First results on the feeding ecology of the Transcaucasian water shrew Neomys teres (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Armenia
Microscopic examination of alimentary tracts of 14 Neomys teres Miller, 1908 from a mountainous region in northern Armenia produced the first data on the diet of this almost unknown species of conservation concern. Twenty-three different prey types were distinguished in summer-caught shrews, all of which were invertebrates (14 terrestrial and 9 aquatic in origin). The dominant dietary items were Coleoptera and Diptera adults, Araneae, Opiliones, and Lumbricidae, as well as freshwater crustaceans and Trichoptera larvae. Prey ranged from <3 to >16 mm in length, but those eaten most frequently were 6–10 mm in length. Although N. teres was captured beside streams and rivers, aquatic prey comprised only 27% of the dietary composition. Despite the morphological similarity of N. teres to Neomys fodiens (Pennant, 1771), its foraging niche more closely resembles that of upland populations of Neomys anomalus Cabrera, 1907 and its reliance on aquatic habitats remains equivocal.