New records of reptiles from the orinoco delta, delta amacuro state, venezuela

Herpetological Review, 2003, 34(2), 171–173. © 2003 by Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

New Records of Reptiles from the Orinoco Delta, Delta Amacuro State, Venezuela GILSON RIVAS FUENMAYOR and CÉSAR R. MOLINA Museo de Historia Natural La Salle Apartado Postal 1930, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela e-mail (GRF): anolis30@hotmail.com e-mail (CRM): washaema@hotmail.com

The state of Delta Amacuro is located in eastern Venezuela, and includes the Orinoco River Delta as well as part of the Serranía of Imataca, a total of 40,200 km2 (PDVSA 1993). This region is framed inside the Venezuelan Guiana (states of Amazonas, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro, eastern Monagas, and southeastern Sucre) which is part of the Guiana Shield (Gorzula and Señaris 1998).

Biogeographically, this area is of interest because it is comprised of three big Venezuelan eco-regions: Lowlands, Guiana, and Amazonia. Delta Amacuro possesses very particular geographic and environmental characteristics which are dictated by the area’s complex watershed, predominantly the vast quantity of channels and islands formed by the Orinoco River as it drains to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. In spite of the biogeographical importance of the region, there are only two publications (Gorzula and Arocha-Piñango 1977; Gorzula and Señaris 1998) that mention some of the reptile species found there.

While reviewing specimens collected from the Orinoco River Delta and deposited in the Museo de Historia Natural La Salle, Caracas (MHNLS), Museo de la Estación Biológica de Rancho Grande, Maracay (EBRG) and Museo de Biología, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas (MBUCV) we discovered several species of reptiles whose distribution in Venezuela is poorly known.

By reviewing the information on the data cards we were able to extend the distribution of these species in Venezuela. Specimen identifications were verified by Oswaldo Fuentes.

Testudines Platemys platycephala (Grooved Sideneck). Municipio Antonio Díaz: caño Winikina (09º11'N, 61º06'W) 1 m elev. February 1993.

J. Ayarzagüena. MHNLS 15169. First documented museum record for the Orinoco Delta and easternmost record in Venezuela. P. platycephala was mentioned by Pritchard and Trebbau (1984) from the Orinoco Delta (no precise locality) based on a personal communication. In Venezuela this species is known from localities in Amazonas, Bolívar, and Monagas states, in the Guiana region (Pritchard and Trebbau 1984).

Amphisbaenia Amphisbaena alba (Giant Amphisbaena). Municipio Tucupita: Tucupita (09º03'N, 62º02'W), 15 m elev. 08 September 1951.

MBUCV 1324–25. First state record (Donoso-Barros 1968; AvilaPires 1995; Gorzula and Señaris 1998).

Amphisbaena fuliginosa (Mottled Amphisbaena). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Río Ibaruma, 38 km SE of Curiapo (08º10'N, 60º47'W), 15 m elev. 26 February 1995. V. Martínez. MHNLS

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13071. Although this species is widely distributed in South America (Peters and Donoso-Barros 1970) this is the first report from Delta Amacuro.

Lacertilia Gonatodes albogularis (Yellow-headed Gecko). Municipio Pedernales: Pedernales, 0 m elev. 10 December 2002. Oscar LassoAlcalá. MHNLS 16104–16106. The specimens, one male and two females, constitute the first state records, the first record from the Venezuelan Guayana, as well as the easternmost locality for the species (Rivero-Blanco 1979). In Venezuela it is known from the western part of the country and the island of Los Monjes in the Gulf of Venezuela (Esqueda et al. 2001; La Marca and García 1987; Rivero-Blanco 1979) and is widely distributed outside of Venezuela. This record extends the known distribution for the species 900 km NE of the nearest known locality (Esqueda et al. 2001).

Pedernales is located just 36 km SW from Trinidad, but the presence of this species there is doubtful and requires verification (Hans E. A. Boos, pers. comm.; see also Murphy 1997). The presence of this species in the Orinoco Delta is perhaps a recent introduction, the byproduct of an active maritime commerce.

Hemidactylus palaichthus (Spiny Gecko). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Burojoida island (09°08'N, 60°39'W), 1 m elev. April 1969. J. Bilbao and A. Alvarado. MHNLS 4636 juvenile, 4638 adult male.

