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Herpetology Notes, volume 5: 173-175 (2012) (published online on 24 May 2012)
Predation by native fish and feeding by crab species on
Leptodactylus macrosternum Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926
(Anura: Leptodactylidae) in northeastern, Brazil
Etielle B. Andrade*, Tarcísio B. Lima Júnior, João Manoel A. Leite Júnior and José Roberto S. A. Leite
Amphibians play an important role on trophic chains,
acting as much predator as prey (Watanabe et al.,
2005; Haddad et al., 2008). The predation of anurans
is potentially increased by the gregarious behavior of
species during the reproductive period (Duellman and
Trueb, 1994; Toledo, 2005; Toledo et al., 2007).
Most of the papers found in literature concerning
amphibian predation is related to the observation and
the quantification of the impacts on eggs (Bridges,
2002; Menin and Giareta, 2003; Neckel-Oliveira and
Wachlevski, 2004) and larvae of neotropical anurans
(Kopp and Eterovick, 2006; Richter-Boix et al., 2007;
Touchon and Warkentin, 2009). Studies on predation
of adult amphibians are scarce owing to difficulties on
observation and quantification of such events (Pombal
Jr., 2007), which are restricted only to some fortuitous
cases (e.g. Toledo, 2003; Menin et al., 2005; Teixeira et
al., 2009; Figueiredo-de-Andrade et al., 2010).
Herein, we report one case of predation and one case of
feeding on the butter frog Leptodactylus macrosternum
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926, by a freshwater fish and a crab,
respectively, in northeastern Brazil. Leptodactylus
macrosternum belongs to the Leptodactylus ocellatus
(Linnaeus, 1758) species group, which is the least
diverse species group of the genus (De La Riva and
Maldonado, 1999). This species is widely distributed
throughout South America, east of the Andes, and
occurs from Venezuela to Argentina, including Brazil.
Núcleo de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade e Conservação – BIOTEC, Universidade Federal do Piauí – UFPI, Campus Ministro Reis Veloso – CMRV. Av. São Sebastião 2819 Parnaíba
– PI, CEP 64202-020, Brasil.
*Corresponding author. e-mail: [email protected]
It is considered a generalist species, which is well
adapted to disturbed environments and inhabits from
open habitats in dry areas to humid tropical forests
(Heyer et al., 2008). The predation record occurred
during fieldwork in the Parque Municipal Cachoeira
do Bota Fora (04º 16’ S and 41º 46’ W), municipality
of Piripiri, State of Piauí, northeastern Brazil, on
16 November 2007 at 22:30 h. On such event, a
carnivorous freshwater wolf fish Hoplias malabaricus
(Bloch, 1794) was seen predating a L. macrosternum.
The site of predation is characterized as a dense forested
environment and rugged terrain, where some small
waterfalls are originated and glide over rocks, forming
a lentic water environment. Scared with our presence
the anuran tried to escape and fell into a pond, when it
was attacked by the fish that was hidden under rocks
(Fig. 1).
Figure 1. A freshwater wolf fish Hoplias malabaricus eating
a Leptodactylus macrosternum adult (white arrow) in a lentic
pond, in the Parque Municipal Cachoeira do Bota Fora,
municipality of Piripiri, State of Piauí, Northeastern Brazil.
174
The frog struggled for about five minutes but was
completely swallowed by the fish, which returned to its
hiding place on the rocks.
The wolf fish H. malabaricus (Characiformes:
Erythrinidae), popularly called “traíra”, is widely
distribution throughout South America (Buckup, 1999).
It is an essentially piscivorous species (Zaniboni-Filho
et al., 2004), but has a high trophic plasticity. This
species mainly inhabits lentic waters (Moraes and
Barbola, 1995) which are vastly used as breeding site
by Leptodactylus frogs so they can be considered as one
of their main predators (De Sá et al., 2007).
The second event was recorded on 6 September 2008,
at Ilha Grande de Santa Isabel (02º 46’ S and 41º 48’ W),
municipality of Parnaíba, State of Piauí. Around 10:00
h, we found a crab of the species Goniopsis cruentata
(Latreille, 1803), popularly called “aratu”, feeding on a
L. macrosternum adult at the entrance of its burrow. The
crab´s burrow was located less than 5m of transition
line between the mangrove and the dune fields, where
several frogs were observed among plants. The frog´s
body was partially eaten by the crab (Fig. 2). After
feeling our presence, the crab immediately hid on its
burrow, shortly after the crab appeared again and pulled
the frog into the hole.
The “aratu” is a decapod crab that belongs to the
family Grapsidae, distributed throughout the Western
Atlantic, from Florida to Santa Catarina (Melo, 1996).
The individuals inhabit mangroves in consolidated or
unconsolidated substrates (Coelho and Ramos-Porto,
1995), being a semi-arboreal agile species and able to
move quickly between the roots and trunks of trees. It
Etielle B. Andrade et al.
is considered an omnivorous animal, excellent predator
in the mangroves, feeding on mangrove seedlings of
small crabs (McKee, 1995), without records of feeding
on amphibians. Gutsche and Elepfandt (2007) reported
cases of river crabs preying on amphibians in South
Africa. However this is the first report for a marine crab
species feeding event on an amphibian.
Individuals of L. macrosternum were found near to the
region bounded by the high tide. In the site where the
feeding crab was observed, the salinity level recorded was
about 20%, but this value can vary up to 40%, according
to tide variation. The presence of specimens of the genus
Leptodactylus in mangrove ecosystems has already been
recorded by other authors in southeastern Brazil. Rangel
and Ferreira (2007) studying the diet composition of
frogs in a mangrove, located in the municipality of
Vitória, State of Espírito Santo, recorded a juvenile crab
in the stomach of an individual of L. latrans (Steffen,
1815), a species similar to L. macrosternum. Recently
Ferreira and Tonini (2010) recorded the presence of
L. latrans using as refuge apparently abandoned crab
burrows in the same mangrove ecosystem. This shows
a possible interaction between butter frogs and marine
crabs, where the frogs visit the mangrove in search of
food and burrow for shelter, however when visiting the
burrows they can eventually serve as food for crabs, as
reported in this study. It is necessary to conduct more
extensive research to determine the level of interaction
between these two species.
The processes related to amphibian trophic ecology
plays an important role for understanding the functioning
of ecosystems in different types of environments.
Both events presented here reinforce this importance,
Figure 2. Mangrove crab Goniopsis cruentata feeding on a Leptodactylus macrosternum at Ilha Grande de Santa Isabel,
municipality of Parnaíba, State of Piauí. A - Frog found outside the crab burrow entrance; B - Crab eating the frog and hiding
on its burrow.
Predation by native fish and feeding by crab species
since amphibians are fundamental for the development
of the natural balance of ecosystems, acting both as
predator and prey in the control and maintenance of
biological communities.
Acknowledgments. We thank Washington Luís da Silva Vieira
and Leonardo Sousa Carvalho for suggestions and English
revision. Rodrigo dos Santos Melo for editing images. Financial
support was provided by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de
Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES, through Programa de Pós
Graduação em Biodiversidade e Conservação, and the CNPq
Universal 480997/2007-1/ Edital MCT/CNPq 15/2007.
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Accepted by Philip de Pous