Diet of the Bannan Caecilian<i>Ichthyophis bannanicus</i>(Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Ngo, Binh Van; Hoang, Nghiep T.; Ngo, Chung D.

doi:10.1670/13-113

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Fossorial limbless amphibians (caecilians, Gymnophiona) represent a less-abundant group with a pantropical distribution. Rare dietary studies showed that caecilians forage underground at depths usually ranging from 10 to 60 cm (Wake, 1980;Kupfer, Nabhitabhata & Himstedt, 2005) or in leaf-litter and feed mostly on earthworms, molluscs, ants, termites and other soil invertebrates, with some species displaying trophic specialisation (O'Reilly, 2000;Measey & Gaborieau, 2004;Kupfer et al, 2005Kupfer et al, , 2006Ngo, Hoang & Ngo, 2014). Coexisting species were shown to partition their food resources (Jones, Loader & Gower, 2006;Kouete & Blackburn, 2020).…”

Section: Feeding Habits Of Soil Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding habits and multifunctional classification of soil‐associated consumers from protists to vertebrates

et al. 2022

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Soil organisms drive major ecosystem functions by mineralising carbon and releasing nutrients during decomposition processes, which supports plant growth, aboveground biodiversity and, ultimately, human nutrition. Soil ecologists often operate with functional groups to infer the effects of individual taxa on ecosystem functions and services. Simultaneous assessment of the functional roles of multiple taxa is possible using food‐web reconstructions, but our knowledge of the feeding habits of many taxa is insufficient and often based on limited evidence. Over the last two decades, molecular, biochemical and isotopic tools have improved our understanding of the feeding habits of various soil organisms, yet this knowledge is still to be synthesised into a common functional framework. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the feeding habits of consumers in soil, including protists, micro‐, meso‐ and macrofauna (invertebrates), and soil‐associated vertebrates. We have integrated existing functional group classifications with findings gained with novel methods and compiled an overarching classification across taxa focusing on key universal traits such as food resource preferences, body masses, microhabitat specialisation, protection and hunting mechanisms. Our summary highlights various strands of evidence that many functional groups commonly used in soil ecology and food‐web models are feeding on multiple types of food resources. In many cases, omnivory is observed down to the species level of taxonomic resolution, challenging realism of traditional soil food‐web models based on distinct resource‐based energy channels. Novel methods, such as stable isotope, fatty acid and DNA gut content analyses, have revealed previously hidden facets of trophic relationships of soil consumers, such as food assimilation, multichannel feeding across trophic levels, hidden trophic niche differentiation and the importance of alternative food/prey, as well as energy transfers across ecosystem compartments. Wider adoption of such tools and the development of open interoperable platforms that assemble morphological, ecological and trophic data as traits of soil taxa will enable the refinement and expansion of the multifunctional classification of consumers in soil. The compiled multifunctional classification of soil‐associated consumers will serve as a reference for ecologists working with biodiversity changes and biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships, making soil food‐web research more accessible and reproducible.

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Section: Feeding Habits Of Soil Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding habits and multifunctional classification of soil‐associated consumers from protists to vertebrates

et al. 2022

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“…Kupfer and Maraun (2003) first reported oribatid mites (Oribatida) as the major prey of Ichthyophis kohtaoensis and further claimed (based on the personal observations of Alexander Kupfer) that the caecilian diet consists primarily of earthworms, termites, and ants. Ngo et al (2014) found several groups of prey items in 135 stomach content samples of the related Ichthyophis bannanicus from the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, including Annelida (Lumbricidae [earthworms]), Arachnida (Araneae), Chilopoda (Scolopendromorpha), Diplopoda, Gastropoda (Achatinidae), Insecta (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Orthoptera, insect larvae), and Amphibia (Ranidae). Although prey of caecilians are similar to those of other amphibians (such as in Anurans), the Goa caecilian Gegeneophis goaensis (family Indotyphlidae) has been found in the stomach of Ichthyophis cf.…”

Section: S T Umentioning

confidence: 99%

Species diversity and prey items of amphibians in Yoddom Wildlife Sanctuary, northeastern Thailand

et al. 2019

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Abstract. Thongproh P, Duengkae P, Ratree P, Phetcharat E, Kingwongsa W, Jaitrong W, Chuaynkern Y, Chuaynkern C. 2019. Species diversity and prey items of amphibians in Yoddom Wildlife Sanctuary, northeastern Thailand. Biodiversitas 20: 2718-2732. Amphibian occurrence within Yoddom Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located along the border region among Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, is poorly understood. To determine amphibian diversity within the sanctuary, we conducted daytime and nocturnal surveys from 2014 to 2017 within six management units. We recorded 26 amphibian species and two additional unidentified taxa from two orders (Anura and Gymnophiona) and six families. Four of the encountered species are new records for Ubon Ratchathani, (Kalophrynus interlineatus, Microhyla berdmorei, Micryletta inornata, and Chiromantis nongkhorensis). In addition to observational surveys, we investigated amphibian prey items via fecal pellet analyses. Prey items comprised mainly animals (85% from class Insecta), but 9% of species consumed both plants and animals. Among insects, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were the most abundant prey (35% and 31%, respectively). In addition, we observed one case of Ichthyophis kohtaoensis consuming an earthworm and an incident of cannibalism in Sylvirana mortenseni. Finally, due to illegal logging activities and active landmines, surveys were limited to the secure regions within the sanctuary. Thus, we noted that further species might remain unidentified within Yoddom Wildlife Sanctuary due to this limitation.

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“…Caecilian amphibians have around 250 million years of evolutionary history apart from anurans and salamanders ( Pyron, 2011 , Roelants et al., 2007 , San Mauro, 2010 , Zhang and Wake, 2009 ). Anurans and salamanders have developed a variety of feeding systems, whereas caecilians are exclusively jaw-feeders ( Bemis et al., 1983 , Duellman and Trueb, 1994 ) utilizing a powerful bite ( Measey and Herrel, 2006 , Summers and Wake, 2005 ) and a series of curved sharp-pointed teeth, which act on apprehension and ingestion ( Wake, 1976 ) of invertebrates such as earthworms and subterranean arthropods, or even larger prey, such as anurans ( Kupfer et al., 2005 , Ngo et al., 2014 ), lizards ( Moll and Smith, 1967 ), and snakes ( Greef, 1884 , Presswell et al., 2002 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological Evidence for an Oral Venom System in Caecilian Amphibians

et al. 2020

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Summary Amphibians are known for their skin rich in glands containing toxins employed in passive chemical defense against predators, different from, for example, snakes that have active chemical defense, injecting their venom into the prey. Caecilians (Amphibia, Gymnophiona) are snake-shaped animals with fossorial habits, considered one of the least known vertebrate groups. We show here that amphibian caecilians, including species from the basal groups, besides having cutaneous poisonous glands as other amphibians do, possess specific glands at the base of the teeth that produce enzymes commonly found in venoms. Our analysis of the origin of these glands shows that they originate from the same tissue that gives rise to teeth, similar to the venom glands in reptiles. We speculate that caecilians might have independently developed mechanisms of production and injection of toxins early in their evolutionary history.

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Diet of the Bannan CaecilianIchthyophis bannanicus(Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Cited by 5 publications

References 37 publications

Feeding habits and multifunctional classification of soil‐associated consumers from protists to vertebrates

Feeding habits and multifunctional classification of soil‐associated consumers from protists to vertebrates

Species diversity and prey items of amphibians in Yoddom Wildlife Sanctuary, northeastern Thailand

Morphological Evidence for an Oral Venom System in Caecilian Amphibians

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