Comparative Diets of Three Populations of an Aquatic Snake (Natrix Tessellata, Colubridae) from Mediterranean Streams with Different Hydric Regimes

@article{Luiselli2007ComparativeDO,
  title={Comparative Diets of Three Populations of an Aquatic Snake (Natrix Tessellata, Colubridae) from Mediterranean Streams with Different Hydric Regimes},
  author={Luca Luiselli and Dario Capizzi and Ernesto Filippi and Claudio Anibaldi and Lorenzo Rugiero and Massimo Capula},
  journal={Copeia},
  year={2007},
  volume={2007},
  pages={426 - 435}
}
Abstract The Dice Snake (Natrix tessellata) is an aquatic colubrid that is known for having a basically piscivorous diet and a female-biased sexual size dimorphism (larger females). The feeding habits of three populations of N. tessellata from Mediterranean streams in central Italy were studied. The three streams differed in terms of their water regimes, one being seasonal and two being perennial. More than 2,000 snake individuals were handled for food items, and 1,200+ prey items were… 
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A global overview on the diet of the dice snake (Natrix tessellata) from a geographical perspective: foraging in atypical habitats and feeding spectrum widening helps colonisation and survival under suboptimal conditions for a piscivorous snake

The global analysis of the diet of the dice snake revealed a feeding spectrum characteristically changing over the broad distribution area including non-fish prey as well as taxa from marine and terrestrial habitats, separating four large geographical units with further distinctions in Central and Eastern Europe.

A preliminary study on the feeding biology of the Dice Snake, Natrix tessellata, in Turkey

The results confirm that Turkish N. tessellata forage predominantly in water and that the largerst prey items were consumed by relatively large females.

09. An extraordinary large prey observed in the diet composition of Natrix tessellata (Squamata: Colubridae)

The diet composition of N. tessellata is one of the best documented among snakes of the Western Palaearctic (see Gruschwitz et al, 1999; Mebert, 2011a; Šukalo et al., 2014; Weiperth et al. 2014 and references therein).

Prey availability drives geographic dietary differences of a Mediterranean predator, the Lataste's viper (Vipera latastei)

As small mammal species diversity and abundance in the Iberian Peninsula increase with rainfall, the results suggest that the consumption of small mammals versus reptiles is driven by prey availability.

The male reproductive cycle of the Dice Snake, Natrix tessellata (Serpentes: Colubridae), in northern Iran

The results indicated that spermatogenesis is composed of three phases: an active phase from May to September, a transitional phase in October, and a silent and regenerative phase from November to March.

Head Morphology and Diet in the Dice Snake (Natrix tessellata)

Results suggest strong population-level divergence in head size and shape in Natrix tessellata, suggesting that diet is strongly determined by local abundance of potential prey and future studies need to establish whether the observed differences in head shape have a genetic basis, or result from phenotypic plasticity.

Population and ecological characteristics of the dice snake, Natrixtessellata(Laurenti, 1768), in lower portions of the Vrbanja River(Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

The aim of the present study was to analyze characteristics of the dice snake population along the Vrbanja River, and observed substantial differences in numbers of animals captured in different habitat types classified according to the level of anthropogenic influence.

Unexpected life history traits in a very dense population of dice snakes

Non-prey items in stomachs of Alpine newts (Mesotriton alpestris, Laurenti)

A dietary study of Alpine newts at two localities in the Czech Republic, focusing on the influence of sex, locality, month, and weight of digested prey on consumption of non-prey items, found that location affected frequency of newts with plants and silt in their digestive tracts.

Composition and Scaling of Male and Female Alpine Newt (Mesotriton Alpestris) Prey, with Related Site and Seasonal Effects

Analysis of dietary composition of male and female Alpine newts from two localities in the Czech Republic during the entire breeding period found the effect of sex on all observed prey variables — the females consumed more prey items, more diverse prey and also in greater mass than did the males.

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