The Harderian gland transcriptomes of Caraiba andreae, Cubophis cantherigerus and Tretanorhinus variabilis, three colubroid snakes from Cuba

Tropidophis feicki Schwartz, 1957 is restricted to densely forested limestone mesic areas in western Cuba (Schwartz & Henderson 1991; Henderson & Powell 2009). This species has been reported from about 20 localities distributed from near Guane, in Pinar del Río Province, to Ciénaga de Zapata, in Matanzas Province Rivalta et al., 2013; GBIF 2020; Fig. 1). On 30 June 2009 and on 22 December 2011 we found an adult male and an adult female Tropidophis feicki (ca. 400 mm SVL; Fig. 2), respectively, at the entrance of the “Cueva de la Virgen” hot cave (22.8201, -80.1384; 30 m a.s.l.; WGS 84; point 14 in Fig. 1). The cave is located within “Mogotes de Jumagua” Ecological Reserve, Sagua La Grande Municipality, Villa Clara Province. This locality represents the first record of this species for central Cuba, particularly for Villa Clara Province. This new record is about 123 km northeast (airline distance) of the nearest previous record at Playa Máquina, Ciénaga de Zapata, Matanzas Province (Rodríguez & Rivalta 2007).

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Tropidophis maculatus (Bibron, 1840) is a mesophilic snake inhabiting forest patches and open secondary scrub savannas in western and central Cuba (Schwartz & Henderson 1991; Rodríguez et al. 2013). The only dietary records for this species are the lizards Anolis angusticeps and A. alutaceus, for individuals from Havana city (Collette 1961). Herein we provide new data on the diet of wild T. maculatus. On 17 April 2010, we found a juvenile female Tropidophis maculatus (140 mm SVL) at Soroa (22.7960, -83.0060; 200 m a.s.l.), Candelaria Municipality, Artemisa Province. We found the snake at 1317 hours under a rock with a big stomach bulge (Fig. 1). It later regurgitated a partially digested male Anolis homolechis that had been swallowed head first (ca. 40 mm SVL; Fig. 2). The predominant vegetation in the area is semi-deciduous forest.

Sexual maturation in free-ranging Chilabothrus angulifer (Serpentes: Boidae). TheCuban Boa (C. angulifer) is the only boid snake in Cuba. It is the largest member of the history is poorly known, several studies describe aspects of its reproductive biology in in nature, and show that the Cuban Boa reaches adulthood at a much smaller size than previously reported for captive snakes. Based on the limited information on the growth rate of C. angulifer in nature, males must reach breeding size after 3 years and females after 5 years.Keywords: Cuba, Cuban Boa, endemic snake, minimum breeding size, reproductive ResumenMaduración sexual en Chilabothrus angulifer (Serpentes: Boidae) en la naturaleza. El majá de Santa María (C. angulifer especie icónica de la herpetofauna cubana. A pesar de que su historia natural se conoce muy poco, varios estudios describen aspectos de su biología reproductiva en cautiverio. Aquí documentamos las 164Phyllomedusa -15(2), December 2016 se ha reportado para especímenes de cautiverio. Basados en la escasa información sobre la tasa de crecimiento de C. angulifer Palabras Clave: Caribe Insular. ResumoMaturidade sexual de Chilabothrus angulifer (Serpentes: Boidae) em estado selvagem. A jiboiacubana, Chilabothrus angulifer, icônica da herpetofauna cubana. Apesar de sua história natural ser pouco-conhecida, diversos estudos descrevem aspectos de sua biologia reprodutiva em cativeiro. Documentamos aqui o tamanho e a serpente atinge a idade adulta com um tamanho muito menor do que previamente relatado para C. angulifer na natureza, os machos atingem o tamanho reprodutivo após 3 anos, e as fêmeas, após 5 anos. Palavras-chave:tamanho reprodutivo mínimo.

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Snakes of the genus Tropidophis Bibron, 1840 have undergone an adaptive radiation in Cuba, where 16 out of the 27 Antillean species occur (Hedges 2002). With this high diversity, coexistence of four species is somewhat common (Rodríguez et al. 2013). Coexistence has been hypothesized to be possible due to differences in habitat use based on body shape (Rodríguez-Cabrera et al. 2016). Even with potential segregating echanisms, it is reasonable to expect certain levels of niche overlap. Herein we report three instances of diurnal refuge shared between species of Tropidophis.

I sland ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the introduction of alien invasive species. Multiple examples document population declines and even extinctions of insular species as a consequence of interference competition and/or direct predation by introduced species (e.g.