Easternmost record of the Cuban Broad-banded Trope, Tropidophis feicki (Squamata: Tropidophiidae)

Abstract

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).

New Dietary Records for Three Cuban Snakes in the Genus Tropidophis (Tropidophiidae), with Comments on Possible Niche Partitioning by Cuban Tropes

“…Tropidophis feicki occupies densely forested areas on limestone substrates, whereas T. maculatus and T. semicinctus occupy areas with more open vegetation, such as grasslands, scrublands, ecotonal, and/or secondary vegetation. This parapatric co-occurrence between T. feicki and T. maculatus or T. semicinctus can be observed in several localities across the Guaniguanico Mountain Range in western Cuba and at the "Mogotes de Jumagua" Ecological Reserve in central Cuba, respectively (e.g., Rivalta-G. et al 2013;Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2020b; T.M. Rodríguez-Cabrera, pers.…”

“…All three of these snakes have slender bodies and have been reported foraging in vegetation at night (Schwartz and Henderson 1991;Hedges 2002;Henderson and Powell 2009;Díaz et al 2014). Tropidophis feicki also has been observed foraging in caves and on rocky cliffs and in associated vegetation at night (Schwartz 1957;Schwartz and Henderson 1991;García-Padrón et al 2020;Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2020b; Fig. 3).…”

“…obs.). On the contrary, T. feicki seems to have more specific habitat requirements, occurring almost exclusively in mesic limestone areas covered by primary forest in western and central Cuba (Schwartz and Henderson 1991;Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2020b).…”

Westernmost record of the Spotted Red Trope, Tropidophis maculatus (Squamata: Tropidophiidae), with comments on the Tropidophis species assemblage from the Guanahacabibes Peninsula

“…As a general rule, Tropidophis assemblages in Cuba seem to comprise three to four species, which appears to reflect morphological and behavioral adaptations that allow the different species within each assemblage to segregate at least within a structural subniche (Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2020a). Consequently, three basic ecotypes (terrestrial, semi-arboreal, and generalist) exist in most habitats, although a fourth gracile and climbing variant of the semi-arboreal ecotype, always represented by the Broad-banded Trope (T. feicki), occurs in mesic forested areas with limestone cliffs in western and central Cuba (Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2020a, 2020b; see also Hedges and Garrido 1992 and Díaz and Cádiz 2020 for previous references to arboreality in the genus). Syromyatnikova et al (2021) found the first fossil evidence for the occurrence of multispecies Tropidophis assemblages at least since the Pleistocene (2.59-0.01 MYA) from cave deposits in western Cuba, where vertebrae of both the Giant Trope (T. melanurus), the almost omnipresent trope species in Cuban ecosystems, and of a second smaller unidentified species were present.…”

Maximum size record for the Broad-banded Trope, Tropidophis feicki (Squamata: Tropidophiidae)

“…T he Broad-banded Trope, Tropidophis feicki (Tropidophiidae), is endemic to Cuba, where it is distributed in forested karstic areas in the western and central regions of the main island (Schwartz and Henderson 1991;Rodríguez-Cabrera et al 2020). It is a slender snake that reaches <450 mm snout-vent length (Hedges 2002).…”