Living near water: Ecological observations on the Ecuador Sipo, Chironius grandisquamis, (Peters 1869) (Serpentes: Colubridae), in the Middle Magdalena River Valley, Colombia

Abstract

More than 40 species of snakes inhabit the humid forests of the Middle Magdalena River Basin of Colombia, yet studies on the basic aspects of snake ecology and natural history in this region are scarce. We searched for Ecuador Sipos (Chironius grandisquamis) during six years (2014–2019) of 6–24-day visual-encounter surveys by day and night in both rainy and dry periods. In 2,967 person-hours, we recorded 16 individuals, half during rainy and half during dry periods. Fourteen of the 16 encounters were in the evening and two in the morning. Snakes recorded during the day were foraging on the ground, whereas those recorded at night were inactive and perched in vegetation. Most inactive individuals had selected perches along streams flanked by riparian forests; ten were in shrubs and four in trees on branches 120–600 cm above the ground. We also record predation on a northern rainfrog (Craugastor metriosistus) on the forest floor during the day.

Notes on the natural history of two species of snakes from Panama: defensive behavior in an Ecuador Sipo, <i>Chironius grandisquamis</i> (Peters 1869), and fluorescence in Hoffmann’s Earthsnake, <i>Geophis hoffmanni</i> (Peters 1859)

“…Defensive behavior in Chironius grandisquamis.-Defense mechanisms that mitigate predation risk are seldom documented in snakes (Tozetti et al 2021). However, Chironius diamantina, C. flavolineatus, and C. grandisquamis were recently documented diving into streams and remaining underwater in order to evade predators (Fernandes and Hamdan 2014;Mascarenhas et al 2020;Rojas-Morales and Marín-Martínez 2022).…”

“…Rojas-Morales and Marín-Martínez (2022) noted that C. grandisquamis typically hunts its prey, mainly anurans, in streamside vegetation. Reported defensive behaviors include laterally flattening the body, diving, discharging cloacal contents, and attempting to bite when handled (Ray 2017;Rojas-Morales and Marín-Martínez 2022).…”