Herpetology Notes, volume 8: 39-41 (2015) (published online on 10 March 2015)
Notes on the diet of the Pigmy Coral Snake Micrurus dissoleucus (Cope, 1860) in northern Colombia (Serpentes: Elapidae)
Miguel Arévalo-Páez, Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa*, Efraín Rada-Vargas, Liliana Patricia Saboyá-Acosta and Juan Manuel Renjifo
Snakes are vertebrates with morphological and biochemical specializations, such as constriction and venom injection for the capture and digestion of prey (Hardy, 1994; Hayes and Duvall, 1991). The group also presents some morphological adaptations, such as cranial kinesis and expandable skin that allow them to swallow preys that are equal to or even larger than their own body size (Greene, 1997). Previous observations indicate that some ophidians (e.g. some species of the genera Agkistrodon, Atractaspis, Clelia, Cylindrophis, Drymarchon, Lampropeltis, Micrurus, and Ophiophagus) commonly consume other snakes (ophiophagy) (Wall, 1921; Evans, 1948; Rose, 1962; Hurter, 1893; Delia, 2009). Some ophiophagus species such as Clelia equatoriana (Amaral, 1924) constrict their prey as a strategy of submission (RojasMorales, 2013). Others, such as the coral snakes, are highly venomous and subdue their prey by inoculating toxins (Greene, 1984; Gold et al., 2002). The New World Coral Snakes are a monophyletic group, containing the genera Micrurus, Leptomicrurus, and Micruroides (Slowinski, 1995), of which Micrurus is the most diverse with a distribution range from southern United States of America to northern Argentina. These snakes are commonly known as ophiophagus (Campbell and Lamar, 1989; Roze, 1996). Their diet includes other snakes, lizards, legless lizards, worm lizards, caecilians and freshwater eels (Cunha and Nascimento, 1978; Roze, 1983; Greene, 1984; Sazima and Abe, 1991;
Grupo de Investigación en Manejo y Conservación de Fauna, Flora y Ecosistemas Estratégicos Neotropicales (MIKU), Reptiles, Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Colombia. * Corresponding author:
[email protected]
Solorzano, 2005). Micrurus venoms are significantly more toxic to the preferred prey species than to nonprey species (da Silva and Aird, 2001). However, little is known about the feeding ecology of Neotropical Coral Snakes, probably because of the burrowing habits of the species, making it difficult to be observed in field (Cavalcanti et al. 2010). The Pigmy Coral Snake Micrurus dissoleucus (Cope, 1860), is the smallest species of the genus (250-400 mm SLV), displays a triad-arranged colour pattern and is distributed throughout Panamá, Chocó, lower Magdalena River, and Caribbean lowlands of Colombia and Venezuela up to the Orinoco delta. This cryptozoic snake is often found in soils of dry ecosystems as thornscrub and deciduous tropical forests (Roze, 1966, 1996; Campell and Lamar, 1989), and its venom is characterized by a predominant myotoxic activity causing damage to the muscle fibers, interfering neurotransmission (Renjifo et al., 2012). The only prey record for the Pigmy Coral Snake is a Cope’s Junglerunner Ameiva bifrontata Cope, 1862 (Roze, 1996). The objective of this study is to provide data on the diet of M. dissoleucus based on specimens from Colombia and, therefore, contribute to the knowledge of its diet composition. All specimens listed in this contribution are deposited in the reptile collection of the Centro de Colecciones Biológicas de la Universidad del Magdalena (CBUMAG:REP). In May 2013, at the campus of the Universidad del Magdalena, city of Santa Marta, Department of Magdalena, Colombia (11°13’18.31” N, 74°11’08.80 W, 21 m elevation), we collected a dead juvenile female of M. dissoleucus melanogenys (Cope, 1860) (CBUMAG: REP:00088, total length – TL – without head = 181 mm). The coral snake contained in its stomach a Whitenose Blind Snake Liotyphlops albirostris (Peters, 1857) (CBUMAG:REP:00046; SVL=121 mm). The prey
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Miguel Arévalo et al.
Figure 1. Size relationship between the Micrurus dissoleucus (181 mm TL) (CBUMAG:REP:00088) and the Liotyphlops albirostris (121 mm LT) (CBUMAG:REP:00048) (A). M. dissoleucus (CBUMAG:REP:00066) feeding on a Black Blind Snake (B). Phyllodactylus ventralis (CBUMAG:REP:00231) regurgitated by a Micrurus dissoleucus (CBUMAG:REP:00057) (C). Micrurus dissoleucus swallowing a Leptodeira annulata with a size very similar to its own (D). Photos by LP Saboyá-Acosta (A) and JM Renjifo (B, C, D).
measured ca. 66% of the predator’s TL (excluding the head of the coral snake and the tail of the blind snake) (Fig. 1A). In the same city, in Ziruma hills (11°12’47.37’’ N, 74°13’7.15’’ W), we collected two specimens of M. dissoleucus melanogenys (CBUMAG:REP:00057 and CBUMAG:REP:00066). The specimen CBUMAG: REP:00066 was photographed while feeding on a Black Blind Snake Epictia goudotii (Duméril and Bibron, 1844) (Fig. 1B). Additionally, due to the stress caused by being transported, the specimen CBUMAG:REP:00057 regurgitated a Margarita Leaf-toed Gecko Phyllodactylus ventralis (O´Shaughnessy, 1875) (CBUMAG: REP:00231; SVL=ca. 50 mm) (Fig. 1C). Finally, we observed and photographed in the city of Cúcuta, Department of Norte de Santander (7°51’36.48”N, 72°31’29.74”W) a non-collected specimen of M. d. dissoleucus (Cope, 1860) swallowing a Cat-Eyed Snake
Leptodeira annulata (Linnaeus, 1758) with a TL very similar to its own (Fig. 1D). Other coral snakes also show snakes or other legless animals as common preys. Other ophioform prey items (i.e., snakes and amphisbaenians) were previously recorded for Micrurus albicintus Amaral, 1925, Micrurus ancoralis Jan, 1872, Micrurus corallinus Merrem, 1820, Micrurus ibiboboca (Merrem, 1820), Micrurus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758), and Micrurus paraensis Cunha and Nascimento, 1973 (Marquez and Sazima, 1997; Martins and Oliveira, 1998; CisnerosHeredia, 2005; Souza et al., 2011; Cavalcanti et al., 2012). The most similar previous record is M. ibiboboca eating L. annulata (Cavalcanti et al., 2012). The dietary records of M. dissoleucus suggest that this species can take advantage of several preys available in its microhabitat and that, probably, snakes are common items in its diet.
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Notes on the diet of the Pigmy Coral Snake in northern Colombia Acknowledgments. Thanks are due to Fernando Castro-Herrera, Camila Renjifo, Victor Acosta-Chavez, and anonymous reviewers for their contributions on this manuscript.
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Accepted by Fabio Hepp
