Predation on the Pointedbelly Frog Leptodactylus Podicipinus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) by the Rufescent Tiger-Heron Trigrisoma Lineatum (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae)

Herpetology Notes, volume 7: 731-732 (2014) (published online on 21 December 2014)

Predation on the pointedbelly frog Leptodactylus podicipinus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) by the rufescent tiger-heron Trigrisoma lineatum (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae)

André Luiz Fraga Briso1, Rodrigo Junio da Graça2,3, Marcelo Rodrigues Freitas de Oliveira4 and Fabrício Hiroiuki Oda2,*

Anurans are food source for many non-passerine melanonotus group, Leptodactylus podicipinus (Cope, birds, such as herons, bitterns, and storks (Wells, 1862) is a terrestrial and nocturnal frog distributed from 2007). The rufescent tiger-heron, Trigrisoma lineatum, the south Paraguay to Uruguay (Salto Departament), is a medium-sized heron (62–93 cm) of the family adjacent Argentina, Bolivia, central Brazil, and extends Ardeidae that is widely distributed in Central and South along the Madeira and Amazonas Rivers within the America, occurring in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Amazon basin, with a outlier from Igarapé Belém, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Amazonas, Brazil, up to 550 m elevation (AmphibiaWeb, Guatemala, Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, 2014; Frost, 2014). Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Leptodactylus podicipinus is well adapted to Uruguay and Venezuela (BirdLife International, 2014). anthropogenic disturbance (Heyer et al., 2004), and is Individuals are found in wetlands and forested areas at found in open formations where males call amidst the the edge of water bodies, where they forage walking vegetation at the edge of temporary and permanent slowly in search of prey, such as larvae and aquatic water bodies (Uetanabaro et al., 2008). Previous insects, small fish, crustaceans, small birds, snakes and reported cases of predation of L. podicipinus are scarce. amphibians (Beltzer, 1990; Gimenes et al., 2007). Oda et al. (2008) reported predation of this species by a The Neotropical Leptodactylus currently includes 77 valid species and is distributed from southern North America to central Argentina, mostly throughout South America (AmphibiaWeb, 2014). Belonging to the L.

