Herpetology Notes, volume 5: 447-448 (2012) (published online on 7 October 2012)
Rediscovery and range extension of Coluber bholanathi Sharma, 1976 from Seshachalam hills, Andhra Pradesh, India Bubesh Guptha1, Nimmakayala Venkata Sivaram Prasad1, Deepak Veerappan2,*
The genus Coluber Linnaeus, 1758 currently comprises 21 species (Uetz, 2012). Within India, three species of Coluber occur, namely C. bholanathi, C. gracilis and C. vittacaudatus (Whitaker and Captain, 2004). Coluber bholanathi is so far known only from the type locality in Nagarjuna hills (16°31’N; 79°14’E; Fig. 1) in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state (holotype ZSI 21337, Sharma, 1976). Coluber gracilis is characterized by a restricted distribution in parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra states. Coluber vittacaudatus is known only from the type locality in Darjeeling, West Bengal state (Whitaker and Captain, 2004). On July 15, 2012, we came across a live specimen of C. bholanathi in Kapilatheertham, Seshachalam hills (13°39’N; 79°25’E; 175 m a.s.l; Fig. 2). The Seshachalam hills are one of the eighteen biosphere reserves in India which covers an area of 4756 km2. Vegetation within the reserve consists mostly of tropical southern dry mixed deciduous forest, while elevations range from 150 – 1130 m a.s.l. The individual was collected from a deciduous forest patch. Subsequently, the specimen was euthanized, fixed and preserved in 10 % formalin, and deposited at the Biodiversity Laboratory, Wildlife Management circle, Tirupathi (BLT 014). This is only the second record of C. bholanathi, made 36 years after its description (Sharma, 1976). The current record considerably extends the known distribution range (Fig. 1). Dorsal scale rows of the collected individual were counted at one head-length behind the head, at midbody, and at one head-length anterior to the vent. The midbody count was taken at half of the total number
1 Biodiversity Lab of Seshachalam, Wildlife Management Circle, Kapilatheertham, Tirupati -517 501, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2 No 144, Singaravelan street, Majestic colony, Valasaravakkam, Chennai – 600 087, Tamil Nadu, India. *Corresponding author; email:
[email protected]
of ventral scales. Ventrals were counted according to Dowling (1951); the anal plate was not counted and the terminal scale was excluded in the subcaudal count. Measurements of body and tail length were taken with a measuring tape to nearest mm. Photographs were taken with high resolution digital cameras (> 8 megapixels). The geographic distance from the type locality was calculated using movable type scripts; www.movabletype.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html). The individual we collected (BLT014) is a juvenile snake measuring 215 mm snout-vent length and 80 mm tail length (Fig. 2). Snout broad; internasals smaller than pre-frontals; greatest length of parietal larger than frontal; nine supralabials, of which fifth in contact with the eye; sixth supralabial is the smallest and in contact with the subpostocular which extends down to the labial; one loreal scale; two preocular the one touching the supralabials smaller than the one touching the supraocular; two postoculars and one subpostocular; two anterior temporals, upper anterior temporals largest; two posterior temporals; a pair of large parietals. 11 infralabials first pair in contact with the mental and partially separates the anterior genials; second to fourth infralabials in contact with the anterior genials; fifth and sixth infralabials in contact with the posterior genials; posterior genials longer than anterior genials; dorsal scales were in 19:19:15 rows. The scales were smooth. Vertebrals similar to those of the dorsal scales. The snake possessed 201 ventrals and 110 subcaudals. The anal shield was divided. According to Sharma (1976), C. bholanathi differs from C. gracilis in the following characters: 19:19:15 dorsal scales rows versus 21:21:15; rostrum two times broader than high versus as broad as high; ventrals 202 – 212 versus 206 – 222; subcaudals 109 – 121 versus 118 – 127. However, when we re-examined the type series there were some inconsistencies in the counts. Around the body, counts were 19:19:12 for the holotype (ZSI 21331), 19:19:15 for paratype ZSI 21335 and 19:19:13 for paratype ZSI 21336. The scale counts of the
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Figure 1. Distribution map of Coluber bholanathi. Blue square = Type locality (Nagarjuna hills); Black circle = new record (Kapilatheertham, Seshachalam hills).
specimen which we collected (BLT014) are well within this range and other character match those recorded by Sharma (1976). The record of C. bholanathi from Seshachalam hills represents the first record of this species in outside its type locality extending its range 319 km southwards (Fig. 1). The areas in between the two locations are part of the same mountain chain with similar vegetation types, and are therefore potential areas for the species to occur.
Acknowledgements. We are grateful to the Andhra Forest Department for the permission to carry out field studies in Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve. We thank Karthikeyan Vasudevan Wildlife Institute of India for helping with the acquiring permission to examine specimens at ZSI. We thank the Director Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) for the permission to DV to examine specimens at ZSI and B.H.C.K. Murthy (ZSI) and Sujoy Raha (ZSI) for facilitating the work at ZSI. We thank Varad Giri for sharing literature with DV and Abhijit Das for pre-peer review of the manuscript.
References Dowling, H.G. (1951): A proposed standard system of counting ventrals in snakes. British Journal of Herpetology 1: 97-99. Sharma, R.C. (1976): Some observations on ecology and systematics of Coluber bholanathi, a new species of snake from India. Comparative Physiology & Ecology 1: 105-107. Uetz, P. (2012.): Coluber, The Reptile Database. Available at: http://www.reptile-database.org. Last accessed on 3 August 2012. Whitaker, R., Captain, A. (2004): Snakes of India: The Field Guide. Chennai, Draco Books. Tamil Nadu, India.
Figure 2. Coluber bholanathi from Kapilatheertham, Seshachalam hills, Andhra Pradesh State, India.
Accepted by Wouter Beukema
