SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 21 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juni 2008 SHORT NOTE 91

Ankara, 23: 111-114. ATATÜR, M. K. & ARIKAN, H. & species level (C. blombergi) from formerly MERMER, A. (1998): Erythrocyte sizes of some urode- C. annulatus blombergi by HENDERSON et al. les from Turkey.- Turkish J. Zool., Ankara; 22: 89-91. DUGUY, R. (1970): Numbers of blood cells and their (2001) on the basis of morphological fea- variation; pp. 93-109. In: GANS, C. & PARSONS, T. S. tures. This elevation resulted in a compara- (eds.): Biology of the Reptilia, Vol. 3 (Morphology C). tively small range area of the new species in London, New York (Academic Press). EISELT, J. the west of Ecuador. Unlike the rest of the (1965): Einige Amphibien und Reptilien aus der nordöstlichen Türkei, gesammelt von Herrn H. species which are abundant in collections, C. STEINER.- Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums, blombergi is a little known snake with limit- Wien; 67: 387-389. FOXON, G. E. H. (1964): Blood ed records of specimens in museums and ref- and respiration; pp. 151-209. In: MOORE J. A. (ed.): erence collections (HENDERSON 1998). Physiology of the Amphibia. New York (Academic Press). JERRETT, D. P. & MAYS, C. E. (1973): Com- Herein, we present information on its parative hematology of the Hellbender, Cryptobran- distribution, natural history and aspects of chus alleganiensis in Missouri.- Copeia, Washington; its current status of conservation. Abbrevi- 1973 (2): 331-337. KURAMOTO, M. (1981): Relation- ations used in the text include: FHGO = ships between number size and shape of red blood cells in amphibians.- Comparative Biochemistry and Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Physiology, New York; (A) 69: 771-775. OLGUN, K. & Quito; UDA-AMARU = Universidad del BARAN, İ. (1993): A systematic research on the Azuay – ZooAmaru, Herpetological Col- Triturus vittatus (GRAY, 1835) (Urodela: Amphibia) lection, Cuenca; SVL = snout-vent length. populations in the inner part of the Middle Black Sea Region.- Turkish J. Zool., Ankara; 17: 445-456. A single specimen of C. blombergi STURKIE, P. D. (1954): Avian physiology. 2nd ed. (UDA-AMARU 0019) was collected at 79° Ithaka (Comstock Publishing), pp. 423. SZARSKI, H. & 23’48”W, 02°45’15”S, 256 m a.s.l. in the CZOPEK, G. (1966). Erythrocyte diameter in some small tropical rain forest reserve of Bosque amphibians and reptiles.- Bulletin de L’Académie Polonaise des Sciences, Varsovie; (Série des Sciences Protector Molleturo Mullopungo located in Biologiques) 14: 433-437. VERNBERG, J. F. (1955): the parish of Molleturo, province of Azuay, Hematological studies on salamanders in relation to some few kilometers off the route Cuenca- their ecology.- Herpetologica, Lawrence; 11: 129-133. Molleturo and 15 kilometers from the city YILMAZ, I. (1983): Morphological and taxonomical investigation of Thracian urodeles (Urodela; Sala- of Naranjal, province of Guayas. This indi- mandridae).- Doğa Bilim Dergisi. Temel Bilmler; vidual represents the southernmost record of Ankara; 7: 119-130. the species in Ecuador and the whole of KEY WORDS: Amphibia: Caudata: Salaman- South America. Thus, the currently known dridae; Lissotriton vulgaris, haematology, blood cells distribution of C. blombergi in Ecuador in- normal morphology, blood smears, histology, Turkey cludes the province of Esmeraldas in the SUBMITTED: October 24, 2007 north (major report of individuals), the AUTHORS: MURAT TOSUNOĞLU & CEMAL provinces of Guayas and Los Ríos in the cen- VAROL TOK & ÇİĞDEM GÜL & GÜLSER GÜLDALI, tral western portion (PÉREZ-SANTOS & MO- Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Sci- RENO 1991; HENDERSON 1997; HENDERSON et ence-Art, Department of Biology, Terzioğlu Campus, 17100, Çanakkale, Turkey < [email protected] > al. 2001), and the province of Azuay located in the south of the country (present record, Fig. 1). The linear distance between the southernmost known record (Guayas) and Notes on Corallus blombergi the new one (Molleturo) is 93 km. (RENDAHL & VESTERGREN, 1941) The individual collected at Molleturo from Ecuador (SVL 1115 mm, tail length 137 mm, Fig. 2) and maintained in captivity in the collection Three snake species of the genus of the Amaru