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Hypomelanism in Dipsas Turgida Cope, 1868 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Rio Grande Do Sul State, Brazil

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Hypomelanism in Dipsas Turgida Cope, 1868 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Rio Grande Do Sul State, Brazil Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 357-359 (2021) (published online on 14 February 2021) Hypomelanism in Dipsas turgida Cope, 1868 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil Márcio Tavares Costa1,*, Luis Roberval Bortoluzzi Castro2, Andrielli Vilanova de Carvalho2, and Edward Frederico Castro Pessano1 Snake species present different colouration patterns due (Kornilios, 2014). Consequently, leucism may generate to selective pressures, among them camouflage, mimicry, a negative effect on locomotion and digestion in these warning, and thermoregulation (Bechtel, 1978; Krecsák, animals (Stevenson et al., 1985), it impairs their ability 2008). However, a variety of chromatic anomalies to camouflage, and it may decrease their survival rate are also known in nature, the most common of which (Krecsák, 2008). are melanism, hypomelanism, albinism, and leucism For the genus Dipsas only albinism or partial (Krecsák, 2008; Castella et al., 2013). Melanism is albinism have been reported to date, for D. neuwiedii characteristic of individuals that are totally or practically (Lopes et al., 2019) and D. ventrimaculata (Abegg et black (Zuffi, 2008), whereas hypomelanism is a reduction al., 2014), respectively. We here report the first case of melanin pigment, and albinism is characterized by total of hypomelanism in the genus, for an individual of or extensive absence of melanin. Both hypomelanism and D. turgida Cope, 1868 (Fig. 1), a species for which albinism are caused by homozygous recessive alleles xanthism has also been reported (Amaral, 1934). (Bechtel, 1995; Campbell et al., 2010). Albino snakes On 1 October 2020 at 14:00 h we found a hypomelanistic have red eyes and yellowish or pinkish colouring due to D. turgida active in a woodpile at a residence in an the presence of xanthophores and iridophores (Silvestre urbanized rural area in Uruguaiana Municipality, Rio et al., 2009; Silva et al., 2010; Abegg et al., 2015). Grande do Sul, southern Brazil (29.7910°S, 57.0592°W). Finally, leucism is a less common hereditary anomaly The individual was collected, photographed, registered in snakes (Owen and Skimmings, 1992), and it occurs in the Environmental Squad of the Military Brigade when snakes present with a low number of iridophores (Environmental Occurrence Bulletin nº 4871-BA), and few or no melanophores and xanthophores (Bechtel, and deposited in the Herpetological Collection of the 1991; Krecsák, 2008). In this context, completely Laboratory of Biology and Animal Diversity (LBDA) of leucistic snakes are characterized by an all-white the Federal University of Pampa with accession number coloration and pigmented eyes, frequently black or blue. LBDA 177. Nevertheless, other dark pigmentation may be present Analysis showed that the specimen measured 155 mm in on the individual. This condition is generally scarce in snout–vent length and 31 mm in tail length. The specimen nature (Wareham, 2005; Devkota et al., 2020), because had bluish eyes but with white instead of dark greenish- the absence of melanophores and xanthophores in snakes brown areas along the body. The dark bands and blotches negatively influences their ability to thermoregulate common for this species (Abegg and Neto, 2012) were present, indicating that this was not a case of leucism. The snake was identified based on the descriptions provided by Peters (1960) and Achaval et al. (2005). Pholidosis 1 Laboratório de Biologia e Diversidade Animal, Universidade of the individual included one rostral, two internasals Federal do Pampa, Campus Uruguaiana, BR 472, km 585, (their suture approximately two-thirds the length of the Caixa Postal 118, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul 97501-970, prefrontal suture), two prefrontals, one frontal, and two Brazil. parietals. The nasal scale is divided laterally, the loreal 2 Departamento de Educação em Ciências: Química da Vida e Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Avenida Figure 1. (A) Dipsas turgida specimen with hypomelanism Roraima 1000, Cidade - Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande (LBDA 177) and (B) a specimen of D. turgida showing do Sul 97105-900, Brazil. normal colouration. The insets show details of the ventral side * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] and head. Photos by Márcio Tavares Costa and Luis Roberval © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Bortoluzzi Castro. 