Assessment of the trophic ecology and variation in the natural diet of an anuran amphibian species (Afrixalus dorsalis) in the Wetlands of the Ehotilé Islands (Ivory Coast)
Paper Details
Assessment of the trophic ecology and variation in the natural diet of an anuran amphibian species (Afrixalus dorsalis) in the Wetlands of the Ehotilé Islands (Ivory Coast)
Abstract
Knowledge of natural diet is essential in amphibian ecology and facilitates an understanding of their role in ecosystem balance. This study assessed the diet of Afrixalus dorsalis and evaluated how it varies according to age class, sex, and spatial distribution in Etuessika, in southeastern Côte d’Ivoire. A total of 80 individuals were studied, and their stomach contents were analyzed. Six stomachs were empty, corresponding to a stomach-emptiness index of 7.5%. Prey items were characterized using the relative importance index (IRI). A total of four prey types were observed in the stomach contents: insects, arachnids, annelids, and molluscs. Insects constituted the main component of the diet, accounting for 92.11% and 94.83% of the IRI in juveniles and adults, respectively, and 95.15% and 93.21% in males and females, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed an overlap in dietary profiles across sites. Statistically, comparisons of IRI values showed no significant differences based on age class, sex, or site (p > 0.05). Thus, this species has a primarily insectivorous and relatively diverse diet, with variations in the relative importance of prey items but no significant overall trophic differentiation among the groups studied. This dietary flexibility would facilitate the use of available resources in habitats with different ecological characteristics.
Channing A, Rödel MO. 2019. Field Guide to the Frogs and Other Amphibians of Africa. Struik Nature, Cape Town, South Africa, 408 p.
Crump ML, Scott NJ Jr. 1994. Visual encounter surveys. In: Heyer WR, Donnelly MA, McDiarmid RW, Hayek LC, Foster MS, editors. Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity: Standard Methods for Amphibians. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA, 84–92.
Djah FM. 2009. Religion traditionnelle et gestion durable des ressources floristiques en Côte d’Ivoire: Le cas des Ehotilé, riverains du Parc National des Îles Ehotilé. VertigO – la revue électronique en sciences de l’environnement 9, 1–11. DOI: 10.4000/vertigo.8661
García-Padrón LY. 2021. Diet of a community of frogs in an agroecosystem in western Cuba. Caribbean Herpetology 76, 1–8. DOI: 10.31611/ch.76
García-Padrón LY. 2022. Diet of juveniles and adults of the Cuban Giant Frog, Eleutherodactylus zeus (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae). Caribbean Herpetology 85, 1–8. DOI: 10.31611/ch.85
Godwin IC. 2023. Food and feeding habits of tree frogs in Okomu Oil Palm Plantation, Ovia South-West Local Government, Edo State, Nigeria. B.Sc. Dissertation. Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Hureau JC. 1970. Biologie comparée de quelques poissons antarctiques (Nototheniidae). Bulletin de l’Institut Océanographique de Monaco 68, 1–244.
Hyslop EJ. 1980. Stomach contents analysis: A review of methods and their application. Journal of Fish Biology 17, 411–429. DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1980.tb02775.x
Konate BR, Tohe B, Agou LC. 2022. Natural diet of Amnirana albolabris (Hallowell, 1856), a frog species from Banco National Park (Côte d’Ivoire). International Journal of Advanced Research 10, 383–392. DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/14719
Luría-Manzano R, Ramírez-Bautista A. 2019. Ontogenetic variation in the diet of the anuran community from a semi-arid environment in the southeastern Chihuahuan Desert. PeerJ 7, e7908. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7908
Mascarenhas W, Oliveira CR, Ávila RW, Ribeiro SC. 2023. Diet and habitat use of Proceratophrys ararype (Anura: Odontophrynidae), an endemic frog from the Chapada do Araripe, Northeastern Brazil. South American Journal of Herpetology 26, 56–63. DOI: 10.2994/SAJH-D-21-00035.1
Moser CF, Ceron K, Schuck LK, Santana DJ, Solé M, Iop S, Tozetti AM. 2025. Current state of the art in anuran dietary studies in Brazil. Discover Ecology, 1–9. DOI: 10.1007/s44396-025-00008-7
Pedroso-Santos F, Kaefer IL, Sanches PR, Costa-Campos CE. 2024. Trophic niche of four sympatric direct-developing frogs (Anura: Strabomantidae) from Eastern Brazilian Amazonia. Food Webs 39, e00343. DOI: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2024.e00343
Pinkas L, Oliphant MS, Iverson ILK. 1971. Food habits of albacore, bluefin tuna and bonito in California waters. Fish Bulletin 152, 1–105.
Rosecchi E, Nouaze Y. 1987. Comparaison de cinq indices alimentaires utilisés dans l’analyse des contenus stomacaux. Revue des Travaux de l’Institut des Pêches Maritimes 49, 111–123.
Roth M. 1974. Initiation à la morphologie, la systématique et la biologie des insectes. ORSTOM, Paris, France, 213 p.
Siliyavong S, Hoang NV, Nguyen TT, Nguyen T, Pham AV. 2023. New record and dietary ecology of a poorly known frog, Amolops shihaitaoi Wang, Li, Du, Hou and Yu, 2022 (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae), from Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. Biodiversity Data Journal 11, e104316. DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e104316
Sorbe JC. 1980. Régime alimentaire de Micromesistius poutassou (Risso, 1826) dans le sud du golfe de Gascogne. Revue des Travaux de l’Institut des Pêches Maritimes 44, 245–255.
StatSoft Inc. 2005. STATISTICA (Data Analysis Software System), Version 7.1. StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA.
Tachet H, Richoux P, Bournaud M, Usseglio-Polatera P. 2010. Invertébrés d’eau douce: Systématique, biologie, écologie. Nouvelle édition revue et augmentée. CNRS Éditions, Paris, France, 607 p.
Toft CA. 1985. Feeding ecology of thirteen syntopic species of anurans in a seasonal tropical environment. Oecologia 45, 131–141.
UNESCO. 2006. Parc national des Îles Éhotilé (Côte d’Ivoire). Centre du patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO, Paris, France. Available at: UNESCO World Heritage Centre (accessed 18 June 2026).
Wells KD. 2007. The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1148 p.
Wu Q, Aubret F, Wu L, Ding P. 2022. Sex-specific shifts in morphology and diet in a frog after 50 years of anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. Diversity and Distributions 28, 2200–2214. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13621
Young JW, Le D, Bradford RW, Whitelaw AW. 1997. Feeding ecology and interannual variations in diet of southern bluefin tuna, Thunnus maccoyii, in relation to coastal and oceanic waters off eastern Tasmania, Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes 50, 275–291. DOI: 10.1023/A:1007326120380
Beh Romaric Konate*, Amani Reine Élisabeth Kouadio, Louis César Agou, Enoutchy Fabrice Bouah, N'Guessan Ludovic Yao, Etilé Raphaël N’doua, 2026. Assessment of the trophic ecology and variation in the natural diet of an anuran amphibian species (Afrixalus dorsalis) in the Wetlands of the Ehotilé Islands (Ivory Coast). Int. J. Biosci., 29(2), 1-9.
Copyright © 2026 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.