Zoo, Cuenca, is of orange dor- Corallus were reported from Ecuador: C. sal coloration. There are 56 irregular circles caninus (LINNAEUS, 1758) and C. hortulanus on each side of the body, plus tail, which are (LINNAEUS, 1758) are restricted to the low- formed by dark brown spots, two scales lands of the Amazonian region, and C. blom- wide each. The size of the circles is on the bergi (RENDAHL & VESTERGEN, 1941) is dis- average, six scales in longitudinal, and 11 in tributed in the lowlands of the west of Ecua- transversal direction, including the scales of dor (HENDERSON et al. 2001; PÉREZ-SANTOS the dark edge. In the first quarter of the & MORENO 1991). The southern Corallus body, the portions of the circles which meet annulatus COPE, 1876 were elevated to in the vertebral region are connected to form 92 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 21 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juni 2008 SHORT NOTE

stead, while other individuals have 43 spots at the most. The Neotropical treeboa C. blombergi inhabits primary and secondary forest and is active at night (19:00–24:00) (MORALES- MITE 2005). Two individuals (FHGO 1572, UDA-AMARU 0019) were encountered active (probably hunting) among vegetation one to three meters above the ground, the rest of snakes (5 specimens) were found in the canopy, in the top of big trees; another individual (FHGO 2410) was found between the branches of a cut tree near the forest floor. In nature, some individuals were ob- served trying to capture small bats flying between the branches of trees (RUIZ & VA- LENCIA 2001). One snake captured (FHGO live coll. 2410), regurgitated a bat (Carollia castanea), and the snake’s excrements con- tained rodent remnants not identified yet. Fig. 1: Distribution of the Neotropical tree boa When captured, an individual (UDA- Corallus blombergi (RENDAHL & VESTERGREN, 1940) in Ecuador. %- material deposited at the Fundación AMARU 0019) regurgitated a small bird not Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Quito, Ecuador or identified as well. University of Azuay; < - data from the literature The snakes of the genus Corallus are (HENDERSON et al. 2001). ovoviviparous, and little is known about their reproductive biology. A female C. annulatus gave birth to seven young, five of which were bobbin-shaped brown spots. Dorsally, spo- alive (BLODY & MEHAFFEY 1989). The authors radic brown spots are dispersed over the observed the mating in a pair of C. blomber- body. The venter is cream and orange in gi (male FHGO live coll. 1074, female FHGO some sections, the dorsal circles can reach live coll. 2410) in March 2001 and April the ventral scales. The pupil is black and 2002. The animals remained in copula through elliptic, clearly differentiated from the 7 and 3 days, respectively. In the first case orange color of the iris. Number of longitu- the gravid female gave birth to 14 young, dinal dorsal scale rows: 44-50-32; subcau- after 6 months and 16 days, in the second to dals divided: 80; ventrals: 256; anal plate 13 young after of 5 months and 2 days. In divided; infra-loreals: 4; infra-loreals plus both cases, the neonates (mean SVL 413 mm, loreals: 7; intersupraorbitals: 10; supralabi- range 300-458 mm, SD 41.3) resembled the als: 14; infralabials 14; circumorbitals 12 mother in color-pattern. At the moment, all and supraloreals 3. Corallus blombergi is a youngs are in excellent health condition. medium sized snake with the maximum size VALENCIA & MORALES (2005), includ- documented being 1433 mm SVL in males ed C. blombergi in the IUCN category of (FHGO 1074; HENDERSON et al. 2001) and “Endangered” (EN) reptiles, based on its 1910 mm in females (FHGO live coll. 2410). rareness and distributional restriction to the In the individual collected at Molleturo fragmented remnants of the West Ecuador- the numbers of dorsals, ventrals and subcau- ian original rainforest vegetation. dals are within the ranges reported by The western lowlands of the Andes of HENDERSON et al. (2001), however, the num- Ecuador are constituted by the Choco region bers of infra-loreals and infra-loreals plus and, to a small extent, the Tumbesian loreals (4 and 7 respectively) differ by one region. Both regions form a great variety of scale. Additionally, the coloration of the ecosystems, which shelter notable biologi- Molleturo specimen does not represent big cal diversity and endemism. But at the same brown spots, but numerous (56) circles in- time, both areas are considered most threat- SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 21 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juni 2008 SHORT NOTE 93

