Predation of <em>Hemidactylus mabouia</em> (Sauria: Gekkonidae) by a vine snake <em>Oxybelis aeneus</em> &nbsp;(Serpentes: Colubridae) in an Atlantic Forest fragment, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Oxybelis aeneus&lt;/em&gt; (Wagler, 1824) é uma espécie de serpente arborícola de ampla distribuição no continente americano cuja dieta é composta principalmente por vertebrados, como lagartos. Diversas espécies de lagartos já foram reportadas como presas desta serpente, incluindo a espécie exótica &lt;em&gt;Hemidactylus mabouia&lt;/em&gt; (Moreau de Jonnèes, 1818). Aqui descrevemos em detalhes um evento de predação de &lt;em&gt;H. mabouia&lt;/em&gt; por &lt;em&gt;O. aeneus&lt;/em&gt;, ampliando o conhecimento acerca da história natural de ambas as espécies à literatura científica.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Palavras chave&lt;/strong&gt;: Dieta, ecologia alimentar, lagarto, presa, serpente.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Oxybelis aeneus&lt;/em&gt; (Wagler, 1824) is an arboreal snake species that is widely distributed in the American continent whose diet is composed mainly by vertebrates, such as lizards. Several lizard species have already been reported as prey of this snake, including the alien species &lt;em&gt;Hemidactylus mabouia&lt;/em&gt; (Moreau de Jones, 1818). Herein we describe in details a predation event of &lt;em&gt;H. mabouia&lt;/em&gt; by &lt;em&gt;O. aeneus&lt;/em&gt;, widening our knowledge regarding the natural history of both species to scientific literature.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key words&lt;/strong&gt;: Diet, feed ecology, lizard, prey, snake.&lt;/p&gt;

Snakes of the Pernambuco Endemism Center, Brazil: diversity, natural history and conservation

“…8H), being found in Forest, Brejos Nordestinos, Tabuleiros, and urban areas (Pereira Filho and Montingelli 2011. Oxybelis aeneus feeds on lizards, amphibians, and occasionally fishes (Henderson 1982, Hetherington 2006, Grant and Lewis 2010, Mesquita et al 2013, Franzini et al 2018. Its litter can range from 4 to 9 eggs (Vitt and Vangilder 1983, Mesquita et al 2009, Fraga et al 2013.…”

Predation by a Brown Vinesnake, Oxybelis aeneus (Colubridae), on a Black-bellied Racerunner, Aspidoscelis deppii (Teiidae)

“…Its elevational range extends from sea level to ~2,500 m (Keiser 1982;Quintero-Díaz and Carbajal-Márquez 2017). Its diet is based mainly on small vertebrates, such as rodents, amphibians, birds, fishes (Hetherington 2006), and especially lizards (Campbell 1998;Köhler 2008;Mesquita et al 2012;Da Silva et al 2015;López-de la Cruz et al 2016;Sosa-Bartuano and Di Trani 2016;Franzini et al 2018). Oxybelis aeneus is a "sit and wait" predator that detects its prey based on movement (Henderson and Nickerson 1976;Franzini et al 2018) and, in the case of terrestrial prey, it will search and strike from arboreal perches (Mesquita et al 2012).…”