Diet of the Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis from the central Western Ghats, India

https//doi.org/10.33256/hb171.611
AUTHORS JOY ARPITHA; SHAMA GANESH
ABSTRACT The Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis; found in the Chandra Drona Parvatha massif; is a stream-dwelling; evolutionarily distinct; globally Endangered species threatened by increasing habitat loss; alteration. We examined the stomach contents of 104 individuals; from ten different streams; of which 42 had prey in their stomachs. The prey items were in 12 orders across 4 classes; mainly dipterans; hymenopterans; lepidopterans. The frog exhibits a passive foraging mode; has a moderate trophic niche breadth (Bst = 0.43); and may have a preference for agile prey. Apart from this; there were plant materials; sand grains; plastic debris found in the stomach contents; with 0.82 mm³ of plastic debris found in eight individuals across three streams. The presence of plastic debris indicates the impact of anthropogenic activities leading to a form of habitat degradation. The data presented indicates the need for immediate; efficient conservation strategies to be put in place for this understudied species.

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pdf 02. Diet of the Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis from the central Western Ghats, India

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https://doi.org/10.33256/hb171.611

AUTHORS: JOY ARPITHA & SHAMA GANESH

ABSTRACT: The Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis, found in the Chandra Drona Parvatha massif, is a stream-dwelling, evolutionarily distinct and globally Endangered species threatened by increasing habitat loss and alteration. We examined the stomach contents of 104 individuals, from ten different streams, of which 42 had prey in their stomachs. The prey items were in 12 orders across 4 classes, mainly dipterans, hymenopterans and lepidopterans. The frog exhibits a passive foraging mode, has a moderate trophic niche breadth (Bst = 0.43), and may have a preference for agile prey. Apart from this, there were plant materials, sand grains and plastic debris found in the stomach contents, with 0.82 mm³ of plastic debris found in eight individuals across three streams. The presence of plastic debris indicates the impact of anthropogenic activities leading to a form of habitat degradation. The data presented indicates the need for immediate and efficient conservation strategies to be put in place for this understudied species.