Lontra longicaudis Gray 1843

• Main Authors: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Carnivora; Mustelidae; Lontra; Lontra longicaudis; Argentina; Uruguay; Trinidad; The Muzzle; Fischotter; Loutre
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714109; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/038F87D4CA47FFA7CFAB3887FCE6FC62

30. Neotropical Otter Lontra longicaudis French: Loutre néotropicale / German: Siidamerikanischer Fischotter / Spanish: Nutria neotropical Taxonomy. Lutra longicaudis Olfers, 1818, Brazil. Three subspecies are recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. L. l. longicaudis Olfers, 1818 — Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, S Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. L. l. annectens Major, 1897 — Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. L. l. enudris Cuvier, 1823 — NE Brazil, the Guyanas, and Trinidad. Descriptive notes. Head-body 36-66 cm,tail 37-84 cm; weight 5-15 kg, adult males are 20-25% larger than females. The Neotropical Otter is heavily built, with a long body, short limbs, and fully webbed feet. The pelage is dark brown, with a gray neck and throat. The muzzle is broad, with a yellowish white tip and long vibrissae on each side. The skull is heavy, long, and flat. Habitat. Neotropical Otters are found in fast flowing, clear rivers and streams, in both deciduous and evergreen forests, at elevations up to 3000 m. They prefer waterways with clear water, abundant waterside vegetation, and high availability of potential den sites; they are rare or absent from sluggish, murky, lowland waters. In Northern Mexico, along a 30 km stretch ofriver, the habitat preferred by a Neotropical Otter included pools that averaged more than 0-8 m deep, more than 14- 6 m wide, with over 64% understory vegetation cover, and rock talus/vegetation cover within 4-8 m of the water's edge. Food and Feeding. The diet is mainly fish, but also includes crustaceans, molluscs, small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. In southern Brazil, spraint analysis revealed a diet comprising mainly fish (including Loricariidae, Callichthyidae, Cichlidae, Pimelodidae, Auchenipteridae, and Erythrinidae), and also mammals and insects. In the coastal plain of Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, spraints contained fish (mainly Hoplias malabaricus and Geophagus brasiliensis) and crustaceans ...