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Predation by the Coralsnake Micrurus Surinamensis (Cuvier, 1816) (Serpentes: Elapidae) on a Knifefish in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil

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Predation by the Coralsnake Micrurus Surinamensis (Cuvier, 1816) (Serpentes: Elapidae) on a Knifefish in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 755-758 (2021) (published online on 10 May 2021) “In living color”: predation by the coralsnake Micrurus surinamensis (Cuvier, 1816) (Serpentes: Elapidae) on a knifefish in the eastern Amazon, Brazil Rodrigo Tavares-Pinheiro1, Fernanda Souza Melo1, Vinícius Antônio Martins Barbosa de Figueiredo1, Patrick Ribeiro Sanches2, Jéssica Stefany Costa Anaissi1, Maria Madalena Salviano Santana1, Aline Emanuele Oliveira-Souza1, Tamylles dos Santos Reis1, Gabriel Lima Rebelo3, Francisco Tiago Vasconcelos Melo3, and Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos1 The large (total length up to 1.2 m) semi-aquatic coral Corrêa et al., 2018). We here report, for the first time in snake Micrurus surinamensis is widely distributed in nature, the behavior of a M. surinamensis depredating equatorial forests in French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, a Longtail Knifefish, Sternopygus macrurus. and the Amazon regions of Venezuela, Colombia, On 19 September 2020 at 21:15 h we observed an Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (Uetz et al., 2021). adult female M. surinamensis (SVL = 860 mm; total In Brazil, it has been reported in the states of Acre, length = 940 mm; jaw width = 21 mm) swallowing Amapá, Amazonas, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, a knifefish (total length = 340 mm; body width = 16 Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins (Passos and mm) headfirst (Fig. 1) on the edge ofÁgua Fria stream, Fernandes, 2005; Silva et al., 2008; Morais et al., 2011; a large tributary of the Amapari River, at Reserva Santos-Costa et al., 2015). This species is nocturnal Extrativista Municipal Beija-Flor Brilho de Fogo, and is known to be a predator of bony fishes and Pedra Branca do Amapari Municipality, Amapá State, occasionally lizards and other snakes (Schmidt, 1952; Brazil (0.7918°N, 51.9783°W). Voucher specimens Duellman, 1978; Dixon and Soini, 1986; Cunha and were collected and deposited in the Herpetological Nascimento, 1993; Martins and Oliveira, 1998; Pinto et Collection of the Universidade Federal do Amapá al., 2011; Aird and Silva, 2016; Rodrigues et al., 2016; (M. surinamensis CECC 3568) and the Collection Corrêa et al., 2018; Silva 2016; Silva et al., 2018). of the Fauna of Amapá at the Instituto de Pesquisas Observations of predation behavior by M. Científicas e Tecnológicas (S. macrurus IEPA surinamensis have only been reported from snakes 5014). Video recordings were deposited at Fonoteca kept in captivity (Morais et al., 2011) and, in general, Neotropical Jacques Vielliard (ZUEC-VID 905). the diet of this species has been reported only through The predation event was observed over a 3-min necrophagy (Sazima and Strüssmann, 1990) and period, during which the coralsnake made slow “jaw- analysis of stomach contents (Greene, 1973; Silva, walking” movements along the prey’s body. The ratio 1993; Roze, 1996; Silva et al., 2010; Pinto et al., 2011; of total prey length to predator snout–vent length was at least 0.36. The coralsnake captured its prey at night in water ca. 1.5 m deep, and the subjugation and ingestion stages were observed on the stream banks, 1 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Ciências in an area surrounded by the vegetation commonly Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Amapá, known as “aninga” (Montricardia linifera (Arruda) Macapá, Amapá 68903-419, Brazil. Schott). The prey was not completely swallowed, 2 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Avenida André probably due to the influence of the observers who Araújo, Manaus, Amazonas 69011-970, Brazil. 3 Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Helmintologia “Profa Dra interrupted ingestion, and the snake regurgitated the Reinalda Marisa Lanfredi”, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, fish after being captured. Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará 66075-110, Several species of the genus Micrurus are known Brazil. for predation of prey with elongated, flattened, *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] or depressed bodies to facilitate ingestion, which © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. occupy the same trophic niche (M. albicinctus and 756 Rodrigo Tavares-Pinheiro et al. Figure 1. Micrurus surinamensis preying on Sternopygus macrurus on the edge of Água Fria Stream at Reserva Extrativista Municipal Beija-Flor Brilho de Fogo, Pedra Branca do Amapari Municipality, Amapá State, Brazil. M. paraensis – Souza et al., 2011; M. altirostris and preference for habitats associated with bodies of – Rodríguez et al., 2018; M. corallinus – Marques water, bring it into contact with many fish species, and Sazima, 1997; Banci et al., 2017; M. dissoleucus favouring interactions between predator and prey – Arévalo-Páez et al., 2015; M. frontalis – Maffei et (Crampton et al., 2011; Silva Jr., 2016). al., 2009; Marques et al., 2017; Travaglia-Cardoso Our data reinforce that the diet of M. surinamensis and Puorto, 2021; M. ibiboboca – Cavalcanti et al., is specialized on prey with elongated, flattened, or 2012; Barbosa et al., 2019; M. lemniscatus –Viana depressed bodies, captured while actively foraging and Mendes, 2015). Micrurus surinamensis inhabits in or near water bodies. Despite feeding on aquatic aquatic sites, which leads to predation of fish, including species, subjugation and ingestion occurred out of the Callichthys callichthys (Greene, 1973; Morais et al., water. Although this prey species has already been 2011), Sternopygus macrurus (Corrêa et al., 2018), reported from stomach contents (Corrêa et al., 2018), Synbranchus marmoratus (Silva, 1993; Morais et al., this is the first record of predation by M. surinamensis 2011), Gymnotus carapo (Roze, 1996), and Gymnotus in the wild. sp. (Silva et al., 2010; Morais et al., 2011). Sternopygus macrurus can be found in different habitats with the Acknowledgements. We thank Maria Cristina dos Santos-Costa presence of aquatic macrophytes, such as the banks of for her pre-peer review of our manuscript, Cecile Gama (IEPA) for her help with fish identification, the Staff of the Laboratório de small streams and seasonally flooded areas (Crampton, Herpetologia and Samuel Farias for assistance with field samples, 2007). It is a predator of insects, microcrustaceans, the Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente (SEMAM) of Pedra and other fishes (Silva et al., 2020). The ecological Branca do Amapari for logistical support, and the Instituto Chico characteristics of this snake, such as nocturnal activity, Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio/SISBIO #48102-3) and SEMAM (process #011/2019) for issued permits. Predation by Micrurus surinamensis on a Knifefish 757 References Marques, O.A.V., Sazima, I. 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