Myotis vivesi

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
fisherman bat
.

Myotis vivesi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Myotis
Species:
M. vivesi
Binomial name
Myotis vivesi

Myotis vivesi, the fish-eating bat or fish-eating myotis,[3] is a species of bat that lives around the Gulf of California, and feeds on fish and crustaceans. It is the largest species of the genus Myotis in the Americas, and has exceptionally large feet, which it uses in hunting. It was described in 1901 by Auguste Ménégaux. It was previously considered the only member of the Myotis subgenus Pizonyx, but Pizonyx is now considered to contain all American Myotis species, along with two Eurasian ones.[4]

Description

Myotis vivesi skull

Myotis vivesi is the largest species in the genus

Myotis in the Americas,[5][6] and is similar in size to the Eurasian Myotis myotis (greater mouse-eared bat).[7] The skull averages 23 millimetres (0.91 in) in length.[7] The second largest Myotis species in the New World, Myotis velifer, has a skull 17.6 mm (0.69 in) long, and feet 8 mm (0.31 in) long; M. vivesi has greatly elongated hind feet, which average 23 mm (0.91 in) long.[7]

In common with other fish-eating bats, Myotis vivesi has long, efficient wings, with high

uropatagium (the wing surface between the hind legs) bears a fringe of silky hairs of unknown function; the uropatagium itself is used in hunting.[7]

The fur is around 8 mm (0.31 in) long,[7] and varies in colour from fawn to brown, with the base of each hair being dark grey.[5] In common with other piscivorous species of Myotis, the underside of M. vivesi is pale.[7]

Distribution

Myotis vivesi is found along the coast of the

microsatellites and the mtDNA control region indicate that there is no isolation by distance in the species.[10]

Ecology and behaviour

Myotis vivesi feeds chiefly on

Pleuroncodes planipes.[12] Only one other bat species, Noctilio leporinus, hunts in marine waters.[13]
The guano produced by M. vivesi is red if it has eaten crustaceans, and black if it has eaten fish; green guano and brown guano result from feeding on algae and insects, respectively.[7] As well as fish and crustaceans, M. vivesi also feeds occasionally on aerial insects.[6] M. vivesi can cover large distances when hunting; in 1970, scientists saw "a group of about 400 M. vivesi around a boat at least 7 km [4.3 miles] from the shore".[14] M. vivesi inhabits an arid environment and has evolved the ability to concentrate its urine; this allows it to survive by drinking seawater.[11]

M. vivesi prefers to roost either in

black petrels (Oceanodroma melania).[7] On many islands in the Gulf of California where these petrels nest, the western whiptail is a known predator of their eggs and chicks, and the petrels generally show only fearful responses towards the lizards and capable of doing only little to defend their offspring. However M. vivesi that share roosts with these petrels swiftly react by biting and flapping when the lizards are detected, effectively warding the reptiles off. This may be an example of a symbiotic relationship in which the bats help defend the young of nesting petrels, increasing the chances of survival for petrel chicks.[15]

Taxonomy and evolution

Myotis vivesi was

Myotis.[17] Ménégaux gave no indication of the etymology of the specific name vivesi; it may either refer to a person called Vives, or derive from the Latin verb vivere, "to live". If Vives was a person, he was not the collector of the specimens, that being recorded as Léon Diguet.[3] No subspecies of M. vivesi have been recognised.[7]

The closest relatives of M. vivesi are other New World species of Myotis which are not adapted to piscivory, rather than the other piscivorous bats in the genus.

Antrozous pallidus.[19]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T14209A22069146.en
    . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
    . 1. 7: 321–327.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9
    .
  4. ^ "ITIS - Report: Myotis (Pizonyx)". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  5. ^ a b E. Marquez (2000). "Myotis vivesi". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c "Fish-eating myotis (Myotis vivesi)". ARKive. Archived from the original on 2011-02-27. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  7. ^
    JSTOR 3504455
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-19-850322-4
    .
  9. ISBN 978-0-19-850322-4
    .
  10. S2CID 22078860
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7637-6299-5
    .
  12. ^ William Lopez-Forment. "January 6, 2011. Isla Monserrat & Isla del Carmen". Daily Expedition Reports. Lindblad Expeditions & National Geographic. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  13. ISBN 978-0-12-373553-9
    .
  14. ISBN 978-0-8018-4986-2
    .
  15. ^ King, Joel (1978). "A Study of Symbiosis Involving the Fish-Eating Bat (Myotis vivesi), the Least Petrel (Halocyptera microsoma), the Black Petrel (Oceanodroma melania), and the Lizard (Cnemidophorus tigris)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. ^
    JSTOR 1383987
    .
  17. OCLC 62265494
    .
  18. JSTOR 4523239
    .
  19. JSTOR 4523521
    .
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