Stomach contents of the Japanese water shrew, Chimarrogale platycephala

Abstract

The stomach contents of 139 Japanese water shrews, Chimarrogale platycephala, which were collected from almost the whole range of the species, were analyzed and the percentage occurrence of each food item was presented. Aquatic insects including ephemeropteran (84.2%) and plecopteran (37.4%) nymphs were the most important food. The occurrence (10.8%) of fish was much less frequent than those of aquatic insects. When the large biomass per individual food item was considered, however, fish also are very important food for the water shrew.