Herpetology Notes, volume 3: 097-100 (2010) (published online on 22 April 2010)
A new record of the poorly known Amazonian snake Siphlophis worontzowi Henrique Caldeira Costa1*, Vinícius de Avelar São-Pedro2, Renato Neves Feio1
Abstract. Siphlophis worontzowi is an Amazonian snake with wide distribution south to the Amazonas and Madeira rivers, from Santarém, Pará, Brazil, to Tinkanari, Cuzco, Peru. However, it is registered for few localities and represented by few specimens in scientific collections. We present here a new register for this species in Brazilian Amazon, besides information about its morphology and natural history, based on two collected specimens. More researches are needed to better evaluate the distribution of S. worontzowi, which still presents many gaps. Keywords. Serpentes, Dipsadidade, Amazon, Mato Grosso, Aripuanã.
The snake genus Siphlophis (Dipsadidade, Xenodontinae, Pseudoboini) currently comprises six species: Siphlophis cervinus (Laurenti, 1768), from northern South America (Bailey, 1970; Cunha and Nascimento, 1978; Ávila-Pires, 2005); Siphlophis compressus (Daudin, 1803), from Costa Rica to southeastern South America (Bailey, 1970; Marques et al., 2001; Savage, 2002); Siphlophis leucocephalus (Günther, 1863), from southeastern and central Brazil (Bailey, 1970; Argôlo, 2004); Siphlophis longicaudatus (Andersson, 1901) and Siphlophis pulcher (Raddi, 1820), from southeastern and southern Brazil (Marques et al., 2001; Prudente and Feio, 2001; Lema, 2002; Di-Bernardo et al., 2004); and Siphlophis worontzowi (Prado, 1940), from Amazonian Brazil, Bolivia and Peru (Moravec et al., 2009). Although having a relatively wide distribution in Amazon, from Santarém, state of Pará, Brazil, to Tinkanari, department of Cuzco, Peru, Siphlophis worontzowi is known from only a few localities and specimens (Zaher and Prudente, 1999; Bernarde and Abe, 2006; Moravec et al., 2009). Herein, we present a new locality of occurrence of Siphlophis worontzowi,
1 Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Museu de Zoologia João Moojen. Vila Gianetti 32, Campus UFV, CEP 36570-000, Viçosa – MG, Brazil; e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Laboratório de Ecologia Evolutiva de Anfíbios e Répteis, CEP 59072-970, Natal - RN, Brazil. * corresponding author
based on data from two specimens, currently deposited in Museu de Zoologia João Moojen, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, municipality of Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, under the labels MZUFV 1692 and MZUFV 1734. Both snakes were collected inside primary submontane open ombrophilous forest of the southern Amazon biome, on the left margin of the Aripuanã river, a tributary of the Madeira river, in the municipality of Aripuanã, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, at Fazenda Maracatiá, near Dardanelos Hydroelectric Power Plant. Table 1. Morphological and ecological data from two specimens of Siphlophis worontzowi collected in Fazenda Maracatiá, near Dardanelos Hydroelectric Power Plant, Aripuanã, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Character Sex Pupil shape Dorsal scales Apical pits Ventral scales Subcaudal scales (paired) Anal plate Temporal plates Loreal plate Preocular plates Postocular plates Preocular and Frontal plates Upper labial (UL) plates UL contacting orbit of the eye Mental plates Lower labial (LL) plates LL contacting 1st pair of mentals LL contacting 2nd pair of mentals Snout-vent length Tail length Time of encounter Activity Stomach content
Specimen MZUFV 1692 MZUFV 1734 Male Female Elliptic Elliptic 19-19-15 19-19-15 2 2 234 229 110 109 Simple Simple 2+3 2+3 Length twice width Length twice width 1 1 3 3 Not in contact Not in contact 8 8 3rd, 4th and 5th 3rd, 4th and 5th 2 pairs 2 pairs (1st longer than 2nd) (1st longer than 2nd) 9 9 st th 1 to 5 1st to 4th 5th and 6th 4th and 5th 382 mm. 226 mm. 120 mm. 67 mm. 21 h 22 h Resting on the Foraging on a tree, 5 leaves of a bush, 40 m. above the ground cm. above the ground No prey No prey
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Figure 1. Live specimen of Siphlophis worontzowi (MZUFV 1692), from Aripuanã, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by V. A. São-Pedro.
