**2. Study area**

by the local people. Our findings show that Guatemala has an enormous potential in the crustaceans decapods for use as natural aquatic resources as protein sources at low cost,

Currently, Guatemala has been included as a mega diversity country, because it represents a geographical area where convergence of a lot of different ecosystems involved a change in the physiography, climates, and biomes [1]. Especially, the climate variations in small territory have been playing an important role in the speciation process and specializations and adapta-

Originally, Guatemala was cataloged as diversity, mainly for the data from terrestrial ecosystems, which has been studied with more emphasis [2]. The marine environment has been few studied; however, the geographical position of the country indicates that there is an important marine diversity in both coasts (Atlantic and Pacific) [2]. Recently, due the interest in the sea resources exploitation, the attention on these resources has increased. In contrast, the aquatic epicontinental resources have scarcity attention as study subject and natural resources, and their potential social and economic benefits are limited. The richness and importance of these small sources of life, important to the subsistence of human populations closers has not evaluated before 2000 year, due to this, it was not possible to give their real value when it has been

In Guatemala, the natural epicontinental aquatic resources begin to acquire an important role in the priorities in the country, mainly due the latent threat of climate change and desertification [3]. The freshwater springs now are considered in the planning and land preservation strategies. As an example of this, Atitlán lake (located in the Sololá Department) worry internationally, due the massive cyanobacteria bloom, due the waste water from human closer to the basin [4]; this case induces that the scientific research activity on freshwater resources increase to get data from springs and streams as bigger basins as source to know the diversity and establish management plans and uses on this natural resources (fisheries, transport, and water sources to human use). Due to this interest, the biological resource increases in importance, and one group that has been well represented in these environments are the crustaceans, mainly freshwater shrimps, crayfishes, and crabs, together several species of fishes and mollusk are dominant in these habitats [2]. In Guatemala, these resources have been exploited economically [5]. However, their importance in production is so low that there are not records and hard data. Several human communities used directly or indirectly the river resources from springs through the coastal connection. As happened with freshwater crabs from family Pseudothelphusidae that is possibly found in the majority of rivers or springs of country on east slope, even the Maya communities from highlands have a fishery and are used for self-consumption [6]. On another slope (Ocean Pacific), *Macrobrachium tenellum* and *Atya margaritacea* have important fisheries and commercialization among the coastal towns on the Pacific especially on south of country mainly in the estuaries of rivers María Linda and Los Esclavos [7]. The aim of this chapter is the potential

especially for the families with low economical level.

tions in diverse populations of plants and animals.

planning strategies to management and conserve these resources.

**1. Introduction**

170 Biological Resources of Water

**Keywords:** Guatemala, crustacean decapods, biological resources

Guatemala as country, has a great biological diversity on the subject of aquatic continental systems. Firstly, as the country is divided into three main slopes, two with drainage on Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea), both very well defined by bigger basins that occupied all center to north of country [8]. The main river to drainage on Gulf of Mexico is the Usumacinta conformed by important rivers as La Pasión, Chixoy, Salinas e Icbolar, all these rivers with origins on highlands flow through lower lands, which permit to have different physical and chemical water conditions, and producing several habitats that bearing an important biological diversity [9].

**Figure 1.** Location of aquatic reservoir in Guatemala (rivers and lakes).

On the Caribbean slope, Guatemala has other rivers with conditions completely different as Dulce, Motagua, and Sarstún Rivers, that with another they end on this slope. River Dulce is the main effluent of important aquifers on Sierra de las Minas and Cerro San Gil, as well as highlands from Alta Verapaz, all these rivers produce the Río Polochic that end on Izabal Lake with connection with the sea in the Amatique Bay [8].

place, the use and the value that local community has on these animals were recorded. In several markets around the country, make a survey to identify the different crustaceans species that are to sale and know if the local or exotic species have special preferences or major value.

Freshwater Crustaceans Decadpos: An Important Resource of Guatemala

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73638

173

Guatemala has three main basins and several economical decapod species associated to these. The first basin analyzed was Caribbean where it was possible to find the following species *Macrobrachium carcinus* (**Figure 3A**), *Macrobrachium acanthurus* (**Figure 3B**), *Macrobrachium olfersii*, *Macrobrachium hobbsi*, *Macrobrachium heterochirus*, and one introduced species *Macrobrachium rosenbergii*; In general, all these species have a good acceptation in the market and in some cases their acceptation had reached high levels, for example *Macrobrachium carcinus* ("La pigua" in Spanish) in the Departments of Quiche, Alta Verapaz, Izabal, and Petén, the populations recently shown an important decrease in the fisheries, due to the over exploitation, pollution of rivers and reservoirs, and therefore, the barriers as dams in rivers that limited their migrations. In contrast, the exotic species *M. rosenbergii* is more frequently in the market and fisheries at least in the harbor fishery of Río Dulce, just now is evaluated if this last species have an impact on native species in several rivers of region. Also, in this region, there are several populations that have an abbreviated larval development and recently was described *Macrobrachium cemai* (**Figure 3C**), that is, used as food by the autochthonous community of Qek'chi in Cerro San Gil, Puerto Barrios, and Izabal. Therefore, there are another small decapods that lack economical value as *Palaemon pandaliformis*, *Palaemonetes octaviae*, and some atyids as *Atya scabra* and *Potimirim glabra* (**Figure 3D**). In this basin, the crayfish species of *Procambarus* spp. (**Figure 3E**) was recorder and in some rivers there are freshwater crabs of family Trichodactylidae (**Figure 3F**) and Pseudothelphusidae (**Figure 3G**) and the local populations especially the indigenous communities as Qek' chi used by self-consumption and these species are hard to be found in the markets and fisheries, but the families use the children to search these species and by this way, they contribute with food to family. The second basin is the Gulf of Mexico, the rivers and aquatic reservoirs drainage on the Usumacinta River and the main species are *Macrobrachium carcinus*, *Macrobrachium acanthurus,* and *Macrobrachium heterochirus*, but in this case due to few important markets to sale these products in general are to self-consumption. On this basin, we have recorded two populations with abbreviated larval development but in general few people know their existence and only indigenous populations used this biological resources together crayfish (*Procambarus* spp.)

In contrast on the Pacific slope in Guatemala, the biological aquatic resources are more diverse in small areas because the mountain chain is a barrier to limit their distribution. But in this area, the species of freshwater prawns are *Macrobrachium tenellum*, *Macrobrachium americanum*, *Macrobrachium occidentale*, and *Macrobrachium digueti,* all these with high commercial value and are easy found in the markets or the people just sale in their houses. The water pollution on rivers or dams are sometimes especially those sites close to cities where few control of waste water exists, the data of oxygen registered was lower in these sites, and the animals were absent, in contrast with those sites so far from human effects. The *Macrobrachium* species are a good indicator of the water quality because there are species as *M. heterochirus* where the

and freshwater crabs of family of Pseudothelphusidae.

oxygen requirements are higher in comparison with another species.

**4. Results**

The Motagua River is the longest of the country. However, due to their origin (closed to Guatemala City) and magnitude, induces an excessive carry of solid wastes mainly plastics and nondegradable material that reach the Caribbean Sea and produce marine pollution [10].

Finally on the Pacific Slope, some main rivers are María Linda, Los Esclavos, La Paz, Achiguate, Coyolate, and Naranjo are located and drainage on the Departments of Escuintla, Rethauleu, Santa Rosa, Jutiapa, Sichitepéquez, San Marcos Quetzaltenango y Sololá [7] (**Figure 1**).
