Temporal and individual variation in the diet of the Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818) (Carnivora, Mu
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Temporal and individual variation in the diet of the Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818) (Carnivora, Mustelidae), as revealed by stable isotope analysis of vibrissae Thayara S. Carrasco1,2 · Renan C. de Lima1,3 · Silvina Botta1 · Rodrigo Machado4,5 · Paulo C. Simões‑Lopes6 · Paulo H. Ott4,7 · Eduardo R. Secchi1 Received: 26 December 2019 / Accepted: 12 August 2020 / Published online: 28 August 2020 © Deutsche Gesellschaft für Säugetierkunde 2020
Abstract The Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis, is a semiaquatic mustelid that preys upon fish, amphibians, and crustaceans, in variable proportions according to habitat and/or season. Due to the difficulty of observing this species in the wild, information on its ecology is typically obtained through vestiges, such as feces, which usually do not provide data at the individual level. Thus, this study aimed to assess temporal and individual variation in the diet of the Neotropical otter through chronologically ordered carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes data, as a proxy for dietary variation. For this purpose, isotopic values of 127 fragments of vibrissae collected from 21 individuals found dead along three coastal regions of southern Brazil were analyzed. Values ranged between − 24.0 and − 12.9‰ for δ13C and from 10.6 to 18.4‰ for δ15N. Vibrissae isotopic longitudinal data were variable, indicating individual changes in the proportion of food items consumed and in foraging sites that spanned from freshwater to marine environments. Most of the populational variation in isotopic composition resulted from differences between individuals. The results of this study revealed temporal and individual variation in resource and habitat use by the Neotropical otter in three coastal ecosystems, and suggest that a high individual foraging specialization may occur in this species. Keywords Carbon · Feeding habits · Habitat use · Individual specialization · Nitrogen
Introduction
Handling editor: Rebecca Ray. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00060-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Thayara S. Carrasco [email protected] 1
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Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha—ECOMEGA, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS 96203‑900, Brazil Programa de Pós‑graduação em Biodiversidade de Ambientes Costeiros, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Vicente, SP 11330‑900, Brazil Programa de Pós‑graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS 96203‑900, Brazil
Information on the ecology of most otter species is provided by vestiges such as feces, which are often easy to find and reveal valuable information (e.g., Kanchanasaka and Duplaix 2011; Brzeski et al. 2013; Buzzell et al. 2014; MartínezAbraín et al. 2020; Sittenthaler et al. 2020). This is also the 4
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