Diet and endoparasites of the lizard Gymnodactylus darwinii (Gekkota, Phyllodactylidae) from an Atlantic Rainforest area in southeastern Brazil

Mauricio Almeida-Gomes,Davor Vrcibradic,Thiago Maia-Carneiro,Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha

doi:10.5007/2175-7925.2012v25n1p203

Mauricio Almeida-Gomes, Davor Vrcibradic + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2012v25n1p203

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Abstract

In this study we provide information on diet and endoparasites of individuals of the species Gymnodactylus darwinii in an Atlantic Rainforest area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Regarding diet, orthopterans and isopods were the most important preys. One nematode species (Physaloptera sp.) was found associated to the stomach of an individual, representing a new host record for this genus. Our results indicate that G. darwinii has a similar diet to other lizard species from the Atlantic Rainforest, although different from that of other congeneric species inhabiting open areas.

Highlights

The genus Gymnodactylus Spix, 1825 (Phyllodactylidae) currently includes five species of geckos, distributed along the Atlantic Rainforest, Cerrado, and Caatinga biomes present in Brazil (PELLEGRINO et al, 2005; UETZ; HALLERMANN, 2011)
After preservation in 10% formalin and storage in 70% alcohol, the collected lizards were measured in their snout-vent length (SVL) and jaw width (JW) with a digital caliper
Lizards collected for this study were deposited at the reptile collection of the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ), Brazil, and the endoparasites found associated with them were deposited at the helminth collection of Instituto de Biociências de Botucatu (CHIBB)

Summary

Introduction

The genus Gymnodactylus Spix, 1825 (Phyllodactylidae) currently includes five species of geckos, distributed along the Atlantic Rainforest, Cerrado, and Caatinga biomes present in Brazil (PELLEGRINO et al, 2005; UETZ; HALLERMANN, 2011). There is currently no information available for G. darwinii or for any other species in the genus, except for a report of a trematode infecting G. geckoides from an unspecified locality in Brazil (see ÁVILA; SILVA, 2010) and for a record of the nematode Spauligodon oxkutzcabiensis infecting Gymnodactylus amarali (as G. geckoides amarali) in the state of Tocantins (Goldberg et al, 2010).

Results

Conclusion