programs and projects have few studies that focus on the impact of mining activities; instead, most focus on research and prospection to serve their scientific and economic interests. Special attention should be directed to seabed resources primarily for the South Atlantic, to establish a multi-use territory for present and future generations.

This study reports on the pattern of sexual development and demography of Epinephelus adscensionis sampled on the north-east coast of Brazil. The species is a protogynous hermaphrodite, with males (26–44-cm total length, TL) transitioning from mature females (20–33cm TL). This species presented multiple spawning, with peaks in the gonadosomatic index indicating that the spawning period of the rock hind occurred along 3 months per year, where for 2008 was between August and October, and for 2009 was between July and September. Age was determined from otoliths and periodicity was validated from captive fish treated with tetracycline. The resulting von Bertalanffy growth parameters were as follows: theoretical maximum length (L∞) 34.82cm TL, growth coefficient (k) 0.26 and theoretical age at L=0 (t0) 0.86years. The size and age at sexual maturity for females were 20cm TL and 4 years. The total rate of mortality was 0.28year–1. Older fish were males and had a maximum longevity of 15 years. This species is an important resource for local communities, but is also currently caught by trap fisheries, which have been expanding in recent decades in response to demands of export markets. Lack of monitoring and management of these and other reef fisheries in north-east Brazil makes fishing sustainability uncertain.

This paper presents results on the age, growth and population structure of a small grouper, the mutton hamlet Alphestes afer, and discusses the observed size and age structure patterns in relation to reproductive strategies among the epinephelids. Ages were determined by examination of sectioned otoliths, which showed a distinct pattern of alternating translucent and opaque zones that formed annually, as validated with tetracycline labelling. The von Bertalanffy growth function was adjusted to the length-at-age data of the males and females, but no significant differences were observed between the resulting parameters. The females, however, were older at given sizes and attained larger sizes and ages, with a maximum observed longevity of 13 years and a total length (LT ) of 26 cm, while the males attained maximum longevities of only 10 years and a 22 cm maximum LT . The LT and age range for the sex change was 16-25 cm and 3-11 years. The total mortality rate (Z) was estimated to be 0·55 for females and 0·82 for males. With the males younger and smaller than the females, this species differed from the pattern commonly observed for protogynous epinephelids. Males had slower growth after maturation, probably due to energy allocation to sperm production during sexual development. This study shows that demography is an important tool to understand the pathways for reproductive strategies in grouper populations.

Pomacanthus paru is one of the five most exported species in the Brazilian aquarium trade and is frequently caught by traps as bycatch. The present study is the first to describe the reproductive biology of this species in the South Atlantic. The population of P. paru was gonochoristic and presented size dimorphism in the larger classes, with males attaining larger sizes than females. Differences in sex ratios for size classes were recorded over the range 35–45-cm total length. At the spawning stage females were more abundant than males, suggesting that spawning females may be more vulnerable to trap fishing during this period. The size at maturity was 23.30-cm total length for females. Males and females of P. paru at the spawning and spent stages were observed nearly every month. The susceptibility of this species to trap fishing indicates that management of the aquarium trade through quotas of juvenile captures alone may be not effective. Thus, management measures should focus on controlling the amount harvested by monitoring current catch rates and should consider implementing trap-free areas in important spawning grounds.

One of the main challenges of international environmental agreements is improving relevant policy actions to promote adequate environmental responses. To support the work of decision makers, recent studies have used environmental and social indicators to construct global and regional-scale indices. This study aimed to use the Ocean Health Index and the Management Ranking for Brazilian States to assess Brazil’s performance regarding the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABTs) for coastal and marine ecosystems. Thus, six ABTs were matched and their performance was evaluated. These ABTs focused on the following topics: pollution, fish and invertebrate stocks, pressures on coral, threatened species and their conservation, the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks and the national biodiversity strategy and action plan. However, although the indices used showed many pathways to explore how Brazil is performing, it is still complex to evaluate ABTs’ performance regarding coastal and marine ecosystems at a global and regional scale.

