Ex situ management and reproduction of the Cauca poison-dart frog Ranitomeya bombetes at Cali Zoo, Colombia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18636/bioneotropical.v2i2.60Keywords:
Amphibia, Anura, Dendrobatidae, Tadpoles, Eggs, Captive husbandry, Ranitomeya bombetes.Abstract
This work had as objective to study the appropriate conditions in captivity for the handling of Ranitomeya bombetes in order to get a successful reproduction at Cali Zoo, Colombia. Many aspects were evaluated such as: different types of diets in larvae, the reproductive time, size and fertility of the clutches, preference of oviposition place and ration sexes. Four different diets for the feeding of larvae were evaluated. The used diets were: carnivorous, herbivorous, TetraMin-ProCare® and meat-eating + TetraMin-ProCare® (50% each one). The diet analysis was only made until stage 30 because some larvae died. The diet with TetraMin-ProCare® was the most efficient because the larvae grew very quickly. In total, 53 eggs in 43 clutchs were collected. Of these 43 egg-postures, 33 were from one egg and the rest were from two eggs. The fertility was variable according to the proportion of sexes in each terrarium; of all eggs, 35 were fertile. The mortality of embryos and larvae was of 10 and 8, respectively. The preference of clutch place was greater on the land substrate of cape as well as the fertility of the eggs that were clutched on this substrate. Furthermore, the description of the progressive changes of the clutch was carried out, emphasizing the time of duration of the different embryonic and larval stages following the morphologic parameters from Gosner (1960). A photographic record was kept of some of the embryonic and larval stages, besides the ventral and dorsal registry of the post-metamorphosis. Different sex proportions were evaluated in 8 terrariums. The proportion with greater number of clutchs was of 2M: 3F. It was managed to successful reproduce the species under laboratory conditions.
Downloads
References
Álvarez D. & A. G. Nicieza. 2002. Effects of temperature and food quality on anuran larval growth and metamorphosis. Functional Ecology 16: 640 – 648.
Bauer L. 1988. Pijlgifkikkers en verwanten: de familie Dendrobatidae. Het Paludarium 1 November, 1988: 1-6.
Blandón G. 2005. Aspectos del desarrollo larval de Dendropsophus columbianus (ANURA: HYLIDAE) del jardín botánico de la ciudad de Caldas. Boletín científico – Centro de museos – Museo de historia natural. Vol: 10, pp. 151 – 165.
Blaustein A. R. & B. A., Bancroft. 2007. Amphibian population declines: Evolutionary considerations. Biosciense 57: 437 – 444.
Bolivar W., J. Echeverry, M. Reyes, N. Gómez, M. I. Salazar, L. A. Muñoz, E. Velasco, L. S. Castillo, M. P. Quiceno, R. Garcia, A. M. Pfaiffer, A. Giraldo y S. L. Ruiz. 2004. Plan de Acción en Biodiversidad del Valle del Cauca: Propuesta Técnica. Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca e Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. Bogotá. Colombia. 166 pp.
Brust D. 1993. Maternal brood care by Dendrobates pumilio – a frog that feeds its young. Journal of Herpetology 27: 96 – 98.
Castillo-Trenn P. & L. A. Coloma. 2008. Notes on behavior and reproduction in captive Allobates kingsburyi (Anura: Dendrobatidae), with comments on evolution of reproductive amplexus. Int. Zoo Yb 42: 58 – 70.
CBSG (IUCN/SSC). 2006. Amphibian ex situ Conservation Planning Workshop – Briefing Book. CBSG. Apple Valley, MN, USA. 64 pp.
Clarke B. T. 1997. The natural history of amphibian skin secretions, their normal functioning and potential medical applications. Biol. Rev 72: 365 – 379.
Corredor G. & N. Uribe. 2007. Ranas Venenosas: Manual de manejo y reproducción en cautiverio. CVC – Fundación Zoológica de Cali. Impresora Feriva S.A. Cali, Colombia. 48 pp.
Corredor G. & N. Uribe. 2008. Management and reproduction of the Colombian Magdalena River poison-dart frog Dendrobates truncatus at Cali Zoo. Int. Zoo Yb 42: 71 – 77.
Cover J. H., Barnett S. L. & Saunders R. L. 1994. Captive managment and breeding of dendrobatid and neotropical hylid frogs at the national aquarium in Baltimore. En: J. Murphy, K Adler & J. T. Collins. (eds.). Captive Managment and Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles, pp. 267-273. Society for the study of amphibians and reptiles. Kansas, USA.
CVC & EcoAndina. 2007. Planes de Manejo para 18 vertebrados amenazados del Departamento del Valle del Cauca. Primera edición. Santiago de Cali. 130 pp
Escallón C. 2006. Sistema de apareamiento de la rana rubí Dendrobates bombetes. Trabajo de grado realizado como requisito parcial para optar al titulo de Biólogo. Universidad de lo Andes, Bogotá. 32 pp.
Falk A. 2001. Terrarios: un ecosistema en casa. Editorial Albatros, Buenos Aires. 96 pp.
Fox J., M. Solange & T. Serrato. 2007. Approaching the Golden Age of Natural Product Pharmaceuticals from Venom Libraries: An Overview of Toxins and Toxin-Derivatives Currently Involved in Therapeutic or Diagnostic Applications. Current Pharmaceutical Design 13: 2927 – 2934.
Frost D. 2008. “Amphibian Species of the World v 5.1, an online reference”. (En línea). http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html. Consulta en diciembre 7 de 2008.
Furrer S. C. & G. Corredor. 2008. Conservation of threatened amphibians in Valle del Cauca, Colombia: a cooperative project between Cali Zoological Foundation, Colombia, and Zoo Zürich, Switzerland. Int. Zoo Yb 42: 1 – 7.
Google Earth. 2009. En linea descarga gratis: <http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html>. versión 5.0. Consulta: enero 2009.
Gosner K. L. 1960. A simplified table for staging anuran embryos and larvae with notes and identification. Herpetológica 16: 183 – 190.
Grant T., D. R. Frost, J. P. Caldwell, R. Gagliardo, C. F. B. Haddad, P. J. R. Kok, D. B. Means, B. P. Noonan, W. E. Schargel, and W. C. Wheeler. 2006. Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae). American Museum of Natural History (299): 262.
Kriger K. M. & J-M Hero. 2007. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is non-randomly distributed across amphibian breeding habitats. Diversity and Distributions 13: 781 – 788.
Krzysik A. 1980. Evidence for growth of tadpoles during parental transport in Colostethus inguinalis. Journal of herpetology 14(4): 426 – 428.
Kupferberg S. J. 1997. The role of larval diet in anuran metamorphosis. American Zoologist 37: 146 – 159.
Laszlo J. 1981. Further notes on reproductive patterns of amphibians and reptiles in relation to captive breeding. Breeding 166 – 174.
Leips J. & J. Travis. 1994. Metamorphic responses to changing food levels in two species of hylid frogs. Ecology 75(5): 1345 – 1356.
Limerick S. 1980. Courtship Behavior and Oviposition of the Poison-Arrow Frog Dendrobates pumilio. Herpetologica 36(1): 67 – 71.
Lips K., P. Burrowes, J. Mendelson, & G. Parra-Olea. 2005. Amphibian declines in Latin American: widespread population declines, extinctions, and impacts. Biotropica 37(2): 163 – 165.
Lötters S., K-H. Jungfer, F. W. Henkel & W. Schmidt. 2007. Poison Frogs. Biology, Species & Captive Husbandry. Edition Chimaira. 668 pp.
Myers C. W. 1987. New generic names for some Neotropical poison frogs (Dendrobatidae). Pap. Avul. Zool 25: 301 – 306.
Myers C. W. & J. W. Daly. 1976. Preliminary evaluation of skin toxins and vocalizations in taxonomic and evolutionary studies of poison-dart frogs (Dendrobatidae). Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. New York 157: 173 – 262.
Myers C. W. & J. W. Daly. 1980. Taxonomy and ecology of Dendrobates bombetes a new Andean poison frog with new skin toxins. Amer. Mus. Novitates. (2692): 3 – 23.
Odum R. A. & K. C. Zippel. 2008. Amphibian water quality: approaches to an essential environmental parameter. Int. Zoo Yb 42: 40 – 52.
Quiguango-Ubillús A. & L. A. Coloma. 2008. Notes on behaviour, communication and reproduction in captive Hyloxalus toachi (Anura: Dendrobatidae), an Endangered Ecuadorian frog. Int. Zoo Yb 42: 78 – 89.
Roithmair M. 1992. Territoriality and male mating success in the dart-poison frog, Epipedobates femoralis (Dendrobatidae, Anura). Ethology 92: 331 – 343.
Rueda-Almonacid J. V., J. Lynch & A. Amézquita. 2004. Libro rojo de los anfibios de Colombia. Panamericana Formas e Impresos S.A. Bogotá, Colombia. 384 pp.
Saporito R., H. M. Garraffo, M. A. Donnelly, A. L. Edwards, J. T. Longino & J. W. Daly. 2004. Formicine Ants: An Arthropod Source for the Pumiliotoxin Alkaloids of Dendrobatid Poison Frogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101(21): 8045 – 8050.
Silverstone P. A. 1973. Observations on the Behavior and Ecology of a Colombian Poison-Arrow Frog, the Kõkoé-Pá (Dendrobates histrionicus Berthold). Herpetológica. 29(4): 295 – 301.
Silverstone P. A. 1975. A revision of the poison-arrow frogs of the genus Dendrobates Wagler. American Museum of Natural History 21: 1 – 55.
Stuart S. N., M. Hoffmann, J. S. Chanson, N. A. Cox, R. J. Berridge, P. Ramani & B. E. Young. 2008. Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain; IUCN, Gland, Switzerland; and Conservation International, Arlington, Virginia, USA. 758 pp.
Suárez-Mayorga A. 1999. Comportamiento reproductivo de Minyobates bombetes (Amphibia: Anura: Dendrobatidae). Trabajo de grado en Biología. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Facultad de Ciencias. Departamento de Biología. Bogotá.
Summers K. 1989. Sexual selection and intra-female competition in the green poison-dart frog Dendrobates auratus. Animal Behaviour 37: 797 – 805.
Summers K. 1990. Paternal care and the cost of polygyny in the green poison frog, Dendrobates auratus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 27: 307 – 313.
Summers K. & D. Earn. 1999. The cost of polygyny and the evolution of female care in poison frogs. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 66: 515 – 538.
Wells K. 1978. Courtship and parental behavior in the Panamanian poison-arrow frog (Dendrobates auratus). Herpetologica 34: 148 – 155.
Weygoldt P. 1980. Complex brood care and reproductive behavior in captive poison-arrow frogs, Dendrobates pumilio O. Schmidt. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 7: 329 - 332.
Wickramasinghe D. D., K. L. Ossen & R. J. Wassersug. 2007. Ontogenetic changes in diet and intestinal morphology in semi-terrestrial tadpoles of Nannophrys ceylonensis. Copeia 4: 1012 – 1018.
Wijngaarden R. V. & F. Bolaños. 1992. Parental care in Dendrobates granuliferus (Anura: Dendrobatidae), with a description of the tadpole Journal of Herpetology. 26(1): 102 – 105.
Zimmermann H. & E. Zimmermann. 1981. Sozialverhalten, Fortflanznesverhalten und zucht der farberfrosche Dendrobates histrionicus und D. lehmanni sowie einiger anderer Dendrobatiden. Zeitschrift des Kolner Zoo 24: 83 – 99.
Zimmermann H. & E. Zimmermann. 1985. Zur Fortpflanzungsstrategie des Pfeilgiftfrosches Phyllobates terribilis Myers, Daly & Malkin, 1978 (Salientia: Dendrobatidae). Salamandra 21(4): 281 – 297.
Zimmermann H. 1989. Conservation studies on the dart-poison frogs in the field and in captivity. Int. Zoo Yb 28: 31 – 44.
