Herpetology Notes, volume 10: 417-419 (2017) (published online on 16 August 2017)
Erythrolamprus miliaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae): report on an unusual event of necrophagy
Daniel Faustino Gomes1,2, Rodrigo Castellari Gonzalez2 and Thiago Silva-Soares3,*
The water-snake Erythrolamprus miliaris (Linnaeus, found an individual of Erythrolamprus miliaris (adult 1758) is a medium-sized aglyph snake of the family female, SVL 394 mm, TL 94 mm) on the Funchal road Dipsadidae (Giraudo, 2001), which is active at both (also known as Guapiaçu rd.) leading to the Guapiaçu day and night (Marques et al., 2004). It is commonly Ecological Reserve (REGUA). The snake was feeding found in aquatic environments such as rivers and lakes on a road-killed tree frog (Scinax sp.), which was not in forested or open areas, where it preys mainly on intact but smashed and torn apart into several pieces on anurans and fish (Sazima and Haddad, 1992; Pombal, the road. The snake localized each one of the tree frog’s 2007), although some Gymnophiona (Lema et al., fragments through tongue-darting, and collected and 1983), lizards (Machado et al., 1998) and even snakes swallowed most of the pieces (Figure 1). It was a rainy (Bonfiglio and Lema, 2006) were also reported as prey night and the 12-km road that connects REGUA to the of E. miliaris. It is a voracious species, for which there main road RJ-122 was full of amphibians and snakes are reports of feeding on fish in mangroves and even crossing it, several of them road-killed. Eleven other within the sea (Marques and Souza, 1992). E. miliaris were sighted on that night on Funchal road, Necrophagy is not common amongst snakes, as seven out of them were road-killed. The snake specimen they prefer live prey (Sazima and Strüssmann, 1990; is deposited at the Museu Nacional, Universidade Parker and Grandison, 1997; Greene, 1997), and Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, under the number MNRJ literature records on necrophagic snakes are rather 20726. rare: e.g. Bothrops jararaca (Wied, 1824), E. miliaris, Marques et al., (2017) listed the presence of necrophagy Helicops modestus Günther, 1861, Hydrodynastes gigas in about 40 snake species, including some that search (Duméril, Bibron and Duméril, 1854) and Micrurus for dead prey. Although these numbers represent only surinamensis (Cuvier, 1817) (Sazima and Strüssmann, about 1% of the world’s snake diversity (Uetz et al., 1990), and Micrurus frontalis (Duméril, Bibron and 2016), several studies suggest that scavenging may be Duméril, 1854) (Marques et al., 2017). more common amongst snakes, especially in aquatic/ On October 16th, 2011, in the municipality of Cachoeiras semi-aquatic species (Sazima and Strüssmann, 1990; de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil Marques et al., 2017). (-22.519148, -42.727685; 45 m elev.; WGS 84), we This is not the first report of scavenging for Erythrolamprus miliaris (Sazima and Strüssmann, 1990), but it is the first report of scavenging on non- intact prey. Eating non-intact prey is very rare amongst snakes as they have no masticatory specialisations for 1 Universidade Veiga de Almeida, Tijuca, Rua Ibituruna 108, chewing their prey. 20271-020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Only a few species naturally eat prey in pieces: e.g. 2 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, the Crab-eating Water Snake Fordonia leucobalia Departamento de Vertebrados, Setor de Herpetologia, Quinta (Schlegel, 1837) hunts for living crabs, but it has to da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, break them into pieces before swallowing (Jayne et al., Brasil. 2002). 3 Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica, Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitão, Laboratório de Zoologia, Av. José Ruschi 4, During seizing prey, snakes expose themselves to Centro, 29650-000, Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brasil. injury risk, especially with aggressive prey (e.g. rats; * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected] Martins et al., 2002). On the other hand, carcasses pose 418 Daniel Faustino Gomes et al.
Figure 1. Erythrolamprus miliaris (MNRJ 20726) feeding on a torn apart road-killed Scinax sp. on Guapiaçu road, Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
no risk or resistance at all (Marques et al., 2017), and Jayne, B.C., Voris, H.K., Peter, K.L. (2002): Snake circumvents finding a carcass might be an excellent opportunity for constraints on prey size. Nature 418.6894: 143–143. a meal with low risk and energy expenditure (Sazima Lema, T., Leitão-de-Araújo, M., Azevedo, A.C.P. (1983): Contribuição ao conhecimento da alimentação e do modo and Strüssmann, 1990). This would classify such alimentar de serpentes do Brasil. Comunicações do Museu de events more as opportunistic (Marques et al., 2017), Ciências da PUCRS 26: 41–121. than preference. Although Erythrolamprus miliaris is a Machado, R.A., Bernardes, P.S., Morato, S.A.A. (1998): Natural very common and well-studied species in Southeastern history notes: Liophis miliaris (commom water snake). Prey. Brazil, many aspects of its biology still remain unknown. Herpetological Review 29: 45. We emphasize the importance of field studies that bring Marques, O.A.V., Souza, V.C. (1992): Nota sobre a atividade to light this type of observation, which we would hardly alimentar de Liophis miliaris no Ambiente marinho (Serpentes, obtain in the laboratory. Colubridae). Revista Brasilera de Biologia 53: 645–548. Marques, O.A., Coeti, R.Z., Braga, P.A., Sazima, I. (2017): A rotten choice: feeding attempt by a coral snake (Micrurus frontalis) on References a dead pitviper (Bothrops jararaca) that had swallowed a bulky Bonfiglio, F., Lema, T. (2006): Ofiofagia em Liophis miliaris rodent. Herpetology Notes 10: 137–139. (Serpentes, Colubridae). Biociências 14: 221–222. Marques, O.A.V., Eterovic, A., Sazima, I. (2004): Snakes of the Giraudo, A. (2001): Serpientes de la Selva Paranaense y del Chaco Brazilian Atlantic Forest: An illustrated field guide for the Serra Húmedo. Buenos Aires, ARG, LOLA. do Mar Range. Holos Editora, Ribeirão Preto. Greene, H.W. (1997): Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. Martins, M., Marques, O.A.V., Sazima, I. (2002): Ecological Berkeley CA. and phylogenetic correlates of feeding habits in Neotropical Erythrolamprus miliaris: report on an unusual event of necrophagy 419
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Accepted by Hendrik Müller