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The diet of Stereocyclops incrassatus Cope, 1870 (Anura: Microhylidae) tadpoles in Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil

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Abstract

Tadpole diet studies based in gut content analysis provide information on the diversity of prey consumed, foraging behavior and ecological function of tadpoles. Although trophic ecology studies have increased, tadpole diet is still understudied compared to the high diversity of anurans species, especially in some families such as Microhylidae, which present great morphological and ecological diversity. In this study we describe the diet of the tadpole of Stereocyclops incrassatus, from a population in southern Bahia, Brazil. Gut contents of 15 tadpoles were analyzed under light microscope (microscopic items) and stereoscopic microscope (macroscopical items). We found 14 categories of food items in the diet of the S. incrassatus, with detritus, composed primarily of degraded plant material, representing the most important food source (69%), followed by microalgae of the phylum Bacillariophyta (18%). The other items of the diet of S. incrassatus were composed mainly of Euglenophyta, Placidozoa, Testacea, Fungi, Nematoda, animal and protozoan fragments. Thus, tadpoles of S. incrassatus are classified as detritivorous, feeding especially on organic matter. The results of the present study show that suspension-feeder tadpoles besides being primary consumers are also detritivorous, and can play an important role in nutrient cycles in freshwater trophic webs.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior –(CAPES). CVMM is grateful to CAPES for a fellowship (process PNPD/1682788) and give particular thanks to his wife Fernanda Tonolli and son Francisco Tonolli Mendes for their patience, affection and eternal loving support. IRD acknowledges the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq fellowship (PQ 315362/2021-9).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, São Luís, Maranhão, 65055-310, Brazil

    Caio Vinícius de Mira-Mendes

  2. Graduate program in Tropical Aquatic Systems, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Jorge Amado, km 16, Ilhéus, 45662-900, Bahia, Brazil

    Caio Vinícius de Mira-Mendes, Sylvia Maria Moreira Susini Ribeiro & Yvonnick Le Pendu

  3. Graduate program in Zoology, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Jorge Amado, km 16, Ilhéus, 45662-900, Bahia, Brazil

    Edvaldo Moreira da Silva Neto, Jeniffer Cabral, Iuri Ribeiro Dias & Yvonnick Le Pendu

  4. Laboratory of Aquatic Organisms, Department of Biological Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Km 16, Ilhéus, 45662-900, Bahia, Brazil

    Jeniffer Cabral

  5. Center of Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú. Avenida da Universidade, 850, Campus Betânia, Sobral, 62040-370, Ceará, Brazil

    Kaoli Pereira Cavalcante

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  1. Caio Vinícius de Mira-Mendes
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Contributions

Conceptualization: CVMM; Methodology: CVMM, EMSN, JC; Formal analysis and investigation: CVMM, EMSN, JBC, KPC, SMMSR, IRD; Writing - original draft preparation: CVMM; Supervision: CVMM, YLP. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Caio Vinícius de Mira-Mendes.

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No approval of research ethics committees was required to accomplish the goals of this study because no experimental work was conducted. Tadpoles were collected under the permanent permit n 13708-1 issued to Mirco Solé by Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservacão da Biodiversidade (ICMBio).

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de Mira-Mendes, C.V., da Silva Neto, E.M., Cabral, J. et al. The diet of Stereocyclops incrassatus Cope, 1870 (Anura: Microhylidae) tadpoles in Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil. Biologia 78, 2827–2833 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01418-2

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