First state record (Kluge 1969).

Leposoma percarinatum. Municipio Tucupita: Punta Pescador, Boca del Caño Macareo (09º42'N, 61º46'W), 2 m elev. Date not given. G. Solé and E. León. EBRG 3542, adult female. Collected in a flooded forest. Los Castillos de Guayana (08°31'N, 62°22'W).

50 m elev. 01 January 1965. MBUCV 1576. First records for this unisexual species in Delta Amacuro (Donoso-Barros 1968; Uzzell and Barry 1971; Avila-Pires 1995; Gorzula and Señaris 1998).

Tropidurus umbra umbra (Blue-lipped Tree Lizard). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Río Ibaruma, 38 km SE of Curiapo (08º10'N, 60º47'W), 15 m elev. 26 February 1995. V. Martinez. MHNLS 13090. First state record (Donoso-Barros 1968; Etheridge 1970; Avila-Pires 1995; Gorzula and Señaris 1998).

Uranoscodon superciliosus (Diving Lizard). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Río Ibaruma, 38 km SE of Curiapo (08º10'N, 60º47'W), 15 m elev. 3 March 1995. J. C. Señaris. MHNLS 13096. First state record (Donoso-Barros 1968; Avila-Pires 1995; Gorzula and Señaris 1998).

Serpentes Typhlops brongersmianus (Worm Snake). Municipio Pedernales: Caño Pedernales, 10 m elev. 7 September 1997. J. Ayarzagüena and J. C. Señaris. MHNLS 13799, adult female. First state record (Dixon and Hendricks 1979). Fig. 129 in Gorzula and Señaris (1998) corresponds to specimen MHNLS 13799, which appears as T. reticulatus.

Bothrops atrox (Central America Lancehead). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Río Ibaruma, 38 km SE of Curiapo (08º10'N, 60º47'W), 15 m elev. 23 February 1995. J. C. Señaris. MHNLS 13054, adult female. First state record and northernmost for the species (Campbell and Lamar 1989). Collected in a flooded forest.

Chironius carinatus spixi (Machete). Municipio Antonio Díaz:

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mouth of the Río Acoima, 5 km S of El Toro (08º29'N, 61º29'W), 5 m elev. 24 November 1993. Collector unknown. MHNLS 12774, adult female. First state record and easternmost for the subspecies (Dixon et al. 1993).

Erythrolamprus aesculapii (False Coral Snake). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Río Ibaruma, 38 km SE of Curiapo (08º10'N, 60º47'W), 15 m elev. 2 March 1995. G. Rivas. MHNLS 13088, adult female.

First state record. E. aesculapii is distributed in Venezuela through the Venezuelan Guiana, a distribution pattern shown by other Guianan-Amazonian Venezuelan species of reptiles (Rivas and La Marca 2001).

Liophis breviceps. Municipio Antonio Díaz: Río Ibaruma, 38 km SE of Curiapo (08º10'N, 60º47'W), 15 m elev. 3 March 1995. R. Figuera. MHNLS 13087, subadult female. Collected in a small well of water. First state record and northernmost for the species in South America (Dixon 1983a).

Liophis reginae reginae. Municipio Pedernales: Caño Pedernales, village of Guacajara, 1 m elev. 15 September 1996. J. C. Señaris.

MHNLS 13531, adult male. First country record and westernmost for the subspecies. According to Dixon (1983b) L. r. zweifeli intergrades with L. r. reginae in Guyana. MHNLS 13531 corresponds to the description of L. r. reginae. In Venezuela two other subspecies, L. r. zweifeli and L. r. semilineata have been reported, the latter mentioned erroneously for Venezuela without voucher specimens (Kornacker 1999).

Siphlophis compressus (False Coral Snake). Municipio Antonio Díaz: Caño Winikina (09º11'N, 61º06'W) 1 m elev. 6 February 1995. V. Ponte and W. Wilbert. MHNLS 13139, adult male. First state record and northernmost in Venezuela (Roze 1966). Stomach contents of this specimen included tails from two geckos (Gonatodes sp.). This species feeds exclusively on small lizards (Martins and Oliveira 1998).

Acknowledgments.—We thank Enrique La Marca and Hans E. A. Boos for critiques and suggestions on the manuscript.

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