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Bromelicolous habit of three species of Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura:

Bufonidae) in Northeastern Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

Article  in  Herpetology Notes · June 2021

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Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 903-906 (2021) (published online on 24 June 2021)
Bromelicolous habit of three species of Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826
(Anura: Bufonidae) in Northeastern Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
Ubiratã Ferreira Souza1,*, Alan Pedro de Araújo2,3, Alcina Gabriela Maria Medeiros da Fonsêca Santos1,
and Marcos Jorge Matias Dubeux4
Understanding habitat types and how organisms
make use of them, is crucial for identifying factors
that determine species distribution and community
composition (Kopp and Eterovick, 2006; Pittman et
al., 2014). The phytotelmata are plant structures that
accumulate rainwater (e.g., bromeliad tanks, tree holes,
bamboo internodes, axils and floral bracts; see Kitching,
2000). Such structures provide microhabitats for fungi,
microalgae, and both invertebrate and vertebrate
animals (Maguire, 1971; Ramos et al., 2018, 2019). The
plants of the Bromeliaceae family are the most common
phytotelm across the Neotropical region (Ulloa-Ulloa
et al., 2017), being used for shelter, foraging and/or
reproduction (Pugliese et al., 2009; Nunes et al., 2012).
Among Neotropical anurans, more than 168 known
species use bromeliad phytotelm habitats (Peixoto,
1995; Tonini et al., 2020), of which >100 depend on
bromeliads for reproduction (i.e., bromeligenous;
Tonini et al., 2020). This number is increasing following
recent descriptions of new species (Sabagh et al., 2017;
Vörös et al., 2017; Orrico et al., 2018; Folly et al., 2018;
Dias et al., 2020). Nevertheless, species that do not use
1
Laboratório de Estudos Herpetológicos e Paleoherpetológicos,
Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de
Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Recife,
52171-900 Pernambuco, Brazil.
2
Departamento de Ecologia, Laboratório de Herpetologia e
Comportamento Animal, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Av.
Esperança s/n, Goiânia, 74690-900 Goiás, Brazil.
3
Projeto Bromeligenous, Instituto de Pesquisa, Ensino e
Preservação Ambiental Marcos Daniel, Rua Fortunato Ramos
123, Santa Lúcia, Vitória, 29056-020 Espírito Santo, Brazil.
4
Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoologia,
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego
1235, Recife, 50670-901 Pernambuco, Brazil.
*
Corresponding author. E-mail:
ubirataferreirasouza@gmail.com
© 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
bromeliads for breeding can still use them as shelter (i.e.,
bromelicolous; sensu Peixoto, 1995). Bromelicolous
habit can be recurrent (e.g., Scinax pachycrus [Araújo
et al., 2020], Nyctimantis brunoi [Peixoto, 1995]) or
opportunistic – when the anuran uses this phytotelm
occasionally (Peixoto, 1995; Andrade et al., 2009).
Among the four genera of bufonids occurring in
the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Segalla et al., 2019),
Dendrophryniscus Jiménez-de-la-Espada, 1870,
Frostius Cannatella, 1986 and Melanophryniscus
Gallardo, 1961 have strong association with phytotelm
environments, including bromeligenous species (Cruz
and Peixoto, 1982; Haddad and Prado, 2005; Kwet et
al., 2005; Wells, 2007; Langone et al., 2008; Dias et al.,
2016; Sabagh et al., 2017). However, for more than 90
Rhinella species, information about the use of specific
habitats is still scarce, and in most cases, they are
regarded as habitat generalists (Duellman and Trueb,
1994; Sabagh and Carvalho-e-Silva, 2008). Some species
have terrestrial habits, whereas others demonstrate
semiarboreal habits and are found in human-altered
habitats, open areas, as well as in the interior and edges
of forest remnants (Roberto et al., 2011; Dubeux et al.,
2019; Frost, 2020). Herein, we report the bromelicolous
habit of three species of Rhinella from the northern
region of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil.
In the Estação Ecológica de Tapacurá (8.0368ºS,
35.2018ºW; WGS84, 200 m elevation), municipality
of São Lourenço da Mata, Pernambuco state, Brazil,
we found a Rhinella granulosa (Spix, 1824) adult
on 4 February 2018 (dry season) at 18:00 h; and two
Rhinella jimi (Stevaux, 2002) adults on 15 June 2018
(rainy season) at 20:00 h (Fig. 1A–B). These frogs were
in the basal axils of an Aechmea leptantha (Harms)
Leme & amp; J.A. Siqueira on a rocky outcrop. In the
Jardim Botânico do Recife (8.0748ºS, 34.9616ºW; 1 m
elevation), municipality of Recife, Pernambuco state,
Brazil, we found two R. granulosa adults sharing the
same basal axil of Aechmea aquilega (Salisb) Griseb
(Fig. 1C) on 24 November 2018 (dry season) at 11:00 h.
904 Ubiratã Ferreira Souza et al.