The first specimen (Figure 1) was found on 17th April, 2009 (10.163986°S, 59.469472°W, 230 m above sea level), at about 21:00 h on a tree at a forest border near a dirt road. It seemed to be foraging behind a termite nest five meters above the ground. The second specimen, a juvenile (Figure 2), was found on 31st July, 2009 (10.159089°S, 59.468172°W, 240 m above sea level), at about 22:00 h and seemed to rest at 40 cm above the ground, on the leaves of a bush in a shallow stream. No prey was found inside the snakes’ stomachs. Literature data indicate that S. worontzowi is a
Figure 2. Live specimen of Siphlophis worontzowi (MZUFV 1734), from Aripuanã, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by V. A. São-Pedro.
nocturnal and semiarboreal species that feeds on lizards (Prudente, Moura-Leite and Morato, 1998; Bernarde and Abe, 2006; Moravec et al., 2009). Our results show that this snake may also be found resting on vegetation at night, even seeming to be primarily nocturnal. A similar observation was made by Martins (1993) and Martins and Oliveira (1998), who found S. compressus both foraging and sleeping at night, in Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil. Sleeping above the ground is an important strategy for snakes to avoid terrestrial predators (Martins, 1993). Morphological data of both specimens are presented in Table 1. Scale counts of the two specimens from Aripuanã are slightly different from that of the holotype, given by Prado (1940), in upper labials contacting the orbit of eye (3rd, 4th and 5th scale of present specimens versus 4th and 5th scale of the holotype). In MZUFV 1692, the 1st to 5th infralabials contact the first pair of mentals, while in the holotype (and also in MZUFV 1734), the contact is made by the 1st to 4th infralabials. We believe that these small differences are only a result of intraspecific variation. Although not cited in Moravec et al. (2009) work, Freitas (2003) presents a first register of S. worontzowi for the state of Mato Grosso, based on a photographed specimen (without information whether it was deposited in a scientific collection) from the municipality of Alta Floresta (10.100° S, 56.433°W), about 300 Km east of
New record of Siphlophis worontzowi
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Figure 3. Map showing the known distribution records of Siphlophis worontzowi. 1) Santarém, Pará, Brazil (Santos-Jr., Guedes and Ribeiro, 2003; Frota et al., 2005); 2) Amanã river, Amazonas, Brazil (Prado, 1940 [type locality]); 3) Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso, Brazil (Freitas, 2003; present work); 4) Fazenda Maracatiá, Aripuanã, Mato Grosso, Brazil (present work); 5) Espigão D’Oeste, Rondônia, Brazil (Zaher and Prudente, 1999; Bernarde and Abe, 2006); 6) Samuel Power Plant, Rondônia, Brazil (SilvaJr., 1993); 7) Santa Crucito, Frederico Román, Pando, Bolivia (Moravec et al., 2009); 8) Nacebe, Abuna, Pando, Bolivia (Moravec et al., 2009); 9) Curichon, Manuripi, Pando, Bolivia (Moravec et al., 2009); 10) Tinkanari, Cuzco, Peru (Moravec et al., 2009).
Aripuanã. The Instituto Butantan in São Paulo, Brazil, has a voucher specimen of S. worontzowi (IBSP 55266) from Fazenda Tambatajú, municipality of Alta Floresta, confirming the occurrence of the species in that area (V. J. Germano, pers. com.). Figure 3 presents a map of the known distribution of S. worontzowi. It is important to note that our record of Amanã (correct spelling, not Amana) river (type locality of S. worontzowi) is located further south than the same record presented by Moravec et al. (2009), although both represent the same locality. Moravec et al. (2009) based themselves in the information presented by Bailey (1970): “Type-locality: Rio Amana (sic.), Estado do Amazonas, Brazil. Distribution: Know only from type locality.”. Although data from Bailey (1970) is informative, Prado (1940) gives more detailed information on the type locality of the species, collected by the entourage of Cesar Worontzow in 1937: “As pesquisas foram realizadas a sudeste do Estado, ao longo do rio Parauari, na confluencia deste com o rio Amana (sic.), e, finalmente, nas proximidades do rio Maués,
afluente da margem direita do Amazonas, e onde os dois primeiros desaguam.”. (“The researches were made at the southeast of the state, along the Parauari river, at its confluence with Amana (sic.) river, and, finally, at the proximities of Maués river, affluent of the right margin of the Amazonas river, and where the first two flows to.”). Bringel et al. (1984) provided a good map of the Parauari-Maués-açu river basin region, which allowed us to find the confluence of Parauari and Amanã rivers, at 4.4000ºS, 57.5833°W, thus having more accurate data on the type-locality of S. worontzowi. Available information (Moravec et al., 2009; present work) suggest that Siphlophis worontzowi is widespread in the Amazon biome south of the Amazonas and Madeira rivers. However, insufficient inventory surveys have left the known geographical distribution of this species with many gaps. Future researches are needed to better evaluate the distribution of S. worontzowi, also confirming whether it inhabits areas only at the right (south) margins of the Amazonas and Madeira rivers or not.
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Acknowledgements. We area grateful to Energética Águas da Pedra for financial support, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis IBAMA for collection permits (29/2007-SUPES/MT, #02001.003069/2004-42; Permanent License for Collecting Zoological Material [10504-1] to RNF, # 491048); Diego J. Santana for making the map; Valdir J. Germano and Francisco L. Franco for confirming the identity and providing information about IBSP 55266; Jiri Moravec and Paulo S. Bernarde for valuable references; Paulo S. Bernarde for also critically revising the manuscript.
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Accepted by Angelica Crottini; Managing Editor: Graham Walters
