Diet of Amphisbaena heathi Schmidt, 1936 (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from Remnants of the Atlantic Forest, Northeastern Brazil, with Notes on Distribution, Diagnosis and Conservation

• Published in: South american journal of herpetology Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 12 - 17
• Main Authors: Lisboa, Carolina Maria Cardoso Aires, Sales Raul Fernandes Dantas, Macêdo Bruno Rafael Morais de, Freire Eliza Maria Xavier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazilian Society of Herpetology 01.04.2016
• Subjects: Amphisbaenia; biogeography; Blattaria; Chilopoda; diet; digesta; earthworms; Endemism; Feeding ecology; forests; Formicidae; geographical distribution; habitat fragmentation; Hirudinea; insect larvae; insects; morphometry; Natural history; nymphs; plant litter; Squamata; tail; Brazil
• ISSN: 1808-9798
• DOI: 10.2994/SAJH-D-15-00025.1

We analyzed the diet of Amphisbaena heathi, a species with restricted geographic distribution in northeastern Brazil. We also present data on morphometric and meristic characters of the examined specimens and update the geographic distribution of the species. The diet analysis was based on the contents of the digestive tract of 21 specimens collected in two urban Atlantic Forest fragments in Natal municipality, Rio Grande do Norte state, from 2008–2010. We collected 80.1% of the specimens near the surface (depth of ca. 3–5 cm) in moist earth under the leaf litter and 19.9% underground (ca. 15 cm beneath the surface). In total, we identified 60 prey items in the digestive tracts of A. heathi. The most important prey categories were ants, insect larvae, and cockroach nymphs. Ants predominated in frequency and number, while insect larvae and cockroaches predominated in volume. Besides insects, A. heathi also consumed earthworms, leeches, and centipedes. Considering our sample (n = 34) and the type series (n = 2), we modify some diagnostic characters of A. heathi: (1) 56.5–136 mm SVL; (2) 8.9–21.8 mm tail length; (3) 182–201 body annuli; (4) 23–28 tail annuli; (5) autotomic site at 7–9ᵗʰ caudal annuli; (6) 11–12 dorsal segments and 18–20 ventral segments per midbody annulus. Based on the minimum convex polygon method, we estimated the extent of occurrence of the species to be approximately 4278.7 km² in the northeast portion of Rio Grande do Norte state.