… · herrera-montes ircf reptiles & amphibians • 22(4):178–181 • dec 2015 the island,...
4
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(4):178–181 • DEC 2015 Notes on the Striped Keelback (Xenochrophis vittatus) in Puerto Rico: A Recently Reported Non-native Snake in the Western Hemisphere Adriana Herrera-Montes Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, P.O. Box 23360, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00931-3360 ([email protected]) Photographs by the author. 178 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY Copyright © 2015. Adriana Herrera-Montes. All rights reserved. WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL T he Striped Keelback (Xenochrophis vittatus; Fig. 1) is a semi-aquatic snake (Pauwels et al. 2008) in a genus with a historically confused taxonomy (Vogel and David 2012) that includes either 12 (Dubey et al. 2012) or 13 (Uetz and Hošek 2015) species. The Striped Keelback occurs naturally in Indonesia (Banga, Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi [Celebes]; Inger and Voris 2001; de Lang and Vogel 2006; Raharjo and Hakim 2015) and an introduced population is established in Singapore (Uetz and Hošek 2015). The presence of X. vit- tatus in Puerto Rico is the first record of the species in the Western Hemisphere (Herrera-Montes et al. 2015) and is the thirteenth introduced herpetofaunal species on the island (six anurans and six reptiles have been previously recorded). Of the introduced reptiles, to date only one snake species, the Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor spp.) is considered estab- lished. However, five additional snake species have been doc- umented, although they are not known to have established breeding populations (Mayer 2012). The new record of X. vittatus in Puerto Rico increases the total number of snake species in the island to twelve. In Puerto Rico, observations of X. vittatus have been recorded since 2011 in the northeastern lowlands (Herrera- Montes 2014; Herrera-Montes et al. 2015). Individuals observed include adults and juveniles detected in pastures INTRODUCED SPECIES Fig. 1. Juvenile Striped Keelback (Xenochrophis vittatus) captured in an urban pasture in Carolina Pueblo on 24 February 2012. Photograph deposited as voucher (MZUPRRP-PA-05) in the Museum of Zoology at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.
Transcript of … · herrera-montes ircf reptiles & amphibians • 22(4):178–181 • dec 2015 the island,...
IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(4):178–181•DEC2015
Notes on the Striped Keelback (Xenochrophis vittatus) in Puerto Rico: A Recently Reported Non-native Snake in the Western Hemisphere
Adriana Herrera-Montes
DepartmentofBiology,UniversityofPuertoRico-RioPiedrasCampus,P.O.Box23360,SanJuan,PuertoRico,00931-3360([email protected])
Photographsbytheauthor.
178
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190
The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S
The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
H U S B A N D R Y
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
P R O F I L E
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
C O M M E N T A R Y
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
B O O K R E V I E W
Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.
Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as
IRC
F
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
Copyright©2015.AdrianaHerrera-Montes.Allrightsreserved.
WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL
TheStripedKeelback(Xenochrophis vittatus;Fig.1)isasemi-aquaticsnake(Pauwelsetal.2008)inagenuswith
ahistoricallyconfusedtaxonomy(VogelandDavid2012)thatincludeseither12(Dubeyetal.2012)or13(UetzandHošek2015)species.TheStripedKeelbackoccursnaturallyinIndonesia(Banga,Java,Sumatra,andSulawesi[Celebes];IngerandVoris2001;deLangandVogel2006;RaharjoandHakim2015)andanintroducedpopulationisestablishedinSingapore(UetzandHošek2015).ThepresenceofX.vit-tatusinPuertoRicoisthefirstrecordofthespeciesintheWesternHemisphere(Herrera-Montesetal.2015)andisthethirteenthintroducedherpetofaunalspeciesontheisland
(sixanuransandsixreptileshavebeenpreviouslyrecorded).Oftheintroducedreptiles,todateonlyonesnakespecies,theBoaConstrictor(Boa constrictorspp.)isconsideredestab-lished.However,fiveadditionalsnakespecieshavebeendoc-umented,althoughtheyarenotknowntohaveestablishedbreedingpopulations(Mayer2012).ThenewrecordofX.vittatus inPuertoRicoincreasesthetotalnumberofsnakespeciesintheislandtotwelve. InPuertoRico,observationsofX.vittatushavebeenrecordedsince2011inthenortheasternlowlands(Herrera-Montes 2014;Herrera-Montes et al. 2015). Individualsobservedincludeadultsandjuvenilesdetectedinpastures
I N T R O D U C E D S P E C I E S
Fig. 1.JuvenileStripedKeelback(Xenochrophis vittatus)capturedinanurbanpastureinCarolinaPuebloon24February2012.Photographdepositedasvoucher(MZUPRRP-PA-05)intheMuseumofZoologyattheUniversityofPuertoRico,RíoPiedrasCampus.
