Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 345-348 (2021) (published online on 14 February 2021)

First record of Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) ingesting a fruit of the cactus Pilosocereus catingicola in northeastern Brazil

Tainara Lima da Silva1,*, Gabriel Deyvison dos Santos Carvalho1, Maria Aldenise Xavier1, Jefferson Oliveira Lima1, and Eduardo José dos Reis Dias1

Saurochory is a mutualistic relationship, in which 2017), T. semitaeniatus (Fonseca et al., 2012; Gomes lizards promote seed dispersal (Valido and Olesen, et al., 2013, 2016, 2017) and T. torquatus (Figueira et 2007; Ricklefs, 2010). This process has been well al., 1994). documented for some lizard species (Valido et al., Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) is diurnal and 2003; Rodríguez-Pérez et al., 2005; Valido and Olesen, saxicolous with a generalist diet that includes arthropods 2007, 2019; Casado and Soriano, 2010; Fonseca et al., as well as plant material (Kolodiuk et al., 2009; Ribeiro 2012; Gomes et al., 2014; Aximoff and Felix, 2017). and Freire, 2011). This species is widely distributed in Under certain ecological conditions, the reproduction northeastern Brazil, occurring in the states of Alagoas, of some plant species is directly influenced by the role Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande that lizards play, either in dispersal or in the breaking of do Norte and Sergipe (Rodrigues, 2003; Uetz et al., seed dormancy after passage through a lizard’s digestive 2020). Previous studies on the diet of T. semitaeniatus tract (Traveset and Verdú, 2002; Celedón-Neghme et reported the consumption of Melocactus ernestii al., 2008). (Gomes et al., 2013), M. glaucescens (Fonseca et al., The phenomenon of saurochory has been documented 2012), and Pilosocereus gounellei (Gomes et al., 2016, previously for the Cactaceae family (Fonseca et al., 2012; Nascimento et al., 2015; Xavier and Dias, 2015a,b, 2017; Gomes et al., 2016). In arid and semiarid environments, cacti provide different resources to pollinators and dispersers (such as pollen, nectar, and fruits), attracting them with varied shapes, scents, or colours and presenting fleshy fruits with high numbers of seeds (Pimienta-Barrios and Del Castillo, 2002; Taylor and Zappi, 2004; Gomes et al., 2014, 2016). In addition, herbivory is well documented for tropidurid lizards (Santos et al., 2012), with some species being considered as important dispersers of cactus seeds, including Tropidurus cocorobensis (Fonseca et al., 2012), T. hispidus (Ferreira et al., 2017), T. hygomi (Xavier and Dias, 2015a), T. pinima (Xavier and Dias,

1 Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Vertebrados, Departamento de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Figure 1. Location of Parque Nacional Serra de Itabaiana, Sergipe, Campus Prof. Alberto Carvalho, Avenida Vereador Areia Branca Municipality, Sergipe State, Brazil, where Olímpio Grande, s/n, Itabaiana, Sergipe 49500-000, Brazil. Tropidurus semitaeniatus was observed feeding on fruits of * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Pilosocereus catingicola. SF River: São Francisco River; AL: © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Alagoas; BA: Bahia; SE: Sergipe. 346 Tainara Lima da Silva������� et al.

2017). In the present study, we describe a new record of demonstrating a great adaptation to semiarid conditions saurochory for T. semitaeniatus. (Medeiros et al., 2015). On 20 March 2015, a young T. semitaeniatus Saurochory records for the cactus genus Pilosocereus (snout–vent length = 49.3 mm) was captured in are scarce in the literature (Gomes et al., 2016, 2017), Parque Nacional Serra de Itabaiana, Sergipe State, and ornithochory is its main means of dispersion Brazil (10.4208°S, 37.4208°W; WGS 84; Fig. 1). (Silvius, 1995; Soriano et al., 1999; Godínez-Alvarez The unequivocal identification was made from et al., 2002; Rengifo et al., 2007; Gomes et al., 2014, morphological information of the species according 2017; Santos et al., 2019), which includes P. catingicola to Vanzolini et al. (1980): very flattened body, greyish (Medeiros et al., 2015). Meiado et al. (2012) suggested brown dorsal colour with a median light band, which that the funicular pulp of Pilosocereus inhibits seed runs from the tip of the snout to the base of the tail. germination, and its removal by animals that feed on its After the lizard was captured, a faecal sample was fruit facilitates seed germination. obtained by light ventral pressure. In the laboratory, The presence of P. catingicola seeds in faeces of T. the sample was analysed using a stereomicroscope, semitaeniatus indicate that likely this lizard is a seed and the cactus material in the sample was identified disperser. Passing of seeds through the digestive tract of as seeds of Pilosocereus catingicola (Gürke) Byles & reptiles may increase the germination rate (Figueira et al., Rowley subsp. salvadorensis (Werderm.) Zappi (Fig. 1994) or may not influence seed germination (Fonseca 2). This cactus is widely distributed in the northeastern et al., 2012). In addition, through dispersion the seeds Brazilian semiarid area, popularly known as facheiro, are transported away from the mother plant, avoiding

Figure 2. Pilosocereus catingicola in its fruiting state, observed in an area of rocky outcrops in Parque Nacional Serra de Itabaiana, Sergipe State, northeastern Brazil. (A) Fruit of P. catingicola. (B) Pulp fruit of P. catingicola impaled on part of the cactus closer to the ground. (C) Captured individual of T. semitaeniatus emitting faeces with pulp and seeds of P. catingicola. Photos by Jefferson O. Lima. First record of Tropidurus semitaeniatus ingesting a fruit Pilosocereus catingicola 347 competition (Valido and Olesen, 2007), and these seeds Gomes, V.G.N., Meiado, M.V., Quirino, Z.G.M., Araújo, H.F.P., can be favoured when they are released in a potentially Machado, I.C. (2017): Synchronous fruiting and common seed more suitable and safer places for recruitment (Hughes dispersers of two endemic columnar cacti in the Caatinga, a dry forest in Brazil. Plant Ecology 228: 1325–1338. et al., 2011; Fonseca et al., 2012). Hughes, F.M., Rot, M.L.C., Romão, R.L., Castro, M.S. (2011): This study adds relevant information about saurochory. Dinâmica espaço-temporal de Melocactus ernestii subsp. We hope that this note can contribute to future studies, as ernestii (Cactaceae) no nordeste do Brasil. Revista Brasileira de lizards have been increasingly considered as good seed Botânica 34: 389–402. dispersers. Therefore, further studies can be performed Kolodiuk, M.F., Ribeiro, L.B., Freire, E.M.X. (2009): The effects to demonstrate the efficiency of T. semitaeniatus in the of seasonality on the foraging behavior of Tropidurus hispidus germination of P. catingicola seeds. and Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) living in sympatry in the Caatinga of northeastern. Brazil. Zoologia Acknowledgements. We thank Marcos Vinícius Meiado for 26: 581–585. identifying the species of cactus and Annelise Batista D’Angiolella Meiado, M.V., Silva, F.F.S., Barbosa, D.C.A., Siqueira-Filho, for helpful suggestions. The samples were authorised by the J.A. 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Accepted by Aldemar Acevedo