Diet of two sympatric frogs species (Hoplobatrachus occipitalis and Ptychadena mascareniensis) in the Southern region of Ivory Coast (Aboisso and Maféré)

Abstract

The diets of Hoplobatrachus occipitalis and Ptychadena mascareniensis were studied from January 2020 to June 2020 according to seasons, size classes and sex in two localities (Aboisso and Maféré) in southern Côte d'Ivoire. Analysis of the stomach contents of 169 specimens (34 specimens of P. mascareniensis and 135 specimens of H. occipitalis) revealed 14 food categories: Insects, Amphibians, Annelids, Arachnids, Arthropoda, Mollusks, Myriapoda, Nematodes, Fish, Reptiles, Trematodes, animal debris, Macrophytes, indeterminate foods. In both localities, P. mascareniensis is omnivorous with insectivorous tendencies, and H. occipitalis is omnivorous with carnivorous tendencies. Coleoptera and Orthoptera are the insects orders most frequently consumed by these species in these localities. The diets of these two species in these localities vary from season to season and from habitat to habitat. In each habitat, the diet of juveniles is different from that of adults for all species except P. mascareniensis at Maféré, where no juveniles were sampled. Only in Aboisso did the diet of juveniles differ according to sex.