Hemoparasites of the genus Trypanosoma (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) and hemogregarines in Anurans of the São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul States - Brazil

Os animais silvestres estão expostos a inúmeros patógenos,dentre eles estão os hemoparasitas. Podem-se destacar espécies do gênero Trypanosoma e do grupo das hemogregarinas,que ocorrem com freqüência parasitando anuros (rãs, pererecas e sapos). Normalmente, a descrição destes hemoparasitas é feita através da morfologia dos estágios observados nosangue periférico do hospedeiro e as pesquisas sobre o ciclobiológico desses hemoparasitas são escassas. Os objetivos dopresente estudo foram avaliar a presença de hemogregarinas eTrypanosoma spp. em anuros capturados nos Estados de São Paulo e Mato Grosso do Sul e fazer a caracterização morfológica e morfométrica dos seus hemoparasitas. As espécies deanuros examinadas foram: Dendropsophus nanus, D. minutus, Leptodactylus chaquensis, L. podicipinus, L. labyrinthicus, L. fuscus, Bufo granulosus, B. schneideri, Phyllomedusahypocondrialis, Trachicephalus venulosus, Scinax fuscovarius e Hypsiboas albopunctatus. Dos 40 animais estudados, foramencontrados quatro (10%) positivos para hemogregarinas e oito(20%) positivos para Trypanosoma spp. Foram observadosgamontes de hemogregarinas com morfologia variável e, alémdas formas intraeritrocíticas, também foram observados gamontes fora das hemácias. As formas de Trypanosoma encontradas eram muito polimórficas, conforme é descrito na literatura, sendo na sua maioria, larga e oval.

SEDIMENT PARTICLE SELECTION DURING FEEDING BY FOUR SPECIES of UCA (BRACHYURA, OCYPODIDAE)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Diet of the colubrid snake, Thamnodynastes strigatus (Günther, 1858) from Paraná State, Brazil, with field notes on anuran predation

São apresentados dados da dieta de Thamnodynastes strigatus (Serpentes: Colubridae), a partir da dissecção de 44 espécimes. No tubo digestivo dos exemplares examinados foram encontrados anfíbios anuros (71,4% da amostra), roedores (14,3%), peixes (10,7%) e lagartos (3,6%). A maioria das espécies de anuros (Bufo sp., Leptodactylus sp., Physalaemus cuvieri e Scinax fuscovarius) encontradas no exame de conteúdo estomacal de T. strigatus, utiliza o solo ou o nível d'água como sítio de vocalização. Também são apresentados dados sobre a observação de eventos de predação na natureza.

Skin glands, poison and mimicry in dendrobatid and leptodactylid amphibians

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Seasonal variation in body size of tropical anuran amphibians.

Most anurans are considered short lived reproducing only once, with adult size being an important factor contributing to mating success. We sampled anurans with 30 pitfall traps in three forest patches of the northwestern São Paulo State, Brazil, throughout one year. Our objective was to analyze the variation in anuran body size between the dry and rainy season. Our hypothesis is that anurans registered during the rainy season will be larger than conspecifics registered during dry season, since there is a selective advantage in having a larger body size during reproduction activity. The most abundant species registered in the patches were Eupemphix nattereri, Physalaemus cuvieri and Leptodactylus podicipinus. Males and females of E. nattereri and P. cuvieri recorded in the rainy season were larger than of those captured in the dry one. In contrast, males of L. podicipinus were larger in the dry season than in the rainy season. Besides, the operational sex ratio (OSR) in the breeding season was biased towards males in these three species with, respectively, 4.66, 3.2 and 1.87 males per female. Our results suggest that probably body size variation between different seasons is a consequence of individuals' turnover between rainy seasons. Lower individuals captured in the dry season, would be reproductively active adults in the next breeding season.

Novos registros na distribuição geográfica de anuros na floresta com araucária e considerações sobre suas vocalizações

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Uso de fragmentos florestais por anuros (Amphibia) de área aberta na região noroeste do Estado de São Paulo

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Diversidade e distribuição espaço-temporal de anuros em região com pronunciada estação seca no sudeste do Brasil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Diets of tadpoles from a temporary pond in southeastern Brazil (Amphibia, Anura)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

RESPONSE TO TEMPERATURE IN THE OXYGEN-UPTAKE OF AWAKE AND DORMANT FROGS (AMPHIBIA, LEPTODACTYLIDAE)

In southeastern Brazil the leptodactylid frogs Leptodactylus fuscus and Physalaemus fuscomaculatus enter dormancy during the dry season. Oxygen uptake was measured in awake and dormant groups of both species in a temperature range at which these frogs are usually exposed throughout the year. Oxygen uptake was lower for dormant groups at high temperature, and a lack of response to temperature was reported between 20 - 25 C in the dormant group of both species. This temperature-intensitive range can be considered an adaptive feature to save fat reserves during dormancy.

