Ecology of Mabuya agilis (Raddi) (Lacertilia, Scincidae) at the restinga of Grumari, Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Some aspects of the ecology of the sk ink Mabuya agilis (Raddi, 1823) at the restinga habitat of Grumari, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are studied. Most of the lizards were first sighted on the ground, though a few were using perches (mainly cacti) up to 30 cm high. Mean body temperature in activity was 33.1 ± 2.4°C and was significantly correlated to air temperature. There was sexual dimorphism in size (snout-vent length -SVL), with females growing larger than males. Frequency of broken tai ls was hi gh overall (83%) and did not differ between sexes. Females and males are sex ually mature at 49 mm and 47 mm SVL, respecti vely. Brood size averaged 3.2 ± 1.0 (range 1-5) and was positively and significantly related to female SVL (r = 0.65, p = 0.001). Relative clutch mass (RCM) of seven gravid females averaged 0.250 ± 0.042, be ing relatively low compared to those of other congeners. The diet of M. agilis was composed basically of arthropods, with relatively large and soft-bodied arthropods such as spiders, caterpillars and homopterans being the most imp01tant prey. The results of our work confirm and expand the knowledge of ecological tendencies previously observed for M. agili.~ in other areas.

Lung infection rates in two sympatric Tropiduridae lizard species by pentastomids and nematodes in northeastern Brazil

“…As we found in the present study, the mean intensity of infection by pentastomids is in general low in theirhost species according to available literature: C. abaetensis (4.5 ± 0.0, Dias et al, 2005), C. ocellifer (1.0 ± 0.0, Dias et al, 2005), M. agilis (1.0 ± 0.0, Vrcibradic et al, 2002a), M. maximiliani (2.3 ± 1.3, Almeida et al, 2009) in the restinga habitat; P. periosus (5.25 ± 2.0, Almeida et al, 2008b), P. pollicaris (5.0, Almeida et al, 2008b), T. hispidus (1.0 ± 0.0, Almeida et al, 2008a;2008b), T. semitaeniatus (4.0 ± 3.0, Almeida et al, 2008b) in the caatinga and H. mabouia (1.8 ± 1.4 and 1.33 ± 0.2, Anjos et al, 2007;2008;Almeida et al, 2009) in human habitations (Table 1).…”

“…Although most of the studies of parasitism in vertebrates are mainly concerned with economic questions , ecological studies focusing interactions between parasites and their lizard hosts have been relatively well documented in Brazil over the last two decades (Ribas et al, 1995(Ribas et al, , 1998Rocha, 1995;Vrcibradic et al, 1999;2002a, b, 2007Bursey et al, 2003;Dias et al, 2005;Anjos et al, 2005Anjos et al, , 20072008;Goldberg et al, 2006;Almeida et al, 2008aAlmeida et al, , 2008bAlmeida et al, , 2009.…”

“…Pentastomids have been relatively poorly studied in the Neotropical region, despite its importance as a parasite of vertebrate (Almeida and Christoffersen, 2002). However, the recent reports of parasite occurrence, the new species descriptions, and the information concerning new host records have added knowledge on pentastomid-lizard interactions (Vrcibradic et al, 2002a;Dias et al, 2005;Anjos et al, 2007;2008;Almeida et al, 2008a;2008b;2009). On the other hand, reports concerning lung infections by Rhabdias have been relatively less frequent -and only an infection in the lizard Enyalius bilineatus (Duméril and Bibron, 1837) (Leiosaurinae) from an area of Atlantic Rainforest in Espírito Santo state, southeastern Brazil (Vrcibradic et al, 2007) and an infection of Norops fuscoauratus (d'Orbingy, 1837) (Polychrotidae) in northern Brazil (Goldberg et al, 2006) have been previously reported.…”

Pentastomid, Raillietiella mottae Almeida, Freire and Lopes, 2008, infecting lizards in an area of caatinga, northeast, Brazil

“…A rich fauna of endoparasites is associated to reptiles, but much of the published work on these animals is mostly descriptive (Vicente et al, 1993;Rocha et al, 2000). Studies on community variables, like abundance, prevalence, and mean intensity of infection have only recently been published (Ribas et al, 1995;1998;Rocha, 1995;Vrcibradic et al, 1999;Vrcibradic et al, 2000;Vrcibradic et al, 2002a;2002b;Dias et al, 2005;Anjos et al, 2005).…”

Infection patterns ofParadollfusnema amphisbaenia(Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) in a population ofAmphisbaena wuchereri(Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from Minas Gerais state, south-eastern Brazil, and its relations with host size, sex and fat body mass

“…Van Sluys et al, 1994Vrcibradic et al, 2000Vrcibradic et al, , 2002. Thus, comparisons between FBM and parasite intensity can be confounded by variations in body size.…”