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Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database

Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature

Zeitschrift/Journal: Herpetozoa

Jahr/Year: 2017

Band/Volume: 30_1_2

Autor(en)/Author(s): Zamora-Camacho Francisco Javier

Artikel/Article: On the role of plant nurseries introducing braminus (DAUDIN, 1803), in Spain 69-72 All_Short_Notes_(Seiten 59-112):SHORT_NOTE.qxd 07.08.2017 18:41 Seite 11

SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 30 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juli 2017 SHORT NOTE 69

On the role of plant nurseries in June 2015, publicly available pro - introducing fessional e-mail addresses from 403 nursery managers from most provinces of Spain (DAuDiN , 1803), in Spain were compiled; no e-mail address was found from the nursery managers of the A key step in the management of Autonomous cities of ceuta and melilla, human-induced introduction of organisms is and the Province of Zamora. To facilitate release interception or, at least, control identification by non-experts, a description (PERRiNgS et al. 2005), as introductions are of the was sent to the managers, easier to manage when the potential sources with emphasis on easily distinguishable of propagules are identified ( HulmE 2006). diagnostic characters, as well as two photo - in the case of the typhlopid Flowerpot graphs and one video, along with a ques - Blind Indotyphlops braminus (DAu- tionnaire including four questions: (1) Was DiN , 1803), nurseries are widely considered the Flowerpot Blindsnake seen in your nurs - the main (if not the only) propagule reser - ery? (2) if yes, how many individuals? (3) voir and potential vector for introductions When were they seen and (4) were they seen (e. g., KRAuS 2003; YOKOYAmA 2012; JESuS in flowerpots or freely living in the soil? et al. 2013). This small parthenogenetic The nursery managers were asked to for - snake species, of mostly less than 175 mm ward the questionnaire to their employees of snout-vent length and 5 mm of maximum and include their observations in the email body diameter, is strictly subterranean responses. The questionnaire was not tested where it inhabits self-burrowed galleries prior to the study, but questions were closed, (mATEO 2013). These inadvertently clear and straightforward. The nursery migrate, hiding between the roots of plants managers were informed that their respons - transported with agricultural or ornamental es were to be used in a scientific publication. purposes. Since these professionals devote much time After a long-term process of passive to transplanting plants, turning over the soil, introductions, this snake inhabits relatively or rearranging flowerpots, which represent moist and temperate habitats worldwide intromissions in I. braminus habitats, de - (OTA et al. 1991; WAllAcH 2008), being one tection probabilities were high. However, of the most widespread on Earth whether or not negative responses corre - (uETZ et al. 2012). it is allegedly native to sponded with actual absences must remain some areas of the indo-malayan region, but unclear, given that disclosure of positive its extensive distribution ( uETZ et al. 2012) information may have been found to be makes it difficult to reliably determine risky. geographical location of each nursery where it is native and where introduced, surveyed and the answers to questions 1-4 particularly in early colonized areas ( mATEO were recorded in a spreadsheet used to cal - 2013). in Spain, it was first detected in culate percentages of the different types of Fuerteventura () in 1998 answers. (lóPEZ -JuRADO et al. 2006). By 2010, its Answers were returned from 95 out of presence had also been described in la go- 403 (23.57 %) nursery managers polled mera, , gran canaria, and lanza- (Table 1). Among those, only three nursery rote, in the same archipelago ( uRiOSTE & managers (3.16 %) declared to have seen mATEO 2010), and in mallorca (Balearic this snake in their nurseries (Table 1; Fig. islands) ( mATEO 2013). One more popula - 1): one in western granada province (south - tion was found in the Province of Almería eastern Spain), where two specimens were (Southeastern iberian Peninsula) in 2011 seen living freely on the soil in 2013, anoth - (mATEO 2013; RATO et al. 2015). in the er in central granada province, where sever - present paper, the author assesses the fre - al individuals were seen, last observation quency of observations of I. braminus indi - occurring in 2012, and another in girona viduals in plant nurseries in Spain, by sur - province (northeastern Spain), where three veying nursery managers statewide for I. individuals were seen since 2012, the last braminus detection, in order to infer one in may, 2015. Thus, only three nurs - propagule pressure. eries (3.16 %) evidenced a possible current All_Short_Notes_(Seiten 59-112):SHORT_NOTE.qxd 07.08.2017 18:41 Seite 12