1 Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Júlio de Mesquita Filho. Rua José Bonifácio, 1.193, Vila Mendonça, CEP 16015-050, Araçatuba, SP, Brazil. 2 Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aqüicultura (Nupélia), Laboratório de Ictioparasitologia - Bloco G-90, Avenida Colombo, 5.790, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil. 3 Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Centro de Ciências Biológicas (CCB), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Comparada (PGB) - Bloco G-80, Sala 201. Av. Colombo, 5.790, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil. Figure 1. An adult rufescent tiger-heron, Trigrisoma lineatum, 4 Clube da Árvore, Rua Oswaldo Cruz 01, 7º andar, sala 76, holding a pointedbelly frog, Leptodactylus podicipinus, by its Edifício Vidal, Centro, CEP: 16010-040, Araçatuba, SP, body in a flooded area at the margin of Paranapanema Brazil. River in the municipality of Rosana, São Paulo State, southeast * Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] Brazil. (Photo: A. L. F. Briso). 732 André Luiz Fraga Briso et al. shoal of Astyanax altiparanae in a stream at the Parque e Tecnológico (CNPq) provided financial support to R.J. da Graça Ecológico do Baguaçú, Araçatuba, São Paulo State, and F.H. Oda, respectively. Brazil. During an avifaunal survey on 11 November 2012, References 7:52 am, in a flooded area at the right margin of AmphibiaWeb (2014): Information on amphibian biology and Paranapanema River in the municipality of Rosana, São conservation. Available at: http://amphibiaweb.org/. Last Paulo State, southeast Brazil (-22.557403º, -52.939325º, accessed on: 23 August 2014. 243m a.s.l.), we observed a Trigrisoma lineatum Aoki, C., Landgref Filho, P. (2013): Predation on Leptodactylus holding an adult of Leptodactylus podicipinus (Fig. 1) chaquensis (Anura: Leptodactylidae) by the whistling heron in approximately 10 m distance. For approximately 5 Syrigma sibilatrix (Ciconiiformes: Ardeidae) in Central Brazil. Herpetology Notes 6: 261-262. minutes the bird jumped from one perch (branches of Beltzer, A.H. (1990): Notes on the food of the rufescent tiger heron trees) to another with the frog in its beak. When disturbed Tigrisoma lineatum (Aves: Ardeidae) in the Middle Paraná by our presence the bird flew away. The behavior of the River Floodplain, Argentine. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and bird was recorded using digital camera Canon EOS 7D Environment 25: 93-96. with Objective lens Canon 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L. BirdLife International (2014): Species factsheet: Tigrisoma Records on predation of anurans by Trigrisoma lineatum. Available at: http://www.birdlife.org. Last accessed lineatum are scarce. Prado (2003) reported on the on: 23 August 2014. Frost, D.R. (2014): Amphibian Species of the World: an Online predation of Pseudis paradoxa and Leptodactylus Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, chaquensis in southern Pantanal. Despite these few New York, USA. Available at: http://research.amnh.org/ records, we believe that the predation of anurans by T. herpetology/amphibia/index.html. Last accessed on: 23 August lineatum may be even more common. There are two 2014. types of predation events of anurans for birds (Toledo Giaretta, A.A., Facure, K.G. (2006): Terrestrial and communal et al., 2007): 1) those where birds feed on anurans nesting in Eupemphix nattereri (Anura, Leiuperidae): occasionally and opportunistically, when they are found Interactions with predators and pond structure. Journal of Natural History 40: 2577-2587. in nature (opportunistic event) and 2) when the birds are Gimenes, M.R., Lopes, E.V., Ribeiro, A.L., Mendonça, L.B., not predators specialized on anurans, but feed on them Anjos, L. (2007): Aves da planície alagável do alto rio Paraná, with regularity (convenience event). 1st Edition. Maringá, EDUEM. In general, anurans have a small to moderate body Heyer, R., Reichle, S., Silvano, D., Azevedo-Ramos, C., Baldo, D., size, and are abundant in water bodies during breeding Gascon, C. (2004): Leptodactylus podicipinus. The IUCN Red season. Males of Leptodactylus podicipinus were List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. Available at: http:// observed calling amidst the vegetation in the flooded www.iucnredlist.org. Last accessed on: 23 August 2014. Oda, F.H, Oda, T.M., Felismino, M.F. (2008): Leptodactylus area, which can facilitate their encounter by predatory podicipinus (Pointedbelly Frog). Predation. Herpetological birds, such as herons. There are few records on predation Review 39: 337-338. of anurans by heron species. Giaretta and Facure (2006) Prado, C.P.A. (2003): Leptodactylus chaquensis (NCN), Pseudis reported the predation of six adults of Physalaemus (= paradoxa (Paradox frog), and Phrynohyas venulosa (Veined Eupemphix) nattereri by the whistling heron, Syrigma Treefrog). Predation. Herpetological Review 34: 231-232. sibilatrix, in a large reproductive aggregate in natural Toledo, L.F., Ribeiro, R.S., Haddad, C.F.B. (2007): Anurans as and artificial water bodies in Cerrado. Aoki and prey: an exploratory analysis and size relationships between predators and their prey. Journal of Zoology 271: 170-177. Landgref Filho (2013) also reported S. sibilatrix preying Uetanabaro, M., Prado, C.P.A., Rodrigues, D.J., Gordo, M., an adult L. chaquensis, and consider that the predation Campos. Z. (2008): Guia de Campo dos Anuros do Pantanal Sul of the frog can be classified as convenience event. We e Planaltos de Entorno. Editora UFMS/UFMT. Campo Grande, also suggest that the predation of L. podicipinus by MS. 196 pp. T. lineatum occurs with regularity in the study area. Wells, K.D. (2007): The ecology and behavior of amphibians. In addition, this is the first record of predation of this Chicago, University of Chicago Press. anuran species by T. lineatum.

Acknowledgements. We thank Marcelo N.C. Kokubum for identification of L. podicipinus and pre-peer review of this manuscript. Mariana F. Felismino reviewed the English language. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior Accepted by Raffael Ernst (CAPES) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico