Joining to the web. Predation of Heterophrynus sp. (Amblypygi: Phrynidae) on a catfish Astroblepus sp. (Siluriformes: Astroblepidae), in a premontane river of the northern Andes of Colombia

Abstract

Riparian food webs are linked by cross-boundary resource fluxes, including the consumption of terrestrial invertebrates and vertebrates by fish and the consumption of aquatic vertebrates by terrestrial invertebrates, mostly arachnids. Amblypygids prey upon a wide array of vertebrates, but no records on fishes are known. Here we report an interesting predation event of an adult Heterophrynus sp., upon a catfish Astroblepus sp. in the Rio Manso, northern Andes of Colombia, and summarized the published information of trophic interactions of this river in a food web framework. A high prey-size ratio (0.87) respect to Heterophrynus sp., highlight that fishes could represent an important food item for amblypygids. This datum, besides other published before, indicates that the consumption of terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates by terrestrial invertebrates can be a substantial cross-boundary flux link in tropical montane streams deserving future ecological studies.