179
withshortergrasses(<1.5mheight;Fig.2)andalongtheedgesofmaturesecondaryforest(Fig.3)nearwet,swampyareasatelevationsof27–144masl.Initsnaturalrange,thespeciesoccursfromcoastalplainstoelevationsof1,200mandfrequentlyisassociatedwithterrestrialtosemi-aquatichabitats,suchaswetlands,ponds,ricepaddies,grasslands,scrublands,andsuburbanareas(Bergman1950;RaharjoandHakim2015).TheStripedKeelbackisdiurnal,oviparous(clutchesaveragingfiveeggs),breedsyear-round(Bergman1950),and feedsprimarilyon fishesand frogs (Bergman1950;Hampton2011;Guoetal.2012).However,somePuertoRicanobservationsdocument individualsmovingthroughsamplingsitesatnight,apparentlysearchingactivelyforfood. InpastureswhereX. vittatus wasobserved,tenadditionalspeciescomprisetheherpetofaunalassemblage(Table1),andtwocommonspecies,theWhite-lippedFrog(Leptodactylus albilabrisCochran)andtheCommonGrassAnole(Anolis pulchellusDuméril and Bibron), were dominant species(Herrera-Montes2014).TheWhite-lippedFrog is acom-monandadaptablefrogendemictothePuertoRicanBank(Mayer2012).Thisfrogismainlyactiveintheeveningandusuallyisassociatedwithhumid,swampy,anddisturbedhab-itatsaroundtheisland(Rivero2006).TheCommonGrassAnoleisadiurnalgrass-bushecomorph(Williams1983)thatiswidelydistributedinPuertoRico(GormanandHarwood1977). It is common in grassy andopenhabitats (Rand1964),whereitisfoundinextremelyhighpopulationdensi-ties(to20,000individuals/ha;GormanandHarwood1977).InthesecondaryforestparcelwhereIobservedX. vittatus, 17speciesincludingX. vittatus comprisedtheherpetofaunal
assemblage.TheCommonCoqui(Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas)wasthedominantspecies(Herrera-Montes2014;Table1).Anolis pulchellus, L. albilabris,E. coqui,andothercommonorthreatenednativespeciescouldbepotentialpreyorcompetitorsofX. vittatus inPuertoRico(Table1). ThetimeofintroductionofX.vittatusinPuertoRicoisunknown,butanecdotalaccountsof“GarterSnake”sightingsinCarolinaMunicipalitycanbetracedtoaround1994andrefertoanaccidentalescapeofsnakes,presumablyforthepettrade,fromcontainersattheLuisMuñozMarínInternationalAirport(Herrera-Montesetal.2015).Xenochrophis vittatus iscurrentlynotlistedinCITES,butevidenceindicatesitspresenceintheinternationaltradeofliveanimalsintheU.S.Between2004andthefirstfewmonthsof2015,over19,000StripedKeelbackshavebeenimported(C.Romagosa,pers.comm.).TheStripedKeelbackisanattractivesnakeandisinIndonesiacommonlykeptasapet.It isharmless,easytocatch,anddoesnotbite;itlivesaround10years,andiseasilymaintainedincaptivity(Bergman1950).Allofthesecharacteristicsfosteritspopularityintheexoticanimaltrade,whichincreasestheriskofnewintroductionsandtransloca-tionsofindividualstootherlocalitiesaroundPuertoRico,theAntilles,andtheWesternHemisphere. WiththeexceptionofthePuertoRicanSlider(Trachemys s. stejnegeriSchmidt),PuertoRicolacksnativespeciesofsemi-aquaticreptiles(Joglaretal.2007;Mayer2012),andnon-salineaquaticenvironmentsrepresentanunexploitedresourceforotherintroducedreptilesandamphibians.Sinceobserva-tionsofX.vittatusinPuertoRicoareindicativeofawell-establishedpopulation(Herrera-Montesetal.2015),studiesthatcontributetotheknowledgeofitsspatialdistributionon
IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(4):178–181•DEC2015HERRERA-MONTES
Fig. 2.StripedKeelback(Xenochrophis vittatus)habitat:UrbanpastureinCarolinaPueblo(30melev.).Photographdepositedasvoucher(MZUPRRP-PA-06)intheMuseumofZoologyattheUniversityofPuertoRico,RíoPiedrasCampus.