358 Márcio Tavares Costa et al. Hypomelanism in Dipsas turgida, Brazil 359 enters the orbit, preoculars are absent, two postoculars, Owen, M., Skimmings, P. (1992): The occurrence and performance seven supralabials, and eight infralabials. The cloacal of leucistic barnacle geese Branta leucopsis. Ibis (Lond. 1859) covering is entire and the subcaudals are divided. 134(1): 22–26. Peters, J.A. (1960): The snakes of the subfamily Dipsadinae. Moreover, there were 153 ventral and 42 subcaudal Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology, scales. Reports on colour aberrations in this species are University of Michigan 114, 1–144. rare, and more observations such as ours are needed to Silva, F.A., Assis, C.L., Quintela, F.M. (2010): Albinism in a better understand colour patterns in the Dipsadidae. Liophis miliaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Minas Gerais State, southern Brazil. Herpetology Notes Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Paulo Sérgio Rodrigues 3: 171–172. Pitaméia and Solange Moraes for discovering the specimen. We Silvestre, A.M., Massana, J.S., Gener, J.M., García, M., Martí, C. thank also Marcus Querol for his support and encouragement, as (2009): Albinismo total de Coronella girondica en la Península well as the Polícia Ambiental da Brigada Militar and to Federal Ibérica. Boletín de la Asociación Herpetológica Española 20: University of Pampa for assistance with the collected specimen. 2044–45. Stevenson, R.D., Peterson, C.R., Tsuji, J.S. (1985): The thermal References dependence of locomotion, tongue flicking, digestion, and oxygen consumption in the wandering garter snake. Abegg, A.D., Neto, O.M.E. (2012): Serpentes do Rio Grande do Sul. Physiological Zoology 58(1): 46–57. Tapera, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, LEW. Wareham, D.C. (2005): Elsevier’s Dictionary of Herpetological Abegg, A.D., Neto, O.M.E., Lema, T. (2015): First record of and Related Terminology. Bournemouth, England, Elsevier albinism in the Elapomorphini tribe (Serpentes: Dipsadidae). Science. Herpetology Notes 8: 503–505. Zuffi, M. (2008): Colour pattern variation in populations of the Abegg, A.D., Rosa, C.M., Cavalheiro, C.P., Ortiz, F.R., Borges, European whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus: does geography L.M. (2014): Partial albinism in Sibynomorphus ventrimaculatus explain everything? Amphibia-Reptilia 29(2): 229–233. (Boulenger, 1885) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Herpetology Notes 7: 475–476. Achaval, F., Meneghel, M., Carreira, S. (2005): Reptiles de Uruguay. Montevideo, Uruguay, Universidad de la República, Facultad de Ciencias. Amaral, A. (1934): Notas sobre chromatismo de ophidios. III. Um caso de xanthismo e um novo de albinismo, observados no Brasil. Memórias do Instituto Butantan 8: 151–153. Bechtel, H.B. (1978): Color and pattern in snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). Journal of Herpetology 12(4): 521–532. Bechtel, H.B. (1991): Inherited color defects. International Journal of Dermatology 30(4): 243–246. Bechtel, H.B. (1995): Reptile and Amphibian Variants: Colors, Patterns, and Scales. Malabar, Florida, USA, Krieger Publishing. Campbell, N.A., Reece, J.B., Urry, L.A., Cain, M.L., Wasserman, S.A., Minorsky, P.V., Jackson, R.B. (2010): Biologia. Eighth Edition. Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Artmed. Castella, B., Golay, J., Monney, J.C., Golay, P., Mebert, K., Dubey, S. (2013): Melanism, body condition and elevational distribution in the asp viper. Journal of Zoology 290(4): 273–280. Devkota, K., Mandal, D.N., Sah, G., O’Shea, M., Kaiser, H. (2020): First report of leucism for the kraits Bungarus walli Wall, 1907 and B. niger Wall, 1908, with updates on their geographic distribution in Nepal (Serpentes, Elapidae). Herpetology Notes 13: 817–825. Kornilios, P. (2014): First report of piebaldism in scolecophidians: a case of Typhlops vermicularis (Squamata: Typhlopidae). Herpetology Notes 7: 401–403. Krecsák, L. (2008): Albinism and leucism among European Viperinae: a review. Russian Journal of Herpetology 15(2): 97–102. Lopes, A.C.P.A., Freitas, M.A., Junior, E.C.F., Entiauspe-Neto, O.M. (2019): First record of albinism for Dipsas neuwiedii Accepted by Hinrich Kaiser (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in northeastern Brazil. Herpetology Notes 12: 335–336..
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