Feeding ecology of Amazophrynella teko (Anura: Bufonidae) in the eastern Brazilian Amazonia

Diet is one of the most important dimensions of the trophic niche, contributing to understanding intra-and interspecific interactions in food webs. Amazophrynella teko was described in 2018, and given the scarcity of information about its feeding ecology, we describe here the diet of this species in a population from eastern Amazonia based on stomach flushing. We analyzed the stomach contents of 68 A. teko (18 juveniles, 13 females, and 37 males). We found 360 prey items from 23 prey categories from males (Shannon-Wiener index: H' = 2.36, N = 29), 17 for females (H' = 1.53, N = 12), and 14 for juveniles (H' = 2.35, N = 11). Formicidae were the most abundant prey items (284 prey items), Myrmicinae were the most abundant subfamily, and Crematogaster was the most abundant genus in all age/sex groups. Females had a narrower niche amplitude (BA = 0.08) than juveniles (BA = 0.58) and males (BA = 0.21). Trophic niche overlap between males and females (Ojk = 0.92), and between males and juveniles (Ojk = 0.77), higher than the overlap between females and juveniles (Ojk = 0.55). The prey category accumulation curve, in relation to the number of stomachs flushed, did not reach an asymptote. The relationship between the SVL and JW of the toads with the volume of prey was not significant for males, females, and juveniles. The larger jaw width of females observed in our study may be related to the greater volume of prey they consumed. There were no significant differences among the diets for males, females, and juveniles based on the volumetric composition of prey. Amazophrynella teko feeds largely on ants but opportunistically will forage on other invertebrates such as spiders, beetles, and mites. The present study provides relevant information about the feeding ecology of A. teko, a poorly known species from north Brazil, eastern Brazilian Amazonia.