Diet of juvenile Crocodylus porosus in Kuching Wetlands National Park, Sarawak, East Malaysia

Engkamat, Anak Lading and Indraneil, Das (2021) Diet of juvenile Crocodylus porosus in Kuching Wetlands National Park, Sarawak, East Malaysia. Asian Herpetological Research, 12 (3). pp. 323-330. ISSN 2095-0357

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Abstract

The diet of juvenile, including hatchlings and presumed yearlings of the Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, was studied at the Kuching Wetlands National Park, western Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo), using both frequency of occurrence and volumetric composition of diet through the stomach flushing technique. Crustaceans form the primary component of the diet of juvenile crocodiles, comprising shrimps of the family Atyidae (Caridina sp., and Penaeus indicus), occurring in the stomach of 17 individuals (53% by occurrence). An estimated 91.7% of hatchlings stomach-flushed had shrimps, and the emergence of hatchlings may be associated by inland migration of its shellfish prey, as reported in the literature. The secondary food item of hatchlings and presumed yearlings was ocypodid crabs, occurring in 16 individuals (in addition to a subadult), and comprise 47%–50% by occurrence. Other items taken incidentally include rodents (in large yearlings, exceeding 100 cm in total length), and fish (in seven hatchlings and in one subadult), or in 29% of total individuals captured (47.7% in hatchlings and 15% in yearlings). A dietary change in ontogeny is therefore evident, as reported earlier in crocodilians.

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