Conhecimento Etnozoológico de Duas Comunidades de Pescadores do Norte do Estado do Espírito Santo sobre a Família Teredinidae (Mollusca, Bivalvia)

Abstract

Traditional communities inhabiting mangroves maintain a close relationship with their environment. Understanding the fauna of these ecosystems from a local perspective is key to analyzing socio-environmental interactions. Although teredinids (shipworms) act as organic matter reducers and a trophic resource, literature on the ethnozoological knowledge associated with this family is scarce. Given this gap, the objective of this study was to analyze the traditional knowledge of the family Teredinidae in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil.

A total of 45 fishermen aged 17 to 79 from the communities of Barreiras and Meleiras were interviewed, selected through snowball sampling. Data collection combined semi-structured questionnaires to explore perceptions and interactions, and a projective test to identify regional ethnonomenclature.

The results reveal two main findings: 1) the local common name assigned to the Teredinidae family is "busanos", and 2) the majority of fishermen perceive these organisms as harmful to human activities. Local strategies are primarily oriented toward repelling them, requiring semi-annual maintenance of the affected wooden vessels. The study concludes by suggesting the implementation of dialogic actions that articulate local knowledge and recognize the ecological functions of the ecosystem, highlighting the need to expand ethnozoological research in the region.