Ecologia populacional de Cassis tuberosa (Mollusca: Cassidae) em habitats costeiros no Nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

Of he more than 100,000 species of marine gastropods currently described, at least 60,000 are shelled, which due to its aesthetic value are involved in the international shell trade, which is poorly documented, and mainly, unquantified. The great majority of molluscs species traded for ornamental purposes are gastropods, large species as Cassis tuberosa, which is among the main targets of the ornamental trade. Thus, being a widely exploited species the ecological role of C. tuberosa in marine ecosystems may be compromised by their removal from the environment. In sandy beach environments analyzed in this study, the population of C. tuberosa is structurally young, which to characterize this area as important on the recruitment of this species. In reef areas studied, the gastropod population is predominantly adult, featuring an important area on the development of the specie, which may contribute to the reproductive stage and hence population growth. The absence of C. tuberosa capture both the sandy plain environment and the reefs to justifies the population density of this gastropod that can be consider high in the studied areas. On a conservation perspective, we suggest that the environments analyzed in this study are potential sites for monitoring of natural populations of C. tuberosa and the development of more detailed population and ecological studies that collaborate to the elaboration of management plans for this species.