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Home , Coral snake, Micrurus, Micrurus lemniscatus

Herpetology Notes, volume 10: 391-393 (2017) (published online on 06 July 2017)

First Record of lemniscatus carvalhoi Roze, 1967 (Serpentes: ) from Espírito Santo State, Southeastern

Thiago Marcial de Castro1,*, Jane C. F. de Oliveira2, Rodrigo Castellari Gonzalez3, Felipe Franco Curcio4 and Darlan Tavares Feitosa5

Micrurus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a triad- In Brazil, is the most widely patterned coral widespread in most distributed triad (Silva Jr. et al., 2016). Brazilian biomes (to the exception of Pantanal wetlands; Micrurus l. carvalhoi ranges predominantly throughout see Silva Jr. et al., 2016), and also known from western central-eastern Brazil, with records from the states of and eastern . The nominal species Alagoas, Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas contains three (M. l. lemniscatus, M. l Gerais, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do carvalhoi, and M. l. helleri; see Pires et al., 2014 and Norte, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Silva Jr. et al., 2016) defined on the basis of colouration São Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins (Campbell and features and triads counts. Micrurus l. carvalhoi can be Lamar, 1989; Giraudo and Scrochii, 2002; Pires, 2011; distinguished from M. l. lemniscatus by the presence of irregular black spots on the red rings, black spots on the tips of dorsals of the white rings, which may occasionally form incomplete transversal bands, as well as a lower number of subcaudals (Roze, 1967; Pires et al., 2014). Micrurus l.carvalhoi differs from M. l. helleri by the number of dorsal and ventral scales (see Table 1 for comparative meristics data).

1 Centro Universitário São Camilo, Rua São Camilo de Lellis, 1, Paraíso, 29304-910, Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, ES, Brazil. 2 Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto de Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier 524, Maracanã, 20550-019, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. 3 Departamento de Vertebrados, Setor de Herpetologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. 4 Departamento de Biologia e Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correa da Costa, Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT, Brasil 5 Curso de Biologia, Escola de Ciências Agrárias e Biológicas, Figure 1. Known geographic distribution of Micrurus Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, Avenida Engler, lemniscatus carvalhoi (red points on the left frame) and the 286-316 – Parque Atheneu, CEP 74885-460 Goiânia, Goiás, new record in the Municipality of Linhares and Presidente Brazil. Kennedy (red stars), Espírito Santo state, Brazil. Modified * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected] from Silva Jr. et al. (2016). 1 392 Thiago Marcial de Castro et al.

TableTable 1. 1.Meristic Meristic andand morphometric morphometric data ondata Micrurus on Micrurus lemniscatus lemniscatus carvalhoi Roze, carvalhoi 1967 collected Roze, during 1967 the collected present study during compared the presentto study comparedthe data ofto Silvathe data Jr. et ofal. Silva(2016) Jr. for et Micrurus al. (2016) l. carvalhoi, for Micrurus M. l. lemniscatus l. carvalhoi, and M. Micrurus l. helleri. l. lemniscatus and Micrurus l. helleri.

MBML4025 MNRJ26576 MNRJ26577 MNRJ26578 M. l. carvalhoi M. l. lemniscatus M. l. helleri Meristic Data this study this study this study this study Silva Jr. et al. (2016) Silva Jr. et al. (2016) Silva Jr. et al. (2016) Sex Male Male Male Male - - - Body triads 11 15 14 12 ♂10-15/♀9-16 ♂9-16/♀8-14 ♂8-14/♀8-13 Tail triads 1+1/3 1+1/3 1+1/3 1+1/3 ♂♀1+1/3-2 ♂♀1+1/3-2 ♂♀1+2/3-1 Snout-vent length 412 586 581 508 ♂231-1550/♀210-1230 ♂197-11280/♀209-1070 ♂202-993/♀200-1220 Tail length 41 49 50 45 ♂16.2-100.9/♀17.3-84 ♂20.126.8/♀10.3-119.7 ♂17.8-103.8/♀15.2-100 Ventrals 237 220 260 218 ♂224-263/♀229-270 ♂225-268/♀232-277 ♂225-263/♀233-263 Subcaudals 28 23 26 23 ♂23-39/♀24-38 ♂30-43/♀28-48 ♂30-48/♀31-42

Figure 2. Specimem of Micrurus lemniscatus carvalhoi collected in the municipalities of Presidente Kennedy (A) and Linhares (B), Espírito Santo state. Pictures on the right show the typical black spots of the species found in the four collected specimens (C, D, E, F). Photos: Thiago Marcial de Castro.

