Snakes from coastal islands of State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

There are relatively few studies on snake fauna from coastal islands of the State of São Paulo (SSP), Southeastern Brazil and the number of species housed in Brazilian institutional zoological collections is relatively limited. In Brazil, for the first time, a snake inventory for eighteen islands of coastal SSP is presented. Here we record data from sampling on eleven islands as well information on vouchered species in the main herpetological collections. Thirty-six species from four families: one Boidae, thirty Colubridae, one Elapidae and four Viperidae from eighteen islands are listed as well as the thirteen new island records for snakes. Relative abundance categories were used for species rarity: common, infrequent and rare; 44.4% of the snakes with voucher specimens were considered rare. The most common species in twelve of the eighteen islands was Micrurus corallinus; in eleven of the eighteen islands were Bothrops jararaca and Liophis miliaris; in ten of the eighteen islands were B. jararacussu and Chironius bicarinatus. The most common snake species on coastal islands were Micrurus corallinus which was found in twelve of the eighteen islands, followed by Bothrops jararaca and Liophis miliaris found on eleven of the eighteen islands and B. jararacussu and Chironius bicarinatus which were found in ten of the eighteen islands studied. There are seven new records of snake species for Cardoso Island (25° 05’ S and 047° 59’ W): C. bicarinatus, C. multiventris, Dipsas petersi, Echinanthera bilineata, E. cephalostriata, Helicops carinicaudus and Xenodon neuwiedii; three new records for Comprida Island (24° 54’ S and 47° 48’ W): B. jararacussu, C. bicarinatus and H. carinicaudus; one for Anchieta Island (23° 32’ S and 045° 03’ W): Spilotes pullatus; one for Couves Island (23° 25’ S and 44° 52’ W): L. miliaris; one for Porcos Island (23° 23’ S and 44° 54’ W), B. jararaca. The endemic species B. alcatraz from Alcatrazes Island and B. insularis from Queimada Grande Island are considered endangered species by IUCN. Snake fauna on Monte de Trigo Island are extinct. The fragility of insular snake fauna needs more attention for environmental conservation, since 52.0% of snake species preys on amphibians, highlighting the importance of forest conservation.

Natural History of Pseudoboine Snakes

“…Distribution: Clelia plumbea is distributed throughout Brazil and in Paraguay (Silva, 1993;Lema, 1994;Zaher, 1996;Marques, 1998;Argôlo, 2004;Hartmann, 2005;Morato, 2005;Pizzatto, 2005;Bernarde & Abe, 2006;Cicchi et al, 2007;Kunz, 2007;Condez et al, 2009). Additionally, there are known records for Paraguay and northeastern Argentina (Scott Jr. et al, 2006).…”

Herpetofauna do Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho, São Paulo, Brasil

“…A espécie é amplamente distribuída em área de floresta ombrófila na Mata Atlântica, nas restingas e ilhas litorâneas (Cicchi et al 2007), com alguns registros em floresta estacional interiorana e nas matas de galeria do Cerrado. Chironius exoletus (Linnaeus, 1758) É uma serpente áglifa de grande porte (CRC = 785 a 1117 mm), ovípara, diurna e arborícola.…”

“…de anfíbios e 23 spp. de répteis (Bertoluci et al 2007, Cicchi et al 2007); E. E. Bananal com 30 spp. de anfíbios e 25 spp.…”

Estudo comparativo da taxocenose de anuros de quatro municípios do Lagamar Paulista

“…Embora o Estado de São Paulo abrige cerca de 106 ilhas (Ângelo, 1989), há uma carência de estudos de base que determinem a composição faunística (CICCHI et al 2007;CENTENO et al, 2008;CENTENO, 2009) (ROCHA et al, 2008;PEIXOTO, 1995).…”