Biologia reprodutiva e hábito alimentar de Dendrophryniscus minutus (Melin, 1941)(Amphibia : Bufonidae) na Floresta Nacional de Caxiuanã, Pará

Abstract

This study examined reproductive characteristics, nutritional status and feeding habits in the litter anuran Dendrophryniscus minutus through individuals collected in the Estação Cientifica Ferreira Pena, Caxiuanã National Forest from April 1997 to April 1998. In a sample of 166 specimens were measured snout - vent length (SVL), mass of fat bodies, diameter, mass and number of ova in females and testis volume in males. The feeding habit in this species was also determined through analyses of stomach contents. Population structure showed a pattern with most adult individuals, including gravid females, in the rainy months, and juvenile recruitment in the beginning of the dry season. Similarly, the diameter and mass ova in the mar', used as indexes of gonadal development stage, were greater in the rainy season. Among males, the biggest testis volume also appeared in february and april, but there was no evident pattern of correlation to rainfall. Food consumption also did not show any pattern in variation along months and it was not correlated to fat mass. Fat bodies measurements were positively correlated to ova development in females indicating that fat accumulation and gonadal development may occur simultaneously. The diet in specie was composed for ants, termites and mites, terrestrial invertebrates in a great number in a litter in the studied area.