Evidence of the peptide identity of the epidermal alarm cue in tadpoles of the toad Rhinella arenarum

RAICES, M; JUNGBLUT, L D; POZZI, A G

HERPETOLOGICAL JOURNAL

BRITISH HERPETOL SOC

Lugar: Montrose, Angus, UK; Año: 2020 vol. 30 p. 230 - 233

0268-0130

Chemical cues associated with predation attempts allow prey to trigger defensive behaviours.Accordingly, tadpoles of several species of anurans display strong behavioural responses tochemical cues of injured conspecifics. As part of the antipredator response, tadpoles show rapidand sustained inhibition of activity when exposed to chemical cues of predation. Although theability to respond to cues of conspecifics has been confirmed in a wide variety of anuranspecies, studies about the tissue source and the chemical aspects of the molecules involvedare scarce and contradictory. In the present work, we analysed the chemical characteristics,tissue source and release mechanism of the chemical alarm cue in Rhinella arenarum tadpoles.Our results support the hypothesis that a peptide of epidermal origin in mediates amphibiantadpole communication.