70 SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 30 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juli 2017 SHORT NOTE

Table 1: Number of plant nurseries polled for This survey does not permit to draw observations of Indotyphlops braminus (DAuDiN , 1803), negative, and positive answers received by province or final conclusions on the role of plant nurs - autonomous citiy in Spain. A - Plant nurseries polled, eries as reservoirs and potential vectors of I. B - Negative answers, c - Positive answers. braminus introductions in Spain. However, at least it shows a reduced number of plant Province or autonomous city ABc nurseries detecting this snake throughout Araba/Álava 630 Spain. moreover, recent detection has been A coruña 710 reported only in one out of 95 nurseries, Alacant/Alicante 12 2 0 which indicates that some introductions fail, Albacete 400 although they could have spread individuals Almería 710 Asturias 11 3 0 before failure. As nurseries were positively Ávila 410 identified as vectors for I. braminus intro - Badajoz 620 ductions ( KRAuS 2003; KORNiliOS et al. Barcelona 12 4 0 Bizkaia 10 3 0 2013), propagule pressure seems moderate Burgos 310 for this species in Spanish territories. cáceres 620 Strange enough, the author received no cádiz 800 notice of detection in nurseries from the cantabria 800 castelló/castellón 610 aforementioned areas where the species has ceuta 000 established. ciudad Real 520 Dispersal capacity of this snake is córdoba 12 2 0 very limited, probably because of its cuenca 100 gipuzkoa 840 reduced mobility and underground customs, girona 14 1 1 which require loose soils for gallery bur - granada 11 2 2 rowing ( mATEO 2013). moreover, this tropi - guadalajara 310 cal and subtropical species thrives in warm, Huelva 310 Huesca 630 relatively wet habitats ( OTA et al. 1991). in illes Balears 17 3 0 Spain, habitats with year-round sufficient Jaén 610 and stable warm temperature la Rioja 11 3 0 las Palmas 13 3 0 appear very locally, or in artificial ecosys - león 920 tems such as gardens or agrosystems. in lleida 610 fact, most Spanish populations of I. brami - lugo 720 nus are found in such altered habitats madrid 22 4 0 málaga 17 3 0 (uRiOSTE & mATEO 2011), and not far from melilla 000 the sea, which increases humidity and tem - murcia 12 2 0 perature stability ( mATEO 2013). in fact, the Nafarroa/Navarra 10 4 0 nursery holding a potentially stable popula - Ourense 310 Palencia 100 tion described here is also by the coast. Pontevedra 10 1 0 These factors altogether, along with low Salamanca 830 propagule pressure found in this survey, Santa cruz de Tenerife 810 suggest a moderate invasive capacity of I. Segovia 610 Sevilla 11 3 0 braminus in Spain. Soria 100 Nevertheless, this is a triploid, all- Tarragona 810 female that reproduces partenogenet - Teruel 200 uSSBAum Toledo 410 ically ( N 1980), producing up to 8 València/Valencia 16 5 0 eggs or young a year, which gives each indi - Valladolid 930 vidual the potential to found a population in Zamora 000 few years ( OTA et al. 1991; KAmOSAWA & Zaragoza 13 4 0 OTA 1996). moreover, these snakes prey on Total 403 92 3 extremely abundant and (FiElDS & HORROcKS 2011; miZuNO & KOJimA 2015). Prey abundance may facili - population of I. braminus , with potential tate establishment and expansion of intro - delivery of individuals to new habitats duced populations ( WHiTE et al. 2006). through plant trade. Furthermore, competition with native pred - All_Short_Notes_(Seiten 59-112):SHORT_NOTE.qxd 07.08.2017 18:41 Seite 13

