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Home , Brasiliscincus, Colubridae, Gonatodes, Gymnophthalmidae, Gymnophthalmus speciosus, Leptophis mexicanus

Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 1111-1115 (2021) (published online on 20 August 2021)

Predation by the vinesnake aeneus (, ) on the Gonatodes humeralis (Squamata, ) in a Brazilian Amazon fragment, with a compilation of its prey

Aline E. Oliveira-Souza1,*, Anderson S. Pena2, Jéssica S. Costa Anaissi1, Fernanda S. Melo1, Rodrigo T. Pinheiro1, and Carlos E. Costa-Campos1

Lizards are common prey of , and each On 17 September 2020 at 11:12 h, the second author microhabitat appears to produce specific - observed an adult O. aeneus preying on a female G. interactions (Martins et al., 2002). Given the importance humeralis at Bioparque da Amazônia Arinaldo Gomes of this relationship, information about predatory Barreto (0.0391°N, 51.0968°W), Macapá Municipality, encounters between individuals of these groups Amapá State, . This area is an ecotone between represents an important contribution to their natural savanna, upland forest, and floodplain (Fonseca and history, even as it is relevant to our broader understanding Silva e Silva, 2020). The snake was about 30 cm above of predator-prey interactions (Lima, 1998). the ground, hanging from a small tree, while it held the The Brown Vinesnake, (Wagler, gecko by the middle of its body (Fig. 1). After about 6 1824), is widely distributed in all Brazilian ecoregions min the gecko remained motionless, and the snake began with the exception of states in the southern region (Costa and Bérnils, 2018). Oxybelis aeneus is an arboreal, diurnal, lizard-specialist predator that also feeds on insects, fishes, amphibians, , and small mammals using a sit-and-wait foraging strategy (Hetherington, 2006; Mesquita et al., 2012; Sellmeijer and Burg, 2020). The Trinidad Gecko, Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855), is a sub-arboreal and diurnal lizard widely distributed in most parts of the Amazonian region (Ávila-Pires, 1995). It is found on the lower portions of tree trunks, vines, leaf litter, fallen branches, and palm leaves (Vitt et al., 1997, 2000). This exhibits sexual dimorphism with males possessing variably- shaped yellow and crimson spots on their heads and bodies, while females are predominantly a drab greyish green colouration (Oda, 2008). We here we document a event by an adult O. aeneus on an adult female G. humeralis in a fragment of upland forest of the Brazilian Amazon. In addition, we include a list of lizard prey known to be consumed by this species of vinesnake.

1 Universidade Federal do Amapá, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Laboratório de Herpetologia, 68903-419, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil. 2 Bioparque da Amazônia Arinaldo Gomes Barreto, Rodovia Figure 1. A Brown Vinesnake, Oxybelis aeneus, preying Juscelino Kubitschek 7904, 68903-197, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil. on an adult female Trinidad Gecko Gonatodes humeralis at * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Bioparque da Amazônia Arinaldo Gomes Barreto, Macapá © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Municipality, Amapá State, Brazil. 1112 Aline E. Oliveira-Souza et al. to swallow it. None of the specimens were collected, and The diet of O. aeneus is composed of a wide variety the record is based on our observations and photographs. of in the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Cerrado Lizards reported in the diet of O. aeneus include domains of Brazil, with the most important dietary items members of the families , Sphaerodactylidae, varying according to geographical location. The high Mabuyidae, , , , proportion and diversity of lizard prey reported in its , , , and diet confirms thatO. aeneus is a specialized sit-and-wait (Table 1, Fig. 2). Most of these predator (Mesquita et al., 2012). Its body colouration prey species are considered scansorial (i.e., capable of enables the species to mimic its environment, making climbing; eight species of Tropiduridae, Gekkonidae, it difficult to be noticed by prey and potential predators Sphaerodactylidae), terrestrial (six species of Teiidae, (Santos-Costa et al., 2015). However, variations in diet Gymnophthalmidae, Mabuyidae, Corytophanidae), composition may also be a result of the capture of active and arboreal (five species of Dactyloidae, Iguanidae, prey (lizards) and a consequence of differences in prey Phrynosomatidae). abundance and relative availability of prey of different Although O. aeneus is arboreal, it is commonly found on sizes (Arnold, 1993). lower branches or on the ground during its activity period, Although Bernarde (2012) presented a record of and it appears to feed mainly on terrestrial prey (Mesquita predation by O. aeneus on G. humeralis through et al., 2012). Although there is no evidence that O. aeneus photos, our data complement those in the literature specifically forages on the ground (Martins and Oliveira, by confirming that O. aeneus does indeed capture 1998; Mesquita et al., 2012), this possibility exists, since and ingest prey while suspended vertically from the some prey items recorded in its diet are largely terrestrial vegetation. More natural history data are needed to (Teiidae) and semi-terrestrial (Tropiduridae). However, it assess the full diversity of prey items consumed by O. is also possible that O. aeneus captures ground-dwelling aeneus and to test whether diet preferences relate to prey while suspended from arboreal perches (Mesquita et changes in prey availability. al., 2012; Santana and Teixeira, 2020; Sousa et al., 2020). This strategy may make it more difficult to immobilize Acknowledgments. We thank Paulo Bernarde for his pre-review and ingest prey, but it seems to be a common behaviour in and anonymous referees for valuable suggestions on the first the Oxybelis (Scartozzoni et al., 2009; Smith et al., versions of the manuscript. 2018; Sousa et al., 2020).

