The Amazon River drainage basin is known as the most biodiverse region in the world. Regarding freshwater fish, this region contains around 15% of the world's fish richness. The fish family Serrasalmidae have a variety of feeding preferences including Pacus (herbivores) and Piranhas (carnivores). Fruit eating fish species are evolutionarily the oldest species in the family and have a mutualistic interaction with flooded forests. Considering the diversity of feeding habits of the Serrasalmidae family, it represents an excellent model to study ecological questions related to factors that influence the spatial distribution of species and factors that contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity. I first analyzed how differences in dietary preferences influence the spatial distribution and habitat associations of species at the landscape scale using diet data and three proxies of habitat association derived from satellite products. Using Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares models I evaluated the relationship between habitat association and feeding guilds. Differences in resource distribution (assessed through feeding guilds) can influence habitat associations. Considering the hydrological variability (i.e., floodplain extent) and landscape heterogeneity that characterize floodplains, the patterns of habitat association vary with the spatial scale considered. Second, I identified factors that aid in sustaining aquatic biodiversity in floodplain forests of the Amazon River basin, focusing on frugivorous fish. I used descriptors of the floodplain ecosystem- and landscape-level variables to assess their contribution to the maintenance of fish species richness. Using Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with negative binomial distribution I found that greater plant richness could offer a greater variety of food resources for frugivorous fishes and that a more extensive floodplain area provides larger forested habitat for fishes that depend on forest-derived food resources, as such subbasins with these characteristics support a greater frugivorous fish species richness. This work provides valuable information on species habitat associations by fish as well as food resource dynamics, floodplain dependence, and advances our understanding of the intricate relationship between forests and fish at a basin scale. This information is critical for assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on freshwater ecosystems and can be used to inform conservation strategies in the tropics.

O comportamento alimentar está sujeito à diversas pressões seletivas, e assim sendo, apresenta grandes variações dentro da história evolutiva dos diferentes grupos de animais. Os peixes da família Serrasalmidae, comumente conhecidos como pacus e piranhas, são endêmicos da região Neotropical e são amplamente distribuídos pelas principais bacias de rios da América do Sul, exceto nos rios costeiros do Brasil e a oeste dos Andes. Esse grupo de peixes apresenta amplas variações no aparato morfológico alimentar e nas estratégias alimentares, existindo espécies carnívoras, herbívoras e lepidófagas. A ecomorfologia pode ser compreendida como o estudo das relações existentes entre fenótipo e aspectos ecológicos de indivíduos e de grupos de indivíduos. De tal modo, a ecomorfologia busca compreender como os organismos são formados e quais são as relações ecológicas e evolutivas relacionadas às formas existentes. Deste modo, o presente estudo busca compreender, através da abordagem ecomorfológica, funcional e evolutiva, as diversas modificações existentes no aparato alimentar dos peixes da família Serrasalmidae. Para tanto, são mostradas variações relacionadas à anatomia muscular, óssea e do trato digestório, relacionando-as com comportamentos alimentares e, além disso, também são realizadas inferências filogenéticas com tais dados, mostrando uma provável evolução de tais características. / The feeding behavior is subject to different selective pressures, and therefore, the feeding apparatus varies widely within the evolutionary history of different groups of animals. The fishes of the family Serrasalmidae, known as pacu and piranhas, are endemic to the Neotropics and are widely distributed in the major river basins of South America, except in coastal rivers of Brazil and in the western coast of South America. This fish group shows extensive variations in morphological apparatus and in food strategies. There are carnivore, herbivorous and lepidophagous species. The ecomorphology is the study of the relationship between phenotype and ecological aspects of individuals and groups of individuals. Thus, ecomorphology seeks to understand how organisms are formed and what are the ecological and evolutionary relationships related to it. Thus, this study seeks to understand, by ecomorphological, functional and evolutionary approaches, the several changes in feeding apparatus of Serrasalmidae. Therefore, variations related to muscles, bones and digestive tract anatomy are shown and associated to feeding behaviors. Additionally, phylogenetic inferences were made with data obtained, showing a probable evolution of such features.

O comportamento alimentar está sujeito à diversas pressões seletivas, e assim sendo, apresenta grandes variações dentro da história evolutiva dos diferentes grupos de animais. Os peixes da família Serrasalmidae, comumente conhecidos como pacus e piranhas, são endêmicos da região Neotropical e são amplamente distribuídos pelas principais bacias de rios da América do Sul, exceto nos rios costeiros do Brasil e a oeste dos Andes. Esse grupo de peixes apresenta amplas variações no aparato morfológico alimentar e nas estratégias alimentares, existindo espécies carnívoras, herbívoras e lepidófagas. A ecomorfologia pode ser compreendida como o estudo das relações existentes entre fenótipo e aspectos ecológicos de indivíduos e de grupos de indivíduos. De tal modo, a ecomorfologia busca compreender como os organismos são formados e quais são as relações ecológicas e evolutivas relacionadas às formas existentes. Deste modo, o presente estudo busca compreender, através da abordagem ecomorfológica, funcional e evolutiva, as diversas modificações existentes no aparato alimentar dos peixes da família Serrasalmidae. Para tanto, são mostradas variações relacionadas à anatomia muscular, óssea e do trato digestório, relacionando-as com comportamentos alimentares e, além disso, também são realizadas inferências filogenéticas com tais dados, mostrando uma provável evolução de tais características. / The feeding behavior is subject to different selective pressures, and therefore, the feeding apparatus varies widely within the evolutionary history of different groups of animals. The fishes of the family Serrasalmidae, known as pacu and piranhas, are endemic to the Neotropics and are widely distributed in the major river basins of South America, except in coastal rivers of Brazil and in the western coast of South America. This fish group shows extensive variations in morphological apparatus and in food strategies. There are carnivore, herbivorous and lepidophagous species. The ecomorphology is the study of the relationship between phenotype and ecological aspects of individuals and groups of individuals. Thus, ecomorphology seeks to understand how organisms are formed and what are the ecological and evolutionary relationships related to it. Thus, this study seeks to understand, by ecomorphological, functional and evolutionary approaches, the several changes in feeding apparatus of Serrasalmidae. Therefore, variations related to muscles, bones and digestive tract anatomy are shown and associated to feeding behaviors. Additionally, phylogenetic inferences were made with data obtained, showing a probable evolution of such features.