Fig. 2. Corallus blombergi (RENDAHL & VESTERGREN, 1940) from Molleturo, Azuay Province, southwestern Ecuador. Photo: Jorge H. VALENCIA. ened due to uncontrollable destruction of Specimens examined –– Esmeraldas: Charco their flora and fauna. Vicente, Salto Bravo, Río Bravo (FHGO live col. 1074); Reserva Ecologica Cotacachi Cayapas, Pichi- The rainforest is highly fragmented. yacu (FHGO 1572); Pajonal, Comunidad Gualpí del Less than 8% of the original vegetation Onzolé (FHGO live col. 2410); “noroccidente” (FHGO cover persists as a result of deforestation live col. 887, 2822); no specific locality (FHGO live col. 183); Azuay: Molleturo, Comunidad y Reserva and other human activities (MEYERS 1987; Ecológica Flor y Selva (UDA-AMARU 0019). DODSON & GENTRY 1993, 1991; GUTBERLET & CAMPBELL 2001). Various anthropogenic ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The authors thank the following persons who contributed in different ways activities have a striking impact on the orig- to this investigation: Robert HENDERSON, Milwaukee inal vegetation and its animal inhabitants: Public Museum (MPM), María Elena BARRAGÁN, agriculture with its intensive use of soil Raquel BETANCOURT, Alexis BARAHONA, Fundación Her- (banana, palm trees), Eucalyptus plantations petológica Gustavo Orcés (FHGO), Fausto SIAVICHAY, Andrés MARTÍNEZ, Oscar SÁNCHEZ (Zoológico Amaru), which replace hundreds of hectares of forest Manuel MORALES-MITE, Jean Marc TOUZET, Ana María each year, the construction of highways that VELASCO, Lucas ACHIG, Amanda VEGA, José CÁCERES, cross the remnants of the vegetated areas. Diego ALVARADO, Armando RUIZ. Fernando NOGALES- SORNOZA provided the distribution map. This investi- HENDERSON et al. (2001) concluded that this gation was supported by the Fundación Herpetológica species is rare in the wild due to the small Gustavo Orcés, Quito and the Vivarium of Quito. number of field records and museum speci- REFERENCES: BLODY, D. A. & MEHAFFEY, D. mens. We think that C. blombergi must be T. (1989): The reproductive biology of the Annulated kept in the IUCN category “Endangered”, Boa.- The International Zoo Yearbook, London; 28: 167- because of the rapid loss of native vegeta- 172. DODSON, C. H. & GENTRY, A. H. (1993): Extinción biológica en el Ecuador Occidental; pp. 27-57. In: MENA, tion in the western region of southern P. A. & SUÁREZ, L. (Eds.): La investigación para la con- Ecuador. All known record localities of C. servación de la diversidad biológica en el Ecuador. blombergi in Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Ríos Quito, Ecuador (EcoCiencia). DODSON, C. H. & GENTRY, and Azuay are separated from each other by A. H. (1991): Biological extinction in Western Ecuador.- Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, New York; 78 large distances which are insurmountable for (2): 273-295. GUTBERLET, R. L. & CAMPBELL, J. A. this snake and most other animal species. (2001): Generic recognition for a neglected lineage of 94 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 21 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juni 2008 SHORT NOTE

South American pitvipers (Squamata: Viperidae: detailed locality data (BOULENGER 1905; Pl. Crotalinae), with the description of a new species from XXIV, Fig. 13, and text Fig. 3b) and a young the Colombian Chocó.- American Museum Novitates, New York; 3316: 1-15. HENDERSON, R. W. (1997): A female from ‘Serra de Estrela’ captured by taxonomic review of the Corallus hortulanus complex Hans GADOW (BOULENGER 1905; Pl. XXIV, of Neotropical tree boas.- Caribbean Journal of Science, Fig. 11) (see also BOULENGER 1920, 1921). Mayaguez; 33: 198-221. HENDERSON, R. W. (1998): However, BOULENGER (1905) did not desig- Back to the future: Tree boas, collections and history. Lore. The Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee; 48 nate types of the new forms of lizards (1): 4-10. HENDERSON, R. W. & HÖGGREN, M. & LAMAR described in this work. A very similar text W. W. & PORRAS, L. W. (2001): Distribution and varia- is repeated (without the plates or line draw- tion in the treeboa Corallus annulatus.