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From Montenegro Correspondence ISSN 2336-9744 (online) | ISSN 2337-0173 (print) The journal is available on line at www.ecol-mne.com Melanism in Natrix natrix and Natrix tessellata (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Montenegro SLA ĐANA GVOZDENOVI Ć1* and MARIO SCHWEIGER 2 1 Montenegrin Ecologist Society, Bulevar Sv. Petra Cetinjskog 73, Podgorica, Montenegro. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Vipersgarden, Katzelsberg 4, 5162 Obertrum, Ӧsterreich. E-mail: [email protected] Received 13 November 2014 │ Accepted 10 December 2014 │ Published online 11 December 2014. The coloration in animals plays an important role in predator avoidance (Sweet 1985), inter- and intraspecific communication and sexual selection (Roulin & Bize 2006). Different color morphs occur in many reptiles, and the most frequent one is melanism, especially in snakes (Lorioux et al . 2008). There exist few advantages of this phenomen as: faster heating rates, higher mean body temperatures, protection from overheating (Luiselli 1992; Forsman 1995; Bittner et al . 2002; Tanaka 2005; Clusella-Trullas et al . 2008), but also disadvantages, such as higher predation risk (Clusella-Trullas et al., 2008). Melanism in European snakes has been reported for: Zamenis longissimus , Hierophis viridiflavus , Coronella austriaca , Platyceps najadum , Natrix maura , Natrix natrix , Natrix tessellata , Vipera berus , Vipera aspis (Terhivuo 1990; Cattaneo 2003; Zuffi 2008; Pernetta & Reading 2009; Strugariu & Zamfirescu 2009; Zadravec & Lauš 2011; Mollov 2012; Ajti ć et al . 2013). Figures 1-2. Left (Fig. 1): Black dice snake Natrix tessellata from river Bojana, Ulcinj. Right (Fig. 2): Black grass snake Natrix natrix persa from Tanki rt, Skadar Lake Ecol. Mont., 1 (4), 2014, 231-233 231 MELANISM IN NATRIX NATRIX AND N.TESSELLATA FROM MONTENEGRO In this paper we present melanism in two species: Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758) and Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768) from Montenegro. Melanism in these two species is not rare, but, for Montenegro it has never been reproted previously. As it is known, these two species have grey to brown dorsal side of the body with presence of black dots. Grass snake also have white to yellow or orange spots behind the head, and some individuals have two light stripes along the body (subspecies Natrix natrix persa ). From Montenegro individuals with black dots and uniform grey individuals of dice snakes have been recorded (Džuki ć 1991; Gvozdenovi ć 2013). For grass snake, grey individuals with black dots and individuals with white stripes along the body were previously reported (Džuki ć 1991). A black dice snake was found along river Bojana, Ulcinj (41°52'37" N, 19°22'00" E, 2-3 m a.s.l.). Individual was photographed while basking on May 5 th , 2011 (Fig. 1). A black grass snake was found on Tanki rt, Skadar Lake (42°16'02" N, 19°16'45" E, 5-6 m a.s.l.). Individual was found on the beach during resting in shade on April 29 th , 2012. Basic morphometric data of individual have been taken, it was photographed and marked with number 147 (Fig. 2). Also a part of the tail was taken for the future DNA analysis (Permit 02 Number UPI-398/4 from April 11 th 2012, Enviromental Protection Agency of Montenegro). Acknowledgements We are thankful to Ana Leki ć from Enviromental Protection Agency of Montenegro who gave us permits for investigation on lake Skadar during 2011 (Permit 02 Number UPI-1003/4), 2012 (Permit 02 Number UPI-398/4) and 2013 (Permit 02 Number UPI-302/6) year. References Ajti ć, R., Tomovi ć, Lj., Sterijovski, B., Crnobrnja-Isalovi ć, J., Đor đevi ć, S., Đuraki ć, M., Golubovi ć, A., Simovi ć, A., Arsovski, D., An đelkovi ć, M., Krstić, M., Šukalo, G., Gvozdenovi ć, S., Aïdam, A., Micheli, C.L., Ballouard, J-M. & Bonnet, X. (2013) Unexpected life history traits in a very dense population of Dice snakes. A Journal of Comparative Zoology, 252, 350–358. Bittner, T.D., King, R.B. & Kerfin, J.M. (2002) Effects of body size and melanism on the thermal biology of Garter snakes ( Thamnophis sirtalis ). Copeia, 2002, 477–482. Cattaneo, A. (2003): Herpetological notes on the Aegean islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Venezia, 54, 95–116. Clusella-Trullas, S., Terblanche, J.S., Blackburn, T.M. & Chown, S.L.K. (2008) Testing the thermal melanism hypothesis: a macrophysiological approach. Functional Ecology, 22, 232–238. Džuki ć, G. (1991) The fauna of Durmitor. The Montenegrin Academy of Science and Arts. Section of Natural Science, 15(4), 4 –78. Forsman, A. (1995) Heating rates and body temperature variation in melanistic and zigzag Vipera berus : does colour make a difference? Annales Zoologici Fennici, 32, 365–374. Gvozdenovi ć, S. (2013) Morfološka varijabilnost i populaciono-ekološke karakteristike ribarice ( Natrix tessellata ) na podru čju Skadarskog jezera. M.S. thesis, University of Montenegro, 94 pp. Lorioux, S., Bonnet, X., Brischoux, F. & De Crignis, M. (2008) Is melanism adaptive in sea kraits? Amphibia-Reptilia, 29, 1–5. Luiselli, L. (1992) Reproductive success in melanistic adders: a new hypothesis and some considerations on Andren and Nilson’s (1981) suggestions. Oikos, 64(3), 601–604. Mollov, I. (2012) Another case of melanism in the Grass snake Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia: Colubridae) from Bulgaria. ZooNotes, 28, 1–3. Pernetta, A.P. & Reading, C.J. (2009) Observations of two melanistic smooth snakes ( Coronella austriaca ) from Dorset, United Kingdom. Acta Herpetologica, 4(1), 109–112. Roulin, A. & Bize, P (2006) Sexual selection in genetic colour-polymorphism species: a review of experimental studies and perspectives. Journal of Ethology, 25(2), 99–105. Strugariu, A. & Zamfirescu, S.R. (2009) A melanistic adder ( Vipera berus ) neonate born from a cryptic female: Are black vipers born heavier? North-Western Journal of Zoology, 5(1), 218–223. Sweet, S.S. (1985) Geographic variation, convergent crypsis and mimicry in gopher snakes ( Pituophis melanoleucus ) and western rattlesnakes ( Crotalus viridis ). Journal of Herpetology, 19, 44–67. Ecol. Mont., 1 (4), 2014, 231-233 232 GVOZDENOVI Ć & SCHWEIGER Tanaka, K. (2005) Thermal aspects of melanistic and striped morphs of the snake Elaphe quadrivirgata . Zoological Science, 22, 1173–1179. Terhivuo, J. (1990) Relative regional abundance and colour morphs of the adder ( Vipera berus L.), grass snake ( Natrix natrix L.), slow worm ( Anguis fragilis L.) and common toad ( Bufo bufo L.) in Finland. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 27, 11–20. Zadravec, M. & Lauš, B. (2011) Melanism variations in Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758) and Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768) in Croatia. Hyla, 2011(2), 39–42. Zuffi, M.A.L. (2008) Colour pattern variation in populations of the European Whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus : does geography explain everything? Amphibia-Reptilia, 29, 229–233. Ecol. Mont., 1 (4), 2014, 231-233 233 .
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