D. Amorim, R. W. Ávila, Renata Perez, Geraldo Moura
{"title":"Diet Composition of Three Amphisbaenian Species (Amphisbaena alba, Amphisbaena pretrei and Amphisbaena vermicularis) from Northeast Brazil","authors":"D. Amorim, R. W. Ávila, Renata Perez, Geraldo Moura","doi":"10.1139/cjz-2023-0102","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Amphisbaenians usually have a diet composed of a wide variety of small arthropods, with some species being more selective in their feeding and others considered more generalist. Using only specimens deposited in scientific collections, the diet composition of Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus, 1758, Amphisbaena pretrei Duméril and Bibron 1839 and Amphisbaena vermicularis Wagler, 1824 from the Northeast region of Brazil was analyzed. Except for individuals of A. alba, due the small sample size, we also investigated the possible intersexual difference in the volume, length and number of preys in the diet of amphisbaenians and the possible relationship between prey volume and body size (SVL) of individuals was analyzed. The diet of worm-lizard in general was composed of termites, cockroaches, ants, and beetle larvae, and no intersexual differences were found in the size, length, and number of consumed preys. The body size of A. pretrei and A. vermicularis showed no relationship with the volume of prey consumed. Amphisbaenians presented a characteristic diet of opportunistic generalist predators, with several food categories in the composition of their diets, indicating that the studied species feed according to the availability and abundance of prey in the environment.","PeriodicalId":9484,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canadian Journal of Zoology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0102","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Amphisbaenians usually have a diet composed of a wide variety of small arthropods, with some species being more selective in their feeding and others considered more generalist. Using only specimens deposited in scientific collections, the diet composition of Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus, 1758, Amphisbaena pretrei Duméril and Bibron 1839 and Amphisbaena vermicularis Wagler, 1824 from the Northeast region of Brazil was analyzed. Except for individuals of A. alba, due the small sample size, we also investigated the possible intersexual difference in the volume, length and number of preys in the diet of amphisbaenians and the possible relationship between prey volume and body size (SVL) of individuals was analyzed. The diet of worm-lizard in general was composed of termites, cockroaches, ants, and beetle larvae, and no intersexual differences were found in the size, length, and number of consumed preys. The body size of A. pretrei and A. vermicularis showed no relationship with the volume of prey consumed. Amphisbaenians presented a characteristic diet of opportunistic generalist predators, with several food categories in the composition of their diets, indicating that the studied species feed according to the availability and abundance of prey in the environment.
期刊介绍:
Published since 1929, the Canadian Journal of Zoology is a monthly journal that reports on primary research contributed by respected international scientists in the broad field of zoology, including behaviour, biochemistry and physiology, developmental biology, ecology, genetics, morphology and ultrastructure, parasitology and pathology, and systematics and evolution. It also invites experts to submit review articles on topics of current interest.