A proposed optimal incision method to obtain gut contents from preserved anurans

Abstract

Information on the diet of anuran species based on gut content analyses have been published by numerous researchers, yet the details of the incision method used to open the abdominal cavity of preserved specimens in preparation for such examinations are rarely explained in the presented methods. Our objective is to formally propose an optimal incision into the pleuroperitoneal cavity of liquid-preserved anuran specimens to gain access to and permit easy removal of parts of the digestive tract in preparation for food spectrum analyses. In our experience, this U-shaped cut is easy to perform and teach. It also provides better access to the pleuroperitoneal cavity than a small ventrolateral incision and is less destructive than the classic textbook medial “double T-incision” routinely listed in dissection protocols.

Eat and be eaten: trophic interactions of the introduced frog Scinax quinquefasciatus in anthropogenic environments in Galápagos

“…All frogs were euthanised with liquid lidocaine and fixed in 70% ethanol no more than five hours after capture. Samples were then transported to the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS), where their digestive tracts were removed following procedures described in Döring et al (2016). Prey items were examined under an Olympus Stereo Microscope SZ61-RT and identified to order, using reference material from the Terrestrial Invertebrate Collection of the CDRS (ICCDRS 2020).…”