Diet of the broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris, DAUDIN, 1802) in urban environment located in two municipal natural parks, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

FREITAS FILHO, R. F.; MACIEL BOFFY, A. C.; OLIVERA SANTOS, A.; SOARES FACANHA A.C.; PIÑA, C.I.; DE SOUSA, B.M.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Congreso; 19th Working Meeting of the IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group; 2008

UICN-SSC/CSG

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:PT-BR; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> Caiman latirostris in Rio de Janeiro lives in urban coastal lagoons (Tachas and Marapendi Lagoons situated in Municipal Natural Park Chico Mendes and Marapendi, respectively). Our goal was to analyze how the animals live in the urban environment and if they present a specific diet. Previous reports on the diet of the broad-snouted caiman include several invertebrates and vertebrates. In this work we analyzed stomach contents from 74 animals, 36 in Tachas Lagoon, 26 in Marapendi Lagoon and 12 in Tachas channel. The Lagoons are two different water bodies that are interconnected by Tachas channel. We observed that Caimans from Tachas channel at Tachas Lagoon presented a poorer diet, composed of hexapods associated with polluted environments, than those from Marapendi’s pond, including vertebrate and invertebrate organisms, including fishes and crustaceans but mainly small invertebrates as prey items. The diet of adult caiman´s was different to that of juveniles at both sites. Despite the large variety of prey available in Marapendi Lagoon the adults there consume mainly small invertebrate prey. In this study, C. latirostris did not show preferences for any specific prey, feeding on all possible prey available in the environment. Our results suggest that prey items found in stomach contents of C. latirostris could be a reflection of the prey’s diversity in the environment, which indicates a great capacity for adaptation in this species.