PREDAÇÃO DE Tropidurus oreadicus (REPTILIA, TROPIDURIDAE) POR Heterophrynus sp. (ARACHNIDA, PHRYNIDAE) EM UMA CAVERNA NO PARQUE NACIONAL CHAPADA DAS MESAS, MARANHÃO, BRASIL

In the area of the Chapada das Mesas National Park, south of the state of Maranhao, Brazil, the sandstone of the Sambaiba Formation (Triassic) predominate, demonstrating to be an area with potential for the occurrence of groundwater natural cavities. Cavernous ecosystems do not have vegetation cover and light (aphotic). Its trophic resources originate from external physical and biotic agents. The fieldwork found and identified 87 caves and evaluated its degree of relevance, including a biospeleological survey. During the effort, among the representatives of the cave fauna of the park, one of the most common were the amblypygids of the genus Heterophrynus , troglophiles animals, with representatives found in all the tropical and semitropical zones around the world. This group assumes a tertiary or secondary consumer role in the ecosystems where it occurs, with predation records ranging from arthropods to birds such as the hummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae). One of the Heterophrynus records that deserves prominence, occurred in a cave which is in a region where the predominant vegetation of the surrounding area is the Cerradao . In this cavity, a trophic relationship of predation was recorded between an amblypygid from the Heterophrynus genus and a Tropidurus oreadicus lizard. The importance of registering for biodiversity is mainly related to the characteristics of the amblypygids, which makes up one of the orders of less diverse arachnids. Keywords: Behavior; Amblypygi; Reptile; Conservation Unit.