Figure 2. Lizard families represented in the diet of Oxybelis aeneus indicating the respective number of species reported as prey. References used to compile these data are presented in Table 1. Predation by Oxybelis aeneus on Gonatodes humeralis 1113

Table 1. Lizard species reported as prey of the Brown Vinesnake, Oxybelis aeneus.

Species/Family Source

Gekkonidae Mesquita et al. (2012); Franzini et al. (2018); Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) Lissa et al. (2018) Lygodactylus klugei (Smith et al., 1977) Vitt and Vangilder (1983)

Sphaerodactylidae Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855) Bernarde (2012); this study Gonatodes albogularis (Duméril & Bibron, 1836) Sosa-Bartuano and Di Trani (2016) Gonatodes vittatus (Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856) Blanco-Torres and Renjifo (2014)

Mabuyidae Brasiliscincus heathi (Schmidt & Inger, 1951) Mesquita et al. (2012)

Dactyloidae Lee (1996); Green (1997); Campbell (1998); Norops bourgeaei Bocourt, 1873 Savage (2002) Lee (1996); Green (1997); Campbell (1998); Norops rodriguezii Bocourt, 1873 Savage (2002) Lee (1996); Green (1997); Campbell (1998); Norops uniformis Cope, 1885 Savage (2002) Norops sagrei Duméril & Bibron, 1837 Cid-Mora and Vásquez-Cruz (2020)

Iguanidae Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758) Diener, 2007 Ctenosaura bakeri Stejneger, 1901 Diener, 2007 Ctenosaura similis Gray, 1871 Diener, 2007

Tropiduridae cocorobensis Rodrigues, 1987 Almeida et al. (2009) Mesquita et al. (2012); Silva et al. (2015); Tropiduris hispidus (Schmidt & Inger, 1951) Santana and Teixeira (2020); Sousa et al. (2020) Tropidurus hygomi Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862 Santos et al. (2012) Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) Vitt and Vangilder (1983)

Gymnophthalmidae speciosus (Hallowell, 1861) Smith and Grant (1958)

Teiidae Vitt and Vangilder (1983); Mesquita et al. Ameivula ocellifera (Spix, 1825) (2012) Aspidoscelis deppii (Wiegmann, 1834) Ramirez-Ramirez et al. (2020) Cnemidophorus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Smith and Grant (1958)

Corytophanidae Basiliscus plumifrons Cope, 1875 Grant and Lewis (2010)

Phrynosomatidae Sceloporus melanorhinus Bocourt, 1876 López-de La Cruz et al. (2016) 1114 Aline E. Oliveira-Souza et al.

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Accepted by Andre C. Bruinjé