Food habits of Anilius scytale (Serpentes: Aniliidae) in the Brazilian Amazonia

Abstract

Information on the diet of Anilius scytale is provided based on the analysis of 162 specimens from the Brazilian Amazonia. Amphisbaenians (Aulura anomala Barbour, 1914; Leposternon polystegumn [Duméril, 1951] and Amphisbaena sp.), which are highly specialized for a fossorial life, accounted for 81.25% of the recorded items, followed by snakes - Anilius scytale (Linnaeus, 1758), and Tantilla melanocephala (Linnaeus, 1758): 12.5% - and caecilians - Caecilia cf. gracilis Shaw, 1802: 6.25%. We found a positive, although not significant, relationship between the snout-vent length of A. scytale and the total length of the prey and a tendency for smaller specimens to ingest proportionately larger prey. Anilius scytale forages mainly on the ground, at night, as well as in aquatic environments. The non-selective capture of either proportionately large or small prey by A. scytale may reflect the opportunistic nature of the encounters. A tendency of the juveniles of this species to ingest proportionately larger prey may be associated with either a low availability of prey with a size compatible to that of the juveniles, or with their inexperience in selecting prey. Ingestion of prey headfirst may be an attempt to minimize the risk of injury the prey could cause through their rigid, pointed and sharp structures or powerful bites

Reproduction and diet of Imantodes cenchoa (Dipsadidae: Dipsadinae) from the Brazilian Amazon

“…These results were expected, since the frequency of specimens containing food items is usually low, ranging between 14 and 30% (MASCHIO et al 2010). According to GREGORY & ISAAC (2004), this low frequency may be related to the period in which the specimen was collected.…”

“…SHINE (1987) suggested that female snakes generally tend to reduce food consumption during their gestation period. This was observed in females of Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758) and Anilius scytale (Linnaeus, 1758) (READING & DAVIES 1996, MASCHIO et al 2010, which began to feed again after the reproductive period. The small number of females of I. cenchoa containing eggs and/or follicles in this study does not allow us to draw conclusions about the influence of gestation on stomach contents.…”

“…of many species of snakes are still poorly known (MARTINS & OLIVEIRA 1999, BALESTRIN & DI-BERNARDO 2005, STURARO & GOMES 2008, MASCHIO et al 2010.…”

“…The selection of prey with specific sizes can be influenced by prey density and availability (PLUMMER & GOY 1984, SHINE 1987, MASCHIO et al 2010. Although species normally have continuous reproductive cycles in the tropics, reproduction of some species may be seasonal (SHINE 2003.…”

Composition and ecological patterns of snake assemblages in an Amazon-Cerrado Transition Zone in Brazil

“…Over the past few decades, an increasing number of studies of South American snake communities have become available, although data are still scarce for communities of Brazilian Amazon (Martins & Oliveira, 1998;Bernarde & Abe, 2006;Santos-Costa et al 2015), Pantanal (Strüssmann, 2000), Cerrado (Carvalho & Nogueira, 1998;Sawaya et al, 2008), Atlantic Forest (Hartmann et al, 2009), and Pampa (Zanella & Cechin, 2006). Moreover, basic information about feeding ecology, reproductive biology, and habitat use of South American snakes have all been relatively well studied, providing the basis for the identification of certain patterns, such as the reproductive seasonality of species inhabiting temperate zones (Marques & Puorto, 1998;Pizzato et al, 2007), and the lack of seasonality in tropical climates (SantosCosta et al, 2006;Maschio et al, 2007;Prudente et al, 2007;Albarelli & Santos-Costa, 2010;Bernarde & Abe, 2010;Maschio et al 2010, Siqueira et al 2012.…”