The bromeliad was in the sandy soil next to a bromeliad
cluster of the same species. In the Estação Ecológica
de Murici (9.2263ºS, 35.8978ºW; 387 m elevation),
municipality of Murici, Alagoas state, Brazil, we found
a Rhinella crucifer (Wied-Neuwied, 1821) adult in
a basal axil of A. leptantha (Fig. 1D, F) on 15 March
2019 (dry season) at 14:26 h. This bromeliad was found
in a cluster (~2 m diameter) on a rocky outcrop near
a grassland area. In the Reserva Biológica de Pedra
Talhada (9.2550ºS, 36.4269ºW; 771 m elevation),
municipality of Quebrangulo, Alagoas state, Brazil, we
found a R. crucifer adult in a basal axil of A. leptantha
(Fig. 1E) on 21 April 2019 (dry season) at 17:30 h. The
nearest bromeliad was two meters away and was part of
A. leptantha cluster.
In general, Rhinella species have reproductive mode
“type 1”, where eggs are deposited directly in the water
and tadpoles develop in lentic environments, such
as permanent and temporary ponds (sensu Haddad
and Prado, 2005). Nevertheless, there are records of

Figure 1. Bromelicolous habit of Rhinella species in the northern region of the Atlantic Forest. (A) and (B) = R. diptycha;
(C) = R. granulosa; (D) and (E) = R. crucifer; (F) = cluster of the bromeliad Aechmea leptantha. Photos by Alan Araújo (A and
B), Alcina Santos (C) and Marcos Dubeux (D, E, F).
Bromelicolous habit of three species of Rhinella, Atlantic Forest, Brazil
bromelicolous habits in Rhinella species from Restinga
habitats of the Atlantic forest (R. pygmaea [Peixoto,
1995] and R. crucifer [Ferreira and Teixeira, 2009;
Mageski et al., 2017]) and from the semiarid ecoregion
of the Caatinga (R. granulosa and R. diptycha [Ribeiro
et al., 2012, Protázio et al., 2013]). Thus, it is likely
that the use of bromeliads by Rhinella is related
to the availability of humid shelter and/or feeding
environments.
According to the records presented here, the
bromelicolous habit in Rhinella is more common during
the dry season, which in the northern region of the
Atlantic Forest corresponds to the months of October
to March (Hijmans et al., 2005; Alvarez et al., 2013).
It follows the pattern already found for opportunistic
bromelicolous species, where individuals tend to use
these more humid environments during the dry season
to avoid desiccation and for protection against possible
predators (Peixoto, 1995; Ferreira and Teixeira, 2009;
Protázio et al., 2013). These new records reinforce that
the bromelicolous habit of Rhinella may be an alternative
strategy to avoid dehydration in environments with dry
season (Andrade et al., 2009; Alvarez et al., 2013).
Acknowledgements. The authors thank the Instituto Chico
Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade – REBIO de Pedra
Talhada and ESEC de Murici for logistical support; Dr. Jefferson
Pimentel from Jardim Botânico do Recife for identifying the
bromeliad species; Dr. Ralph Lacerda de Albuquerque and Dr.
Marcelo Nogueira de Carvalho Kokubum for reviewing the text;
Ms. Rebecca Umeed for English editing; ICMBio for sampling
permits (ICMBio/SISBio 57241-1 and 66127). MJMD thanks
FACEPE (IBPG-1117-2.04/19) for financial support.
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Accepted by Clarissa Canedo