Wallach et al., 2014; Silva et al., 2016). Despite its wide M. l. carvalhoi in Espírito Santo state, filling the gap in distribution, M. lemniscatus carvalhoi had never been the distribution range between Bahia, Minas Gerais, and recorded from the State of Espírito Santo, Southeastern Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. We here present two new occurrence records of First Record of Micrurus lemniscatus carvalhoi from Espírito Santo State, Brazil 393

During field expeditions and surveys of the Muriaé; Silva Jr.et al., 2016), 310 kms from the nearest herpetofauna of Espírito Santo (ES), we recorded locality in Rio de Janeiro state (-22.7867° S, -43.3131° two specimens of M. l. carvalhoi in the municipality W, Duque de Caxias; Silva Jr. et al. 2016) and 165 kms of Linhares (northern ES), and two specimens in the from the nearest locality in Bahia state (-17.7144° S, - municipality of Presidente Kennedy (southern ES) 39.5112° W, Caravelas; Silva Jr. et al. 2016). As M. l. (Figure 1). The study area in Linhares is located on a carvalhoi is also found in the neighbouring states, we coastal plain in the vicinity of the Vale Natural Reserve assume that the absence of records from Espírito Santo (-19.1523° S, -39.8918° W, Datum = WGS84, elevation was a result of a lack of systematic surveys and long- 15 m asl). In the municipality of Presidente Kennedy, term research in this region (e.g. Gonzalez et al., 2014, the study area is located in the region of Campo Novo, Castro and Oliveira, 2017). within an anthropogenic landscape dominated by pastures and forest fragments (-21.0801° S, -40.9497° Acknowledgments. JCFO and RCG thank the Brazilian National W, Datum = WGS84, elevation 18 m asl). Specimens Council for Technological and Scientific Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico— collection was authorized by permits IEMA 020/2016 CNPq) respectively for a postdoctoral and doctoral fellowships and SISBIO 52838-1, and vouchers were deposited (PROCESSES 502457/2014-9 and 142370/2014-2). in the Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica, Museu de Biologia Professor Mello Leitão (MBML) in Santa References Teresa, Espírito Santo state, Brazil (MBML 4025) and in the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro state (MNRJ), Campbell, J.A., Lamar, W.W. (1989): The venomous of Latin America, 1nd Edition. New York, USA, Cornell University Brazil (MNRJ26576, MNRJ26577 and MNRJ26578). Press. In Linhares, one specimen was collected on November Castro, T.M., Oliveira, J.C.F. ( 2017): Range extension of Lygophis th 12 2016 (SVL = 581 mm, male, catalogue number meridionalis (Schenkel, 1901) (Reptilia: : Dipsadidae, MNRJ26577) and the other was collected on November Xenodontinae) to Espírito Santo state, Southeastern Brazil. 16th 2016 (SVL = 412 mm, male, catalogue number Check List 13: 1–4. MBML4025). Both specimens were collected manually Giraudo, A.R., Scrocchi, G. (2002): Argentinian : an annotated checklist. Smithsonian Herpetological Information and were active by day, foraging in the leaf litter. In Service 132: 1–53. Presidente Kennedy, one specimen was found dead on Gonzalez, R.C., Silva-Soares, T., Castro, T.M., Bérnils, R.S. (2014). th the highway at Campo Novo, on August 17 2016 (SVL Review of the geographic distribution of Micrurus decoratus = 586 mm, male, catalogue number MNRJ26576), (Jan, 1858) (Serpentes: Elapidae). Phyllomedusa 13: 29–39. while the second one was collected on November Pires, M.G., Silva Jr., N.J., Feitosa, D.T., Prudente, A.L.C., Pereira 10th 2016 (SVL = 508 mm, male, catalogue number filho, G.A., Zaher, H. (2014). A new species of triadal coral MNRJ26578) (Figure 2). Specimens were identified snake of the Micrurus Wagler, 1824 (Serpentes: Elapidae) from northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa 3811: 569–584. through comparisons with the data provided by Silva Roze, J.A. (1967). A check list of the venomous coral Jr. et al. (2016). snakes (Elapidae), with descriptions of new forms. American Regarding features of colour pattern, specimens from Museum Novitates, 2287: 1– 60. Espírito Santo have the black bands of triads similar in Silva Jr., N.J., Pires, M.G., Feitosa, D.T. (2016): Diversidade length, while the white bands are shorter than the black das cobras-corais do Brasil. In: As cobras-corais do Brasil bands and the red bands are distinctively longer than – Biologia, Taxonomia, Venenos e Envenenamentos, p. 80–167. the black bands. No complete horseshoe-shaped mark Silva Jr., J., Ed., Goiás, BR, Editora da PUC. Wallach, V., Williams, K.L., Boundy, J. (2014): Snakes of the is present on the mental region of any of our vouchers; world: A catologue of living and extinct species. Florida, USA, nonetheless, all specimens exhibit incomplete markings CRC Press. resembling the typical horseshoe pattern reaching up to the fourth supralabial (Figure 2). All meristic and morphometric data obtained from our vouchers agree with the variation attributed to M. l. carvalhoi (Table 1). Our records of M. l. carvalhoi from the state of Espírito Santo lie approximately 150 kms from the nearest recorded locality of the subspecies in the neighbouring Accepted by Hendrik Müller state of Minas Gerais (-21.1857° S, -42.3859° W,