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Invasive vertebrate interactions in Cuba: Black Rat (Rattus rattus) predation on eggs of Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)

R. Borroto-Paez,B. Fabres

Published 2023 in Reptiles & Amphibians

ABSTRACT

1 Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. The invasion of islands by non-native predators can lead to dramatic effects on island ecosystems (Atkinson 1985, 2001; Courchamp et al. 2003; Towns et al. 2006; Simberloff and Rejmánek 2011). Although the co-occurrence of invasive vertebrates is a ubiquitous global phenomenon, the study of interactions between invaders is poorly represented in the literature and limited understanding of the interactions between co-occurring vertebrates can be problematic for predicting their management and control (Jackson 2015; Ballari et al. 2016). Among the most negative interactions between co-occurring invasive species are predation and competition (Doherty et al. 2015; Jackson 2015; Ringler et al. 2015). Invasive vertebrates like Black Rats (Rattus rattus) and Tropical House Geckos (Hemidactylus mabouia) that, like many other introduced invasives, were unintentionally relocated, are included in the list of the world’s worst invasive species (Lowe et al. 2001; Weterings and Vetter 2018). The negative impact of invasive vertebrates on tropical islands is greater than on continental mainlands or islands at higher latitudes due to high levels of species endemism; the West Indies, in particular, are among the ‘hottest of global biodiversity hotspots’ (Myers et al. 2000; Kier et al. 2009). Invasive predators like Black Rats and Tropical House Geckos are ecological generalists that can successfully colonize a wide range of habitats on islands in tropical and subtropical regions, where they can attain wide distributions, high abundance, and varied and substantive effects on biodiversity and human life. Black Rats arrived in the Americas with the first Europeans and Tropical House Geckos somewhat later with the African slave trade (Simberloff and Rejmánek 2011). In Cuba, Black Rats and Tropical House Gecko are considered among the worst invasive vertebrate species based on their effects, extensive distributions, abundance, and commensal nature (Borroto-Páez 2009, 2011, 2013; Rodríguez Schettino et al. 2013; Borroto-Páez et al. 2015; BorrotoPáez and Mancina 2017); and similar conditions apply in the broader Caribbean (Henderson 1992; Kairo et al. 2003; Powell et al. 2011, 2013; Borroto-Páez and Woods 2012; Borroto-Páez et al. 2015, Borroto-Páez et al. 2021). Although the impact of invasive rats on island fauna and flora is widely acknowledged as important and devastating, often leading to local or even global extinctions of native species, the effects of rats on herpetofauna in particular are relatively rarely documented (e.g., Whitaker 1973; Henderson 1992; Cree et al. 1995; Towns et al. 2006; Daltry et al. 2013; Escoriza 2020). In particular, direct evidence quantifying the complexities of interactions between rats and abundant and commensal invasive reptiles like Tropical House Geckos is almost nonexistent. Herein we contribute to the sparse knowledge of the natural history, ecological interactions, and feeding behavior of these two invasive vertebrate species by documenting what we believe is the first report of predation by Rattus rattus on the eggs and possibly adult and hatchling Hemidactylus mabouia. At 1410 h on 21 August 2022, in a small, rarely-used workshop in Corralillo, Villa Clara Province, Cuba (22.980000 N, 80.601389 W) (Figs. 1A–B), we found evidence of the presence of Black Rats and Tropical House Geckos. We previously had noted a communal gecko ovipositioning site on small shelves in a cabinet used to store screws, nuts, and other small mechanical and electrical components in small plastic bottles (Fig. 1C); the cabinet usually is closed but not locked. On a nearby work table, we documented evidence of feeding rats in the form of at least three broken gecko eggs (Fig. 1D), remains of insects (a beetle and cockroaches), a mollusc shell, mango seeds, and rat excrement (Table 1). Among the small plastic bottles in the cabinet, we found more than 28 unhatched gecko eggs, many broken shells, and Invasive Vertebrate Interactions in Cuba: Black Rat (Rattus rattus) Predation on Eggs of Tropical House Geckos (Hemidactylus mabouia)

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