180
HERRERA-MONTES IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(4):178–181•DEC2015
theisland,habitatuseandselection,diet,andinteractionswithotherspeciesareneeded.Istronglyrecommendaddi-tionalresearch,monitoring,andimplementationoferadica-tionprogramsofX.vittatusinPuertoRico.
AcknowledgmentsIamgratefultotheinstitutionsandlandownersthatpro-videdpermission towork on their properties, themanyfieldassistants,students,andvolunteerswhoparticipatedintheproject,andDr.JamesAckerman,Directorof theMuseumofZoologyattheUniversityofPuertoRico,RíoPiedrasCampus(MZUPRRP),andMahmoudAboukheir,CollectionManager,whoprovidedassistance indeposit-ingmaterial.FundingforthisprojectwasprovidedbytheLuquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Program, theInstituteforTropicalEcosystemStudies(ITES),theCenterforAppliedTropicalEcologyandConservation(CATEC),theCaribbeanHerbariaProjectUPR,andIDEAWILD.IalsothankMariaJoseAndrade,SarahStankavich,andanony-mousreviewersfortheirvaluablecommentstoimprovethismanuscript.
Literature CitedBergman,R.A.M.1950.ThelifeofNatrix vittata(L.).Zoologische Mededelingen
31:1–11.
deLang,R.andG.Vogel.2006.The snakesofSulawesi,pp.35–38. In:M.Vences,J.Köhler,T.Ziegler,andW.Böhme(eds.),Herpetologia Bonnensis II.Proceedingsofthe13thCongressoftheSocietasEuropaeaHerpetologica,Bonn,Germany.
Dubey,B.,P.R.Meganathan,N.Vidal,andI.H.Dubey.2012.MolecularevidenceforthenonmonophylyoftheAsiannatricidgenusXenochrophis (Serpentes,Colubroidea)asinferredfrommitochondrialandnucleargenes.Journal of Herpetology46:263–268.
Gorman,G.C.andR.Harwood.1977.Notesonpopulationdensity,vagility,andactivitypatternsofthePuertoRicanGrassLizard,Anolis pulchellus(Reptilia,Lacertilia,Iguanidae).Journal of Herpetology 11:363–368.
Guo,P.,Q.Liu,Y.Xu,K.Jiang,M.Hou,L.Ding,R.A.Pyron,andF.T.Burbrink.2012.OutofAsia:NatricinesnakessupporttheCenozoicBeringianDispersalHypothesis.Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution63:825–833.
Hampton,P.M.2011.Comparisonofcranialformandfunctioninassociationwithdietinnatricinesnakes.Journal of Morphology272:1435–1443.
Herrera-Montes,A.2014.Maintainingherpetofaunaldiversityinurbanlandscape:Implicationsforconservation.Ph.D.Dissertation.UniversityofPuertoRico-RíoPiedras,SanJuan.
Herrera-Montes,A.,B.Ríos-Dróz,A.R.Puente-Rolón,D.Dávila-Casanova,andN.Ríos-López.2015.Geographicdistribution:Xenochrophis vittatus(StripedKeelback).Herpetological Review46:64.
Inger,R.F.andH.K.Voris.2001.ThebiogeographicalrelationsofthefrogsandsnakesofSundaland.Journal of Biogeography28:863–891.
Table 1.SpeciescomprisingtheherpetofaunalassemblagesinsympatrywiththeStripedKeelback(Xenochrophis vittatus)inPuertoRico.Relativeabundanceofeachspeciesintheassemblageispresented.ClassificationasendemictoPuertoRico/PuertoRicanBank(E),native(N),orintroduced(I)isbasedonRivero(2006),JoglarandLongo(2011),andMayer(2012).
