Body size, diet and endoparasites of the microhylid frog Chiasmocleis capixaba in an Atlantic Forest area of southern Bahia state, Brazil

Abstract

We analyzed the diet composition, endoparasites and sexual size dimorphism of the microhylid frog Chiasmocleis capixaba (microhylidae) from a "mussununga" habitat in the municipality of nova Viçosa, southern Bahia state, Brazil. All the 119 specimens analyzed were collected in a single night of heavy rainfall. females (mean snout-vent length = 15.7 + 3.0 mm) were significantly larger than males (mean snout-vent length = 13.2 + 2.1 mm), and specimens of both sexes were smaller than those of a conspecific population previously reported in Aracruz, state of espírito santo state. the diet of C. capixaba was dominated by mites, ants and collembolans. seventy-nine frogs (66.4% of the total) were infected by helminths, all belonging to a single species, Cosmocerca ornata, an intestinal nematode parasite.Keywords: Chiasmocleis capixaba, diet, sexual size dimorphism, parasites, Atlantic rainforest. ReSumo Tamanho corporal, dieta e endoparasitas do anuro microhilídeo Chiasmocleis capixaba em uma área de Floresta Atlântica no sul do estado da Bahia, BrasilAnalisamos a composição da dieta, endoparasitas e dimorfismo sexual em tamanho no anuro Chiasmocleis capixaba (microhylidae) em um habitat de "mussununga" no município de nova Viçosa, no sul do estado da Bahia, Brasil. todos os 119 espécimes analisados foram coletados em uma única noite com chuva intensa. As fêmeas (comprimento rostro-cloacal médio = 15,7 + 3,0 mm) foram significativamente maiores que os machos (comprimento rostro-anal médio = 13,2 + 2,1 mm), e indivíduos de ambos sexos foram menores do que os de uma população coespecífica de Aracruz, no estado do espírito santo. A dieta de C. capixaba estava dominada por ácaros, formigas e colêmbolos. setenta e nove indivíduos (66.4% do total) estavam infectados por helmintos, todos pertencentes a uma única espécie, Cosmocerca ornata, um nematódeo intestinal.Palavras-chave: Chiasmocleis capixaba, dieta, dimorfismo em tamanho, parasitas, floresta Atlântica.

Diversity of ants and mites in the diet of the Brazilian frog Chiasmocleis leucosticta (Anura: Microhylidae)

“…Chiasmocleis leucosticta is a small (male SVL = 18.3 ± 2.80 mm; female SVL = 23.5 ± 1.72 mm) fossorial frog that forages in the leaf litter, being included in Class 2 of Simon & Toft (1991), which could explain the presence and the relative abundance of mites in its diet. Mites were also well represented in the diet of the Amazonian microhilyd Sincope antenori (Simon & Toft 1991) and in the Atlantic forest microhylid Chiasmocleis capixaba (Van Sluys et al 2006). To our knowledge this is the first work to identify mites to the family level in the diet of a Microhylidae frog.…”

“…The proportion of empty stomachs is highly variable in Chiasmocleis species whose diet was determined, varying from 19.3% in C. capixaba (Van Sluys et al 2006) to 82.3% in C. ventrimaculata (Schluter & Salas 1991).…”

“…Similarly to the other species of the genus, C. leucosticta is fossorial and an explosive breeder, characterized by large aggregations in temporary water bodies during a very short period of the year (Van Sluys et al 2006). Thereby, due to their fossorial habits and annual breeding pattern, individuals are rarely found, and natural history data about the species are rare.…”

“…Microhylids are extremely diversified in habits, and fossorial and semifossorial species tend to be myrmecophagous, feeding on ants and termites (Vitt & Caldwell 2013). The gastrophrynine genus Chiasmocleis (Méhelÿ, 1904) is widely distributed and the most speciose genus among tropical microhylids (Van Sluys et al 2006, Forlani, 2010. Currently, the genus comprises 29 species, which are spread from Panama to Southern Brazil (Frost 2017), including 11 species found in the Atlantic rainforest of southeastern Brazil.…”

Metazoan endoparasites of three species of anurans collected from the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey

“…variegata (Buchvarov, 1977;Grabda-Kazubska & Lewin, 1989;Kirin & Buchvarov, 2002); B. bufo (Walton, 1933;Buchvarov, 1977;Galli et al, 2000;Galli et al, 2001);B. viridis (Batchvarov et al, 1975;Buchvarov, 1977;Vashetko & Sıddıkov, 1999;Mashaii, 2005); H. arborea (Buchvarov, 1977;Yıldırımhan et al, 2006c); P. syriacus ; R. esculenta (Walton, 1933;Buchvarov, 1977); R. arvalis (Cedhagen, 1988;Kuc & Sulgostowska, 1988b); R. temporaria, (Walton, 1933;Buchvarov, 1977;Kuc & Sulgostowska, 1988b); R. graeca (Božkov & Stojkova, 1970;Buchvarov, 1977); R. holtzi (Yıldırımhan et al, 2006b); R. macrocnemis (Yıldırımhan et al, 2006b;Düşen, 2007); R. ridibunda (Batchvarov et al, 1975;Buchvarov, 1977;Kuc & Sulgostowska, 1988a;Mashaii et al, 2000;Kirin & Buchvarov, 2002;Kirin, 2003a, b;Yıldırımhan et al, 2005a;Düşen, 2006); R. camerani (Yıldırımhan et al 2006a;Düşen 2007); Chiasmocleis capixaba (Van Sluys et al, 2006) and A. fragilis . Schad et al (1960) (Öktener, 2003), and tench (Tinca tinca) (Yıldız, 2003;Yıldız & Çavuşo-ğlu, 2003).…”