Abstract
Anuran tadpoles are gregarious predators capable of differentiating food items among diverse types of prey via varied feeding and oral structures. Tadpoles were collected from different study sites in three districts of northern Odisha during three consecutive rainy seasons (from July–October of 2015–2017). After morphometric measurements (total length and body length), the stomach contents of 75 tadpoles belonging to five different anuran species (Duttaphrynus melanostictus, Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Fejervarya orissaensis, Polypedates maculatus and Microhyla ornata) belonging to four families namely Bufonidae, Dicroglossidae, Rhacophoridae and Microhylidae were examined. The food spectrum of tadpoles included mostly detritus, followed by phytoplankton (represented by 5 classes and 54 genera). Such studies contribute to the understanding of the natural diets of these anuran species that can assist in developing management strategies for them. Aquatic habitats must be conserved and maintained so that conservation of anurans can be ensured.
Highlights
Various types of food items were recorded from the gut contents of these co-occurring tadpoles
Anuran larvae are some of the least understood in terms of their trophic relations (Petranka & Kennedy 1999; Altig 2007)
Duellman & Trueb (1986) commented that food partitioning among anuran tadpoles is caused by differences in the ability of the various species to ingest particles of varying sizes and to the position they occupy in the water column, a consequence of morphological adaptations for the exploitation of specific microhabitats
Summary
The aim of the present study was to investigate the feeding biology of the co-occurring tadpoles in their natural habitats of northern Odisha
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have