Eat on the beach: diet composition of an endemic miniature frog from sandy coastal environments of southeastern Brazil

• Published in: Studies on neotropical fauna and environment Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 339 - 348
• Main Authors: Carmo, Luiz Fernando, Alves, André Almeida, Woitovicz-Cardoso, Manoela, Sabagh, Leandro Talione
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 02-09-2022
• Subjects: Anura; natural history; Pseudopaludicola restinga; size relationships; trophic ecology
• ISSN: 0165-0521; 1744-5140
• DOI: 10.1080/01650521.2021.1877414

Diet is one of the most important dimensions of the ecological niche. Pseudopaludicola genus comprises 25 species of which four have their diet studied. In this study, we quantify the diet of the recently described Pseudopaludicola restinga, which is found in sandy coastal environments of southeastern Brazil. We obtained a sample of 137 individuals from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba from which 97 were used in analyses of diet composition. We registered 136 prey items distributed in 10 prey categories. Only arthropods were consumed. Insects were the most common food items. Hymenoptera was the most important item in terms of prey frequency, number, and index of relative importance. The variety of prey categories suggests that P. restinga is an opportunistic predator. In comparison with dietary information available for other four Pseudopaludicola species, P. restinga has intermediate values of the number of prey items, niche breadth, and importance index. This study is the first to document aspects of the natural history of P. restinga and to compare it with data available for congeners. Data brought here provide a better understanding of life history aspects of P. restinga. These information hence could guide development of effective conservation strategies for this poorly known species.