Vol. 15 No. 2 (2020)
Articles

Food composition of a breeding population of the endemic Anatolia newt, Neurergus strauchii (Steindachner, 1887) (Caudata: Salamandridae), from Bingöl, Eastern Turkey

Kerim Çiçek
Zoology Section, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ege University, 35100, Izmir, Turkey
Mustafa Koyun
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Bingöl University, 12000, Bingöl, Turkey
Ahmet Mermer
Zoology Section, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ege University, 35100, Izmir, Turkey
Cemal Varol Tok
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17100, Çanakkale, Turkey

Published 2020-12-08

Keywords

  • Ecology,
  • diet,
  • trophic niche,
  • dipterans,
  • amphipods,
  • oophagy
  • ...More
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How to Cite

Çiçek, K., Koyun, M., Mermer, A., & Tok, C. V. (2020). Food composition of a breeding population of the endemic Anatolia newt, Neurergus strauchii (Steindachner, 1887) (Caudata: Salamandridae), from Bingöl, Eastern Turkey. Acta Herpetologica, 15(2), 105–110. https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-8370

Abstract

The study presents data on the food composition of a breeding population of the Anatolia newt Neurergus strauchii (Steindachner, 1887), from Bingöl, Turkey. A total of 953 prey items were determined in the food contents of 46 individuals (18 males and 28 females) examined in the study. Insecta (63%) and Malacostraca (35%) constitute 97% of the food composition by number. While the most frequently encountered prey groups in the diet are Diptera (87%), Amphipoda (85%), Neurergus eggs (74%), and Coleoptera (37%), the comparison of food composition by volume is Amphipoda (40%), Neurergus eggs (41%), and Diptera (10%) respectively. No significant difference in food niche was observed between the sexes. The species generally fed on aquatic, poor-flying or slow-moving invertebrates.

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