and Joanen 1977, Delany and Abercrombie 1986, Taylor 1986, Wolfe et al. 1987, Delany

et al. 1988, Tucker et al. 1996, Barr 1997). Everglades alligators consumed larger

aquatic salamanders (sirens and amphiumas) frequently and this was the highest recorded

amphibian consumption by alligators (Barr 1997). Amphibians, especially frogs, digest

quickly in alligator stomachs (Delany and Abercrombie 1986, Barr 1997) and therefore

some studies may not sample frequently enough to detect amphibians in alligator

stomachs. In this study, Lake Griffin alligators consumed one greater siren (Siren

lacertina), one two-toed amphiuma (Amphiuma means) and three frog specimens (Rana

spp. ) and Lake Woodruff alligators consumed two greater sirens. Frogs are an abundant

amphibian species that are densely populated throughout the alligator's range. However,

frogs were rarely reported as alligator prey and if they were reported their occurrence was

low, indicating their unimportance in alligator diets (Valentine et al. 1972, McNease and

Joanen 1977, Delany and Abercrombie 1986, Taylor 1986, Wolfe et al. 1987, Delany et

al. 1988, Platt et al. 1990, Barr 1994, Tucker et al. 1996, Barr 1997, Delany et al. 1999).

Amphibians may not be an important prey group for alligators (except in the Everglades)

or more frequent sampling resulting in a larger sample size may be needed to detect their

presence in the diet, due to their rapid digestion rate.

Invertebrates

 As alligators get larger, it becomes less energetically efficient to consistently prey

on invertebrates. Adult alligators in this study did consume invertebrates; however, the

amount and occurrence of fresh invertebrates were minimal. This trend of reducing

invertebrate consumption with increasing size of the alligator was also evident in other

alligator diet studies (Valentine et al. 1972, Delany and Abercrombie 1986, Barr 1997,

Delany et al. 1999). It may seem that adult alligators consume large amounts of