Suburban Suburban Urban Species Distribution Mature forest Pasture Pasture
Rhinella marina I 0.45 0.00 0.31
Eleutherodactylus antillensis E 0.06 0.61 4.70
Eleutherodactylus brittoni E 0.19 0.00 0.00
Eleutherodactylus cochranae E 0.52 0.00 0.00
Eleutherodactylus coqui E 58.12 2.44 2.19
Leptodactylus albilabris E 1.29 24.59 3.76
Anolis cristatellus E 25.76 0.61 0.31
Anolis krugi E 7.96 0.61 0.00
Anolis pulchellus E 1.49 70.33 85.89
Anolis stratulus E 2.14 0.00 0.00
Ameiva exsul E 0.26 0.00 1.25
Iguana iguana I 0.45 0.00 0.00
Sphaerodactylus klauberi E 0.39 0.00 0.00
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis E 0.71 0.00 0.00
Borikenophis portoricensis N 0.00 0.00 0.94
Chilabothrus inornatus E 0.06 0.00 0.00
Typhlops platycephalus E 0.00 0.20 0.00
Typhlops rostellatus E 0.06 0.00 0.00
Xenochrophis vittatus I 0.06 0.61 0.63
181
IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(4):178–181•DEC2015HERRERA-MONTES
Joglar,R.L.andA.V.Longo(eds.).2011.Guíadebiodiversidadurbana:EspeciesenciudadesybosquesurbanosdePuertoRico.ProyectoCoqui,UniversityofPuertoRico-RíoPiedras,SanJuan.
JoglarR.L.,A.O.Álvarez,T.M.Aide,D.Barber,P.A.Burrowes,M.A.García,A.León-Cardona,A.V.Longo,N.Pérez-Buitrago,A.Puente,N.Rios-López,andP.J.Tolson.2007.ConservingthePuertoRicanherpetofauna.Applied Herpetology4:327–345.
Mayer,G.C.2012.PuertoRicoandtheVirginIslands,pp.136–147.In:R.PowellandR.W.Henderson(eds.),IslandlistsofWestIndianamphibiansandrep-tiles.BulletinoftheFlorida Museum ofNatural History51:85–166.
Pauwels,O.S.G.,V.Wallach,andP.David.2008.Globaldiversityof snakes(Serpentes;Reptilia)infreshwater.Hydrobiologia595:599–605.
Raharjo,A.D.andL.Hakim.2015.DiversityofsnakesinRajegwesiTourismArea,MeruBetiriNationalPark.Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Development Studies3:37–40.
Rand,S.A.1964.EcologicaldistributioninanolinelizardsofPuertoRico.Ecology 45:745–752.
Rivero,J.A.2006.Guía para la Identificación de Lagartos y Culebras de Puerto Rico.LaEditorialUniversidaddePuertoRico,SanJuan.
Uetz,P.andJ.Hošek(eds.).2015.TheReptileDatabase.<http://www.reptile-database.org>.
UNEP-WCMC.2009.Reviewofnon-CITESreptilesthatareknownorlikelyto be in international trade. A Report to the European Commission,UNEPWCMC,Cambridge.
Vogel,G.andP.David.2012.ArevisionofthespeciesgroupofXenochrophis pisca-tor (Schneider,1799)(Squamata:Natricidae).Zootaxa 3473:1–60.
Williams,E.E.1983.Ecomorph,faunas,islandsize,anddiverseendpointsinislandradiationofAnolis,pp.326–370.In:R.B.Huey,E.R.Pianka,andT.W.Schoener(eds.),Lizard Ecology: Studies of a Model Organism.HarvardUniversityPress,Cambridge,Massachusetts.
Fig. 3.StripedKeelback(Xenochrophis vittatus)habitat:Forestedgeinsuburbanmaturesecondaryforest(approximately40yearsofsuccession;144melev.).Photographdepositedasvoucher(MZUPRRP-PA-03)intheMuseumofZoologyattheUniversityofPuertoRico,RíoPiedrasCampus.
