IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(1):34–36•MAR2015

Two Atypically Colored Bamboo Vipers (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925) Found in Suburban Areas of Taiwan

Gerrut Norval1, Chin-Hsiu Lin2, and Jean-Jay Mao2

1AppliedBehaviouralEcology&EcosystemResearchUnit,DepartmentofEnvironmentalSciences,UNISA,RepublicofSouthAfrica(gnorval@gmail.com)2DepartmentofForestryandNaturalResources,NationalIlanUniversity,Ilan,260Taiwan,R.O.C.(correspondingauthor:jjmao@niu.edu.tw)

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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

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The Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri Schmidt,1925)hasanaturaldistributionthatextends

through parts of northern India and Nepal, east through parts ofIndochinatosouthernChinaandTaiwan(Pope1935;Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968;Mao1993).Throughoutitsrange, T. s. stejnegeri tends to inhabit forested and partially forestedhabitats,usuallynearsourcesofwater,infoothillandmountainousareas(Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968).The typical dorsal coloration of T. s. stejnegeri ranges from brightgreen(Fig.1)tochartreuse(Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968;Mao,1993),andsomeindividualsexhibitfaintdarkergreenbanding(Fig.2)(MaoandNorval,pers.obs.).Insomerareindividuals,afewdorsalscalesarewhite,whichcreatesasparsespeckledappearance(MaoandNorval,pers.obs.).

Ventralscalesareyellowishtolimegreenandthetailisbrick-red;theirisisredtoorange(Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968;Mao1993).Thesexescanbedistinguishedbythelateralscalesborderingtheventralscales;thesearearelightyellowtowhiteinbothsexes,butthoseofmaleshaverededges(Anonymous1968;Mao1993). On25October2012, the local fire brigade collected a gravid female T. s. stejnegeri(Fig.3)inKaohsiung City, Gushan District.Thesnakehadasnout-ventlength(SVL),taillength(TL),andbodymassof440mm, 95 mm, and 38 g,respectively.Itsdorsalcolorationwasadullblue-graywithfaintdarkergraybanding,thebellywaslightblue,andthetailwasarusty red.Theiriswasrustyorange.Apartfromtheatypicalcoloration,thesnakeappearedtobenormalandin

Fig. 1. A male Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)inan ambushposition.PhotographbyGerrutNorval.

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IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(1):34–36•MAR2015NORVALETAL.

Fig. 2. A female Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)inan ambush posture.PhotographbyJean-JayMao.

Fig. 3. An atypical blue female Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)fromKaohsiung City, Gushan District,Taiwan.PhotographbyJean-JayMao.

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IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(1):34–36•MAR2015NORVALETAL.

healthycondition. Thesnakegavebirthtothree neonates on 19May2013;allhadtheusualT. s. stejnegeri green coloration. On25October2013, a former staff member of the Animal and Plant Disease Control Center of Yilan County collected a male albino T. s. stejnegeri (Fig.4)attheJinlioujayMilitaryBase in Yilan City.Itwasinitiallymisidentifiedasanescapedexoticpet.ThesnakehadaSVL,TL,andbodymassof384 mm, 91 mm, and 23.2 g,respectively.Itsdorsalcolorationwasbrightyellow,thebellywasalighteryellow,andthetailwasorange.Theiriswasdarkpink.Apartfromtheatypicalcoloration,thesnakeappearedtobenormalandinhealthycondition. In herpetoculture for the pet trade, the cross-breeding of closelyrelatedindividuals(inbreeding)isoftenusedtocreatenewcolormorphs(Schmidt1995).Forthatreason,reportingthediscoveryofreptileswithatypicalcolorationinthewildiswarranted.Althoughsuchcolorationmightbecausedbygenetic mutations, it also could be an indication of inbreed-inginasmallpopulation.Asforthesnakesdescribedherein,nofurtherexaminationswereconducted,sothecauseofthedeviationsincolorisnotknown.However,ifmoresuchatyp-icallycoloredindividualsarerecordedinthewild,ageneticanalysisofthepopulationiswarranted.Toourknowledgethis is the first reported description of T. s. stejnegeriwithatypicalcolorationfromthewildinTaiwan.

AcknowledgementsTheauthorsthankthestaffoftheGushanDistrictfirebri-Gushan District fire bri- fire bri-gade and the anonymous former staff member of the Animal and Plant Disease Control Center of Yilan County for collect- for collect-ingtheanimalsdescribedherein,andTzu-MingKuo(YilanCountyGovernment) fordonating them tous to study.ThisstudywasfundedbytheprojectsDOH101-DC-1016(2012:DevelopingantiveninforvenomousTaiwanesesnakes- Evaluation of the stability and quality of venom from non-captivesnakes)andDOH102-DC-1105(2013:Thesnakevenom supply procedure for antivenin and its application in Taiwan)oftheCenterofDiseaseControlofTaiwan.

Literature CitedAnonymous. 1968.Poisonous Snakes of the World. A Manual for Use by U.S.

Amphibious Forces.NAVMEDP-5099.DepartmentoftheNavyBureauofMedicineandSurgery,Washington,D.C.

Kuntz,R.E.1963.SnakesofTaiwan.Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum 16:11–12.

Mao, S.-H. 1993.Common Terrestrial Venomous Snakes of Taiwan. SpecialPublicationNo.5.NationalMuseumofNaturalScience,Taichung,Taiwan.

Pope,C.H.1935.The Reptiles of China: Turtles, Crocodilians, Snakes, Lizards.NaturalHistoryofCentralAsia,VolumeX.AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory,NewYork.

Schmidt,D.1995.Breeding and Keeping Snakes.T.F.H.Publications,Neptune,NewJersey.

Fig. 4. An albino male Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)fromtheJinlioujayMilitaryBase in Yilan City,Taiwan.PhotographbyJean-JayMao.