Dr. Fűköh Levente szerk.: Malakológiai Tájékoztató 13. (Eger, 1994.)

MIENIS, H. K.: Prédation on landsnails by the green toad Bufo viridis near The Nesher-ramla Sewage Reservoir, Israel

No. Date Species Remarks 1 08.02. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile alive! 2 22.02. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile Euchondrus septemdentatus 1 adult 3 23.02. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile alive! 4 26.02. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile 5 26.02. 1993 Monacha obstructa 3 half-grown and 1 juvenile 6 01.03. 1193 Monacha obstructa 2 juveniles 7 02.03. 1993 Monacha obstructa 6 half-grown 8 22.03. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile alive! 9 22.03. 1993 Monacha obstructa 3 half-grown and 6 juveniles 10 05.04. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 adult (crushed) 11 05.04. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile 12 16.04. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 half-grown 13 16.04. 1993 Monacha obstructa 1 half-grown (crushed) 14 17.02. 1994 Monacha obstructa 1 juvenile Although an adult Euchondrus septemdentatus is much larger than a half-grown Monacha obscura, the teethless toad is unable to crush the relatively strong shell and therefore it has to be swallowed in its entirety. On 8 February 1993 a pellet was obtained containing a juvenile specimen of Monacha obstructa which was still alive (Mienis, H. K. 1993). This event was confirmed by two additional finds of living snails. In all these cases the pellets were produced by the toads almost immediately after their capture. Pellets obtained after several hours contained either empty shells or with few remains of the partly digested animals. The ejaculation of a faecal pellet immediately after capture might obcur also under natural conditions when a toad is confronted with a natural enemy like an Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon, a Marbled polecat Vormela peregusna, a Fox Vulpes vulpes, a Tesselated dice snake Natrix tessellata or a bird of prey. However, it is questionable whether the secretion of living snails in faecal pellets of toads will contribute to the dispersal of any landsnail species. Both Euchondrus septemdentatus and Monacha obstructa were not recorded among the prey items of Green toads in Kibbutz Netzer Sereni (Mienis, H. K. 1987). This toad is now known to feed on at least 8 species of landsnails in Israel. A revised list is given in table 2. Since the toad may be characterized as an opportunistic predator of grounddwelling invertebrates additional species of terrestrial snails may still be taken by this toad elsewhere in its range of distribution in Israel. Table 2: Landsnails predated upon by the Green toad Bufo viridis in Israel. Family Buliminidae (Enidae) Reference 1. Euchondrus septemdentatus (Roth, 1839) this paper 2. Euchondrus sulcidens (Mousson, 1861) Mienis, H. K 1987 3. Euchondrus aff. ovularis (but not Olivier, 1801) Mienis, H. K 1987 Family Helicidae 4. Theba pisana (Müller, 1774) Mienis, H. K. 1987 Family Hygromiidae 5. Xeropicta vestalis joppensis (Schmidt, 1855) Mienis, H. K 1987 6. Microxeromagna armillata (Lowe, 1852( Mienis. H. K 1987 (as M. arrouxi) 7. Monaclw. obstructa (Pfeiffer, 1842) Mienis. H. K 1993 and this paper 8. Monacfm haifaenris (Pallary, 1939) Mienis, H. K 1987