- Studies on ings) in his “Monograph of the Lacertidae” Neotropical Fauna and Enviroment, Abingdon; 36 (1): 39-47. MORALES-MITE, M. (2005): Dinámica pobla- where both specimens appear labeled as cional de las comunidades de anfibios y reptiles de siete “type”, both in the text (BOULENGER 1920: localidades de la zona de amortiguamiento de la Reserva 269) and the list of the specimens kept in the Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas, Esmeraldas Ecuador.- B. British Museum (Natural History) (BMNH) Sci. Dissertation. Universidad del Azuay. Cuenca, Ecuador; pp. 374. MEYERS, N. (1987): The extinction (BOULENGER 1921: 404). spasm impending: synergism at work.- Conservation Despite the fact that both specimens Biology, Boston; 1: 14-21. PÉREZ-SANTOS, C. & MO- obviously appear to be combined in the orig- RENO, A. (1991): Serpientes del Ecuador.- Monografie / inal description, the diagnostic characters Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino; 11: 1-538. PETERS, J. A. (1957): Taxonomic notes on Ecuadorian (i.e., contact between rostral and frontonasal snakes in the American Museum of Natural History.- scales, supranasal and first loreal contact, the American Museum Novitates, New York, 1851: 3-13. pattern of the vertebral band in two juxta- RUIZ, A. & VALENCIA, J. H. (2001): Anfibios, reptiles, posed lines) and detailed photos of the head aves y mamíferos de la Reserva Ecologicá Mache- Chindul. Plan de Manejo de la Reserva Ecológica and body, as well as comparative line draw- Mache-Chindul. Quito, Ecuador (Fundación Jatun ings of the cephalic scutellation (BOULENGER Sacha), [Technical Report], pp. 123. VALENCIA, J. H. & 1905, text Fig. 3, and Pl. XXV, Figs. 11, 12 MORALES, M. (2005): Boa colombiana o del Chocó & 13) reveal that the more carefully de- (Corallus blombergi); pp.18. In: CARILLO, E. & ALDÁS, S. & ALTAMIRANO, M. & AYALA F & CISNEROS, D. & scribed larger female specimen belongs un- ENDARA, A. & MÁRQUEZ, C. & MORALES, M. & NO- doubtedly to the Spanish Central System GALES, F. & SALVADOR, P. & TORRES, M. L. & VALENCIA, populations, now Iberolacerta cyreni (MÜL- J. H. & VILLAMARÍN, F. & YÁNEZ, M. & ZÁRATE, P. LER & HELLMICH, 1937). From its color-pat- (Eds.): Lista Roja de los Reptiles del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador (Novo Millenium). tern (which is clearly visible in the plates) it KEY WORDS: Reptilia: Squamata: Serpentes: represents very probably a Guadarrama Boidae; Corallus blombergi, distribution, morphology, specimen (which is supported by its prove- biology, ecology, Ecuador nience from the Madrid Museum). SUBMITTED: July 9, 2007 Since the original description of I. AUTHORS: Jorge H. VALENCIA, Fundación Her- petológica Gustavo Orcés, Av. Amazonas 3008 y Ru- monticola is obviously based primarily on a mipamba, Quito, Ecuador < [email protected] >; Central Spanish specimen, these popula- Ernesto ARBELÁEZ, Zoológico Amaru, Universidad del tions could be regarded as belonging to the Azuay < [email protected] >; Katty GARZÓN, nominate subspecies of this taxon, and the Vivarium de Quito < [email protected] >; Pablo name cyreni would be a mere synonym of PICERNO-TOALA, Vivarium, Quito-Ecuador < ppicerno @fhgo.org.ec > monticola. In this case, the Estrela speci- mens and all the populations known today as I. monticola should be named I. estrellen- Comments about the original sis (CYRÉN, 1928). description and type specimens of However, due to the restriction of the type locality (terra typica restricta) of mon- Iberolacerta monticola ticola to ‘Serra Estrella, Portugal’ by MER- (BOULENGER, 1905) TENS & MÜLLER (published 20th April 1928), the young female of Estrela should The description of Lacerta muralis be considered as the unique type specimen var. monticola by BOULENGER was primarily of I. monticola, although it barely coincides based upon a pair of specimens: an adult in some aspects with the original descrip- female from ‘Spain’ sent to him by Prof. tion. In fact, taxon names are linked to their BOLIVAR from the Madrid Museum without type specimens, and not to descriptions or