<b>First account on the use of fishing resources as medicines in the city of São Félix, Bahia State, Brazil</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v27i2.1328

Abstract

This article deals with the medicinal use of fishing resources by the inhabitants of São Félix, Bahia State. Fieldwork was carried out from May 2004 to March 2005 by interviewing 29 individuals of both sexes, whose ages ranged from 11 to 79 years old. Data were obtained by means of open-ended interviews performed with fishermen and their families. Most of the interviews were tape-recorded whenever informants have allowed. Transcriptions were done in a field notebook, which is kept at the Laboratory of Ethnobiology of the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS). Fish specimens were collected, identified and deposited at the Laboratory of Ichthyology of the UEFS. Results show that, in the ethnoichthyological classification system of São Félix fishermen, not systematically related organisms are included in the “Fish” ethnozoological dominium. Thus, seven “fish” ethnospecies used as medicinal resources were recorded: Guri sea catfish (Genidens genidens), shrimp (Macrobrachium sp.), armored catfish (Callichthys sp.), leporinus (Leporinus sp.), piranha (Serrasalmus branditi), manatee (Trichechus sp.), and trahira (Hoplias malabaricus). These animals provide raw materials that are used to elaborate medicaments to treat and/or heal locally diagnosed illnesses. The written record of the traditional medicine implies in the conservation of the local culture, and allows that the zootherapeutic resources might be evaluated in relation to the probable existence of biologically active compounds