SHORT NOTE HERPETOZOA 30 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juli 2017 SHORT NOTE 71

Fig. 1: map showing the geographic location of participating nurseries. Black dots represent nurseries where Indotyphlops braminus (DAuDiN , 1803) was not reported. White circles represent nurseries where I. braminus was detected. canary islands appear misplaced in the inset. map was created with software QgiS (v 2.18.7).

ators of the same prey could be mild where conservation of caribbean island herpetofaunas. Vol. prey is abundant ( miRANDE et al. 2015). 2: Regional accounts of the West indies. Boston (Brill). HulmE , P. E. (2006): Beyond control: wider implica - Negative effects of competition for prey on tions for the management of biological invasions.- native fauna are thus expected to be low, but Journal of Applied Ecology, london; 43: 835-847. this situation could also benefit the intro - JESuS , J. & g ONçAlVES , R. & S PíNOlA , c. & B REHm , A. duced species. Particularly, in the iberian (2013): First record of Ramphotyphlops braminus (DAuDiN , 1803) on madeira island (Portugal).- Herpe- Peninsula and North Africa Spanish territo - tozoa, Wien; 26: 106-109. KAmOSAWA , m. & O TA , H. ries, I. braminus could compete with native (1996): Reproductive biology of the Brahminy blind Bla nidae and Trogonophidae worm lizards, snake ( Ramphotyphlops braminus ) from the Ryukyu which are similar in size, ecological require - Archipelago, Japan.- Journal of Herpetology, Athens; 30: 9-14. KORNiliOS , P. & g iOKAS , S. & l YmBERAKiS , ments, and diet ( mARTíN et al. 2013; SAl - P. & S iNDAcO , R . (2013): Phylogenetic position, origin VADOR 2014; lóPEZ 2015). in the Balearic and biogeography of Paleartic and Socotran blind- and the canary islands, no native reptile or snakes (Serpentes: ).- molecular Phylo ge- amphibian is known to have habitat and diet netics and Evolution, Washington; 68: 35-41. KRAuS , F. (2003): invasion pathways for terrestrial vertebrates; requirements similar to this introduced pp. 68-92 . in: RuiZ , g. m. & c ARlTON J. T. (Eds.): in- snake, so competition with local herpetofau - vasive species. Vectors and management strategies. Wash - na is not expected. ington (island Press). lóPEZ , P . (2015): culebrilla ciega – Blanus cinereus . in: SAlVADOR A. & m ARcO , A. AcKNOWlEDgmENTS: The author is grate - (Eds.): Enciclopedia virtual de los vertebrados ful to the participating nursery managers; a list of their españoles. madrid (museo Nacional de ciencias establishments is available from the author or the edi - Naturales), WWW document available at < http://ver - tor upon request. The project was partly supported by tebradosibericos.org > [last accessed, April 5, 2017]. a Ramón Areces Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. lóPEZ -J uRADO , l. F. & P EñA , m. A. & m ATEO , J. A. gregorio moreno-Rueda revised the manuscript. (2006): la culebrilla ciega de las macetas ( Rampho - REFERENcES: FiElDS , A. & H ORROcKS , J. A. braminus ), una nueva especie introducida en (2011): The herpetofauna of : Anthropogenic el Archipiélago canario.- Boletín de la Asociación Her- impacts and conservation status; pp, 89-104. in: petológica Española, Salamanca; 17: 18-20. mARTíN , HAilEY , A. & W ilSON , B. S. & H ORROcKS , J. A. (Eds.): J. & O RTEgA , J. & l óPEZ , P. & P éREZ -c EmBRANOS , A. All_Short_Notes_(Seiten 59-112):SHORT_NOTE.qxd 07.08.2017 18:41 Seite 14

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& P éREZ -m EllADO , V . (2013): Fossorial life does not Diet of Leptodