Underwater sound emission as part of an antipredator mechanism in Ceratophrys cranwelli tadpoles. (12th May 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Salgado Costa, Carolina; Chuliver Pereyra, Mariana; Alcalde, Leandro; Herrera, Raúl; Trudeau, Vance L.; Natale, Guillermo S.
• Is Part Of: Acta zoologica. Volume 95:Number 3(2014:Jul.)
• Page Start: 367
• Page End: 374
• Publication Date: 2013-05-12
• Subjects: Zoology -- Periodicals; 590
• DOI: 10.1111/azo.12035
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0001-7272

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="azo12035-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>We report the emission of underwater sounds in the tadpoles of a second member of the family Ceratophryidae, <italic>Ceratophrys cranwelli</italic>. These tadpoles produce a short metallic‐like sound, which consists of short trains of pulses at Gosner stages 25, 28, and 37. Experiment I was designed to record underwater sounds and their characteristics. Experiment II was designed to test: (i) if at higher densities (total number of tadpoles/L) but fixed predator–prey proportions <italic>C. cranwelli</italic> larvae are cannibalistic, (ii) if cannibalism increases at higher proportions of predators at a fixed density, and (iii) if tadpoles display a mechanism of intraspecific recognition that may diminish the frequency of cannibalism. Each treatment combines larvae of <italic>C. cranwelli</italic> (predator) with those of <italic>Rhinella arenarum</italic> (prey). The number of live and dead individuals was recorded during 72 h, and the following variables were calculated: time to eat the first and second prey, time without eating, time to eat a congener, and number of events of cannibalism. The results indicate that relative predator–prey availability affects the frequency of predation between conspecifics. We consider that an antipredator mechanism exists in <italic>C. cranwelli</italic> tadpoles and that the underwater sound is part of it.</p> </abstract>