22 March 2012 The first record of cubera snapper Lutjanus cyanopterus culture in Brazil Eduardo Gomes Sanches* 1, Wanessa de Melo Costa2, Felipe Gomes Vilani2, Daniel Medeiros Krueger2, Gabriel Passini2 and Vinicius Ronzani Cerqueira2 The Brazilian marine fish culture probably began in the seventeenth century, during the Dutch government of Maurice of Nassau, in Pernambuco, when the activity was introduced in the region. At that time, snook (Centropomus sp), mullet´s (Mugil sp) and “carapebas” (Eugerres sp and Diapterus sp) were cultivated extensively inside tide ponds (Cavalli and Hamilton 2007). According to Brugger (1995) the first research on marine fishes in Brazil started in the mid 70’s by researchers at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, studying about mullets. It is worth mentioning the pioneering studies on real-grouper, initiated in 1980 by the researchers Eduardo Fagundes Netto and Daniel Benetti at the Navy Research Office, Instituto de Pesquisas da Marinha, in Arraial do Cabo/RJ (Fagundes Netto and Benetti, 1984). Currently, many research centers, including Instituto de Pesca/SP, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina/ SC, Fundação Universidade do Rio Grande/RS, Universidade Federal do Ceará/CE, have groups dedicated to the study of marine fish with potential to be cultured. The most studied specimens in Brazil are snooks (Centropomus parallelus e C. undecimalis), flounders (Paralichthys orbignyanus), dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) and snappers (Lutjanus synagris e Lutjanus analis). The Lutjanidae is a family composed of 17 genera and approximately 103 species of mostly reef-dwelling marine fishes, collectively known as snappers (Allen 1985). Within this family, 64 species compose the genus Lutjanus (Figueiredo and Menezes 2000). It is Cubera snapper (Lutjanus cyanopterus): the giant member of Lutjanidae family in Brazil. considered a high-value fish in the market and, according to Magalhães et al. (2003), fish of the Lutjanidae family are highly vulnerable to overfishing because they have slow growth (K < 1.5) and high longevity (20 to 30 years). Watanabe et al. (2001) asserted that, in opposition to what happens in nature, fish of the genus Lutjanus grow faster in cultured conditions and, therefore, can be considered for aquaculture because of their productive performance as well as the high demand and high price for them in the market. Riley et al. (2004) also highlighted the culture potential of snapper species and, according to Sanches (2007), the cultivation of snappers and the consequent reduction of fishing pressure on natural stocks could be a way to preserve this important group of reef fish. The cubera snapper, Lutjanus cyanopterus, is the largest species of the genus and may reach up to 57 kg in weight and 1600 mm in length (Allen 1985). Three reports, Allen (1985), Araujo et al. (2008) and Claro and Lindeman (2008), describe the geographic distribution of this species from the north of Florida (USA) to the northeast and southeast of Brazil. This species is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN 2010) and overfishing at reproductive aggregation sites has exacerbated this situation (Kadison et al. 2006). To date, there are no records of the culture of this species, despite their large size and high tolerance for changing environmental conditions. The goal of this study is to record the first culture of L. cyanopterus in Brazil and to identify their potential for estuarine and marine aquaculture. Study Methods The study was conducted during the autumn of 2009 at the Marine Fish Laboratory (LAPMAR), Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil, 27º 37’ S and 48º 27’W. Seven specimens (average weight 456.29 g ± 289.08 and total length 32.57 cm ± 5.83) were caught in coastal areas of Lagoa da Conceição, Florianópolis, Brazil using fish traps, and stored in 8-m3 multifilament nylon net cages with mesh of 13 mm.
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