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8044875 
Journal Article 
The diet of Pelobates syriacus BOETTGER, 1889, from the Ghorigol wetland, East Azerbaijan province, Iran 
Fathinia, B; Ghorbani, B; Shafaei-Pour, A; Bamzar, F; Ebrahimzadeh, S 
2019 
31 
3-4 
201-209 
WOS:000460496600008 
In spring and summer of 2016, a total number of 138 specimens of the Eastern Spadefoot Toad, Pelobates syriacus BOETTGER, 1889, were collected in the Ghorigol wetland in the Northwest Iranian Province of East Azerbaijan. Their stomach contents were gained using a stomach flushing technique. Snout-vent length was significantly different between the sexes (P < 0.05). The feeding activity index, i.e., the proportion of stomachs containing food items was 73.19 %, 37 stomachs were empty. A total of 480 items were recorded, 88 of which were non-animal objects and 392 animal food items. Food categories comprised 16 orders belonging to two phyla (Annelida and Arthropoda) and were distributed unevenly within five classes: Arachnida, Chilopoda, Insecta, Malacostraca and Oligochaeta, with Insecta being the most abundant group. In all stomachs, the relative Frequency of Occurrence of a particular category (% FOi) was less than 50 %, indicating some variability in the diet composition of P. syriacus. This species preferred Coleoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. Both total volume and number of food items per stomach were significantly different between individuals sampled in spring and summer but not between males and females. As the toads' body size increased, there was a tendency towards consuming larger amounts of food both in volume and number. 
Amphibia: Anura: Pelobatidae; Pelobates syriacus; food ecology; prey taxonomic composition; stomach flushing; Ghorigol Wetland; Province of East Azerbaijan; NW Iran