The most important populations of the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus(Latreille, 1804)) in the Atlantic are found in the Caribbean and along the Brazilian coast. Field studies covering the waters off the Cuban archipelago and Brazil have improved our understanding of the importance of oceanic circulation to larval recruitment. South of Cuba, puerulus settlement is intensive in October and November when the coastal reefs (83°W) are impacted by a cyclone-anticyclone pair, suggesting this area is the main source of retention and supply of surviving larvae, thus of self-recruitment. On the continental shelf of Brazil, puerulus settlement takes place throughout the year, but two annual peaks have been identified: one in March-April and one in July-September, when retroflection eddies of the North Brazil Current are more intense and feed into the eastward-flowing North Equatorial Countercurrent. Conceivably, Brazilian spiny lobster larvae are trapped in this oceanic system, leading to self-recruitment. On the continental shelf of Brazil the larval period lasts 6-7 months, depending on the season and spawning date. In the Caribbean the period is reported to be 6-8 months. Information on the relative abundance of early-stage spiny lobster larvae makes it possible to predict patterns of recruitment of pueruli and juveniles and the timing of their life cycle. However, further research on seasonal variations in local currents, current retroflection and ring formation is needed to clarify important aspects of larval transport, puerulus settlement and recruitment.

The spatial distribution of the southern brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus subtilis (^{Pérez-Farfante, 1967}) was studied based on industrial fishing fleet activities and is associated with geological and oceanographic characteristics of the benthonic environments on the Amazon continental shelf. Using a geographical information system (GIS) this paper sought to calculate the relative abundance of brown shrimp based on catch per unit effort (CPUE) and compare it with bathymetry, type of sedimentary structure, sedimentation rate and bottom salinity. As a result, we have concluded that the relative abundance (in terms of CPUE) is not uniformly distributed in space. Spatial analysis indicates that commercial trawling efforts were made in the (foreset) region of the subaqueous Amazon delta at depths of 40 to 60 m. In this region, prawn are responsible for the bioturbation of the sediments and the creation of a sedimentary structure called mottled mud. In the foreset region, sedimentation rates progressively increased up to 10 cm.yr^-1; re-suspension was reduced and bottom salinity was high (~ 36). It appears that all of these factors define a stable muddy area with intense bioturbation. This notable biological activity is to be explained by the occurrence of a high F. subtilis abundance that appears to originate in a microbial loop. We concluded that by combining fishery information with environmental data from a GIS, it was possible to identify abundance distribution patterns for southern brown shrimp and other economically important fishery resources and to understand how they change on a large spatial-scale.

O estudo descreve a pesca e os procedimentos de captura do camarão-da-amazônia, na área a jusante da Usina Hidrelétrica de Tucuruí. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de observações de campo e entrevistas individuais auxiliadas por formulários semiestruturados aplicados junto aos pescadores, no período de setembro a novembro de 2011 e setembro de 2012. O camarão-da-amazônia é capturado por diversas artes de pesca,mas o matapi se destaca como o principal apetrecho.

On the Brazilian continental shelf, red spiny lobsters,Panulirus argus(Latreille, 1804) constitute a separate population with two distinct stocks, one in shallow waters (135 mm CL) from deeper waters increases the risk of low recruitment and fishing collapse. The observed change in fishing patterns appears to be the consequence of increased fishing mortality (F) among pre-recruits. This is possibly the main cause of the large fluctuations observed in landings, although other factors, such as the interplay between environmental conditions and recruitment abundance, may have to be considered. Our results show that increasing the minimum legal size of red lobsters is likely to improve total landings in the long term, provided appropriate and tightly enforced control measures are designed and implemented.

The present study analyses the diversity and community structure of the lobsters captured using bottom trawl shrimp nets at depths of 41 to 626 m during fishery prospection cruises conducted between 1996 and 1998. The study area encompasses the coasts of the Brazilian states of Amapá and Pará, which were divided into two sectors, to the north and to south of Cape North. The 44 lobster specimens identified belonged to nine species: Acanthacaris caeca (A. Milne-Edwards, 1881), Nephropsis aculeata Smith, 1881, Nephropsis rosea Bate, 1888, Palinustus truncatus A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804), Parribacus antarcticus (Lund, 1793), Polycheles typhlops Heller, 1862, Scyllarides delfosi Holthuis, 1960 and Stereomastis sculpta (Smith, 1880). The specimens were captured preferentially on muddy sand substrates in the northern sector and gravelly and muddy sand in the southern sector. All species were more common in the northern sector during the dry season (June-November), and in the southern sector in the rainy season (December-May).