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Home , Chironius flavolineatus, Leptodeira, Lygophis, Mussurana, Mussurana (genus), Mussurana (species)

Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 379-382 (2021) (published online on 14 February 2021)

Predation on the treefrog typhonius (Linnaeus, 1758) by a vine ( ) in the Amazon rainforest of northern

Fernanda Dias-Silva1,2,*, Camila Mattedi2, Rafael Cunha Pontes2, and Elvis Almeida Pereira3,4,5

Observations of events are extremely Trachycephalus typhonius (Linnaeus, 1758) is a important to studies of the trophic network in an ecosystem nocturnal hylid treefrog (Tanacs and Littlefair, 2014). (e.g., Passos et al., 2017). The trophic resources that lead Its geographical distribution is extensive, ranging from to such an event allow us to improve our understanding humid lowland of northern to South of how interspecific relationships shape community America (, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French dynamics, structure food networks, and influence energy Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, , and Venezuela; Soares et flow among ecosystems (Preuss et, al. 2018). Despite al., 2012). of the genus Trachycephalus Tschudi, their importance, predatory interactions are not easily 1838 are known to release large amounts of secretions, a observed in nature (Santos-Silva et al., 2014; Passos et al., defence mechanism that causes irritation, swelling, and 2017). An example of such hard-to-observe interactions pain when in contact with a membranous surface (Rigolo are those between and , but published et al., 2008; Mendes et al., 2012; Santana et al., 2016). observations of these encounters have fortunately become The colubrid genus Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 comprises increasingly common (e.g., Oliveira, 2008; Pinto et al., 20 vine snake species endemic to the Neotropics, of 2008; Caldart et al., 2011; Bovo and Sueiro, 2012; Forti which 11 are found in Brazil (Nascimento et al., 2013). and Bertoluci, 2012; Falkenberg et al., 2013; Dorigo et All species of Chironius are diurnal and semi-arboreal, al., 2014; Oliveira et al., 2014; Santos-Silva et al., 2014; and preferentially feed on frogs but are also known to take Costa-Campos et al., 2017; Manoel and Almeida, 2017; birds and lizards (Bovo and Sueiro, 2012; Torres-Carvajal Passos et al., 2017; Protázio et al., 2017; Canhete et al., et al., 2018). Snakes of this genus have a wide geographic 2018; Preuss et al., 2018; Preuss and Tozetti, 2018; Thaler distribution, ranging from the Caribbean coast of et al., 2018; Santana et al., 2019). Honduras to southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina (Dixon et al., 1993; Zocche et al., 2018). On 18 October 2018 at 09:30 h during fieldwork in dense rainforest in Acará Municipality, Para State, Brazil (1.5511°S, 48.4250°W, elevation 9 m), we observed 1 Laboratório de Ecologia Estrutural e Funcional da a vine snake preying on a Trachycephalus typhonius Universidade Paulista, Universidade Paulista, Avenida Independência, Éden, Sorocaba, São Paulo 18087-101, (Fig. 1). The snake initiated predation by grabbing Brazil. the at the middle of its body and then persistently 2 Setor de Herpetologia, Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu moving its jaws. The frog tried to grab the surrounding Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da undergrowth to free itself and made continuous circular Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro 29940-040, Brazil. movements, releasing a large amount of secretion. The 3 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Biologia snake continued to hold the frog in its jaw and each , Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, time the frog stopped moving momentarily, the snake Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro 23890‒000, Brazil. 4 Mapinguari – Laboratório de Biogeografia e Sistemática de performed quick jaw movements, migrating its jaw Anfíbios e Répteis, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do from the middle of the frog’s body to its head. Upon Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul 79002‒970, Brazil. noticing our presence and approach for photography, 5 Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, the snake escaped with its prey. The observation lasted Spielmannstraße 7, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany. approximately 30 min. It was not possible to capture * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] the snake because it escaped quickly right after the © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. photo was taken. We were unable to identify the snake 380 Fernanda Dias-Silva et al.

Figure 1. Predation by a vine snake (genus Chironius) on Trachycephalus typhonius in the Amazon rainforest (Acará Municipality, Pará State, Brazil). Photo by Rafael Cunha Pontes. to species level with confidence since the identification an analgesic (Garcia-Garcia et al., 2017). of Chironius species is only possible through a detailed According to a recent review of food items for snakes examination of pholidosis, osteology, and hemipenis of the genus Chironius (see Roberto and Souza, 2020), characteristics (Dixon et al., 1993; Klaczko et al., 2014; T. typhonius was already reported as prey for C. fuscus. Hamdan and Fernandes, 2015; Torres-Carvajal et al., In the same study, the authors reported that C. exoletus, 2018). C. fuscus, and C. multiventris preyed on other species of Frogs make up about 90% of the diet of some snakes, and the genus Trachycephalus (Roberto and Souza, 2020). snakes consequently feature as one of the most important Perhaps some species of Chironius may show some predators on (Caldart et al., 2011; Santos- tolerance to treefrog toxins since these snakes have a Silva et al., 2014). Some anuran subfamilies are known to high degree of diet specialization (Roberto and Souza, have defensive chemicals on the skin, and the subfamily 2020); this would help to explain our predation record. Lophyohylinae, to which T. typhonius belongs, includes The extensive geographic distribution and abundance several species with dangerous skin toxins (Duellman of T. typhonius likely make it a common prey item for et al., 2016). The milky secretions of T. typhonius have snakes (Toledo et al., 2007), especially because frogs impressive adhesive properties and are insoluble in water. present a low risk of retaliation during prey-predator They are discharged as a white, sticky substance that interactions (Canhete et al., 2018). contains various poisonous alkaloids that are potentially lethal to predators (Vitt and Caldwell, 2009). In addition, Acknowledgments. We thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento these treefrog have a Tt7 peptide with conformational de Pessoal de Nível Superior and the Conselho Nacional de similarity to APETx2, a sea anemone Kunitz-type toxin, Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for financial support. which has antinociceptive (narcotic) properties that could play an important role in the function of the secretion as Predation on Trachycephalus typhonius by a Vine Snake (genus Chironius) 381

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Accepted by Hinrich Kaiser