Camouflage is one of the strategies of reef fishes, in which they mimic other species or use the background to match the combination of their colors and textures (Randall 2005). Seahorses of the genusHippocampus in a pristine habitat generally use saturated colors to camouflage their colorful background using matching or confusing objects as a deceiving mode (Stevens & Merilaita 2011). The present record is the first description of camouflage by the sea horse Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933 with plastic debris in mangroves from NE Brazil: Formoso River, Tamandare, Pernambuco State (8°41′01.51′′S, 35°06′25.92′′ W). During an exploratory underwater visual census December 18, 2011 at 09:26, one individual ofH. reidiwas observed at a depth of 3 meters matching plastic debris deposited on the sandy bottom (Fig. 1). The first position observed of the sea horse was the posterior region of its body hiding behind the plastic and using a confusing color as a deceiving mode (Fig. 1a). When approached by the observer the fish matched its head with some plastic spots and its tail with the sand (Figs. 1b, c). This case showed that H. reidi displayed a kind of protective resemblance, in which this camouflage is used for an

There is little knowledge on the reproduction of the genus Alphestes. The reproduction of the Mutton hamlet, Alphestes afer, sampled in Pernambuco reefs (Brazil) was studied based on macroscopic analysis during reproductive period and histological analysis of gonad material from March 2008 to October 2009. This study showed that A. afer is a diandric, protogynous hermaphrodite. Sex change followed protogynous mode in two pathways: primary males formed from immature female individuals or secondary males formed from resting, ripe or spent female individuals. The numerical distribution of gonad classes by size indicated that females from 11-18 cm L T were immature while females from 16-25 cm L T and males from 12-22 cm L T were in various stages of gonadal development. Individuals identified as immature bisexual and transitional (presenting both ovarian and sperm tissue) were sized from 16-24 cm L T. Size of first reproduction for females was 18 cm L T and for males was 12 cm L T. Alphestes afer showed multiple spawning, with spawning season period from August to December 2008 and from August to October 2009. The sex-ratio (females: males) in 2008 and 2009 was 0.94:1 during the months of spawning season. Males were smaller than females, reaching maximum size of 22 cm compared to 25 cm observed for females. Males showed a high sperm competition rank (3.8), suggesting intense sperm competition. This latter is a possible indication of a shift in the mating group structure from paired to group spawning. The presence of small males added to high sperm competition index, suggest that this species, while retaining the protogynous pattern, has a reproductive strategy similar to gonochorist epinephelids.

On site human observations and video images were collected and compared at the window of the Igarapava Dam fish ladder (IDFL), rio Grande , Southeastern Brazil, between March 1st and June 30th, 2004. We conducted four experiments with two humans (Observer 1 and Observer 2) observing fish passage in the IDFL window while a Sony 3CCD video camera (Observer 3) recorded fish passage at the same time. Experiments, each one hour in length, were distributed throughout the diel cycle using full spectrum lights. We identified fish species, the number of individuals for each species, and the real time that they passed. Counts from each human observer were compared to the video counts. The fish species most commonly observed in the window were - curimba (Prochilodus lineatus), mandi-amarelo (Pimelodus maculatus), piau-três-pintas (Leporinus friderici) and ferreirinha (Leporinus octofasciatus). The number of species and individuals were indistinguishable for the three observers. But, the number of species and individuals were significantly different among experiments. Thus, the three observers register the same number of species and count the same number of individuals even when these two response variables differ significantly among experiments. Based on these results, we concluded that the video count was an accurate method to assess fish passage at the IDFL.

Sperm of the following Neotropical Characiformes fish species were tested for cold storage: Brycon lundii, Piaractus mesopotamicus, Leporinus elongatus, Leporinus friderici, Prochilodus lineatus and Prochilodus marggravii. Each sperm sample was split into two aliquots. The first was placed into a plastic bag with air or oxygen and the second, in a plastic tube with air. The samples were maintained at temperatures between 1.7-4.9 ºC. The rate of sperm motility was estimated using a 50 mM NaCl solution as the activating solution. The shortest sperm storage duration (7 h) was recorded for L. friderici, when the sperm motility rate reached ~ 30%, whereas the longest duration (20 h) was obtained with the sperm of P. lineatus. A fertilisation test using Prochilodus marggravii sperm refrigerated for 8 h yielded 88-90% of viable embryos. The refrigerated storage method could be of practical applications, especially in fish reproductive management at hatchery stations.