Prey availability influences the diet of Scinax fuscomarginatus in a Cerrado area, Central Brazil

G Michelin,D J Santana,K Ceron

doi:10.32800/abc.2020.43.0169

G Michelin, D J Santana + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2020.43.0169

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Abstract

Prey availability in an environment may change seasonally and these changes should be considered as determinant factors for the diets of anurans. Scinax species are generalist predators that feed on arthropods, but data concernning their diet in relation to prey availability are lacking. In this study, we describe the diet of Scinax fuscomarginatus by evaluating its possibly generalist diet related to prey availability in its environment. We studied the diet of Scinax fuscomarginatus by analysing the stomach contents of 48 individuals captured in the Campo Grande municipality, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. We found eight prey categories, the most common and most representative being Hemiptera. The selectivity index of the two most important prey varied inversely between dry and wet seasons. Prey availability also varied between seasons. These results suggest a temporal pattern in prey composition and in the diet of Scinax fuscomarginatus.

Highlights

Understanding the diets of anurans is paramount to unveil their natural history and ecological impacts in both terrestrial and aquatic environments as amphibians help control the populations of many organisms and represent a link between terrestrial and aquatic environments (Toft, 1980, 1981; Duellman and Trueb, 1986; López et al, 2009)
Some studies have already shown that prey availability can change seasonally, and these changes should be considered as a determinant factor for anuran diets (Cogălniceanu et al, 2001) as prey availability is intrinsically related to the trophic ecology of anurans (Kikuchi and Ueida, 1998; Ott and Carvalho, 2001; López et al, 2009)
We found eight prey categories, of which Hemiptera was the most representative group (N = 51.72 %), the most important prey category (IRI = 740.09) and the most volumetric prey (V = 61.67 %)

Summary

Introduction

Understanding the diets of anurans is paramount to unveil their natural history and ecological impacts in both terrestrial and aquatic environments as amphibians help control the populations of many organisms and represent a link between terrestrial and aquatic environments (Toft, 1980, 1981; Duellman and Trueb, 1986; López et al, 2009). 1925) is characterized by its elongated body, small size (average snout–vent length: 23 mm), and yellowish back with wide dark brown sidebands (Brusquetti et al, 2014) It occurs in southern, central, and eastern Brazil (as far north as Piauí and Ceará, west to southern Amazonas), eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and north–western Argentina (Leite Jr et al, 2008; Lima et al, 2017). Given the lack of information about this species’ natural history, and the importance of prey availability for anuran diets, the aim of this study was to describe the diet of Scinax fuscomarginatus, to verify whether the species has a generalist diet, as suggested for other species in the genus (Blanco Torres et al, 2017), and to evaluate whether this generalist diet is related to prey availability in its environment. We predicted that the diet of Scinax fuscomarginatus would be generalist without prey selection, as seen in most anurans

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