Size-fecundity relationships and reproductive investment in female frogs in the Pantanal, south-western Brazil

The ovarian complement of anurans exhibiting different reproductive modes is highly diverse, and intraspecific variation in reproductive output of anurans is generally related to variation in female properties and/or environmental conditions. The size-fecundity relationships, reproductive investment, and correlation between ovary mass and fat body mass were investigated for females of an anuran assemblage in the Pantanal, Brazil. Female body size was positively correlated with clutch size among seven of the eight species analyzed. However, these results seem to be influenced by seasonal variation in fecundity. Interspecific size-fecundity relationships revealed that female SVL was positively correlated with clutch size and egg size regardless of reproductive mode. Among 11 species analyzed, the reproductive investment (RI: ovary mass relative to body mass) varied from 5.5 to 18%, and there were no differences among reproductive modes and activity patterns (explosive/prolonged). RI correlated negatively with female size. Among three Leptodactylus species examined, negative correlation between ovary mass and fat body mass was verified for two species. Variations in the reproductive strategies are closely related to the reproductive activity patterns and reproductive modes exhibited by individual species, but are also influenced by environmental conditions. However, regardless of reproductive mode or activity pattern, each species seems to exhibit a reproductive strategy that allows them to respond differently to the same environmental restrictions.

Organização celular dos testículos em Hylidae e leptodactylidae, no Pantanal (Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil)

The objective of this work was to make a comparative analysis of germ cell organization at different stages of cellular differentiation in adult males of Dendropsophus nanus (Boulenger, 1889), Pseudis limellum (Cope, 1862), P. paradoxa (Linnaeus, 1758), and Scinax acuminatus (Cope, 1862), belonging to the family Hylidae; and Leptodactylus chaquensis (Cei, 1950) and L. podicipinus (Cope, 1862), belonging to the family Leptodactylidae, collected in the Pantanal and in Serra da Bodoquena, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. The testes were removed and fixed, dehydrated in a graded series of ethanol and embedded in methacrylate glycol resin (Historesin Leica®). The sections were stained by 1% toluidine blue and observed under light microscope. It was detected that all individual of the Hylidae family show, throughout the year, the presence of all germ cell types of spermatogenesis. However, all Leptodactylidae family individuals only show the presence of all germ cell types during the rainy season. The variations of characteristics in seminiferous epithelium organization, as well as the evident difference in the amount of spermatozoa inside the tubules, are evidence that the anurans in this work show different forms of spermatogenesis development throughout the year: the cycle is continuous for the Hylidae family, and discontinuous with explosive release of spermatozoa for the Leptodactylidae family.

Morphological diversity of setae on the second maxilliped of fiddler crabs (Decapoda: Ocypodidae) from the southwestern Atlantic coast

Fiddler crabs are deposit feeders, and use the setae on their mouth appendages to manipulate sediment particles to extract food. The number of spoon-tipped setae on the second maxilliped is frequently related to the distribution of fiddler crabs on estuarine sediments, but no study has compared the morphological diversity of these setae among multiple fiddler crab species. Here, we describe and classify the setae of the second maxillipeds of the nine Uca spp. known from the Brazilian coast. The second maxilliped of each species was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Six types of setae (five papposerrate, and one pappose) were described on the meropodite of the second maxilliped. Among the papposerrate setae, one type had a spoon-like tip, and the morphology of this type, especially the degree of curvature, differed between species. Members of Uca leptodactylus, U. uruguayensis, and U. maracoani had highly concave spoon-tipped setae. In U. rapax and U. cumulanta, the setal tip was moderately curved, while in U. thayeri, U. burgersi, and U. mordax, this curvature was slight. At the other extreme, the meropodite of the second maxilliped of U. vocator lacked setae altogether. This is the first study that describes differences in the degree of curvature of spoon-tipped setae in fiddler crabs. This trait may be strongly related to the distribution of these fiddler crabs on different estuarine substrates. © 2012, The American Microscopical Society, Inc.

A importância de fragmentos florestais na diversidade de anfíbios anuros em Icém, Região Noroeste do Estado de São Paulo

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Ecologia de uma comunidade de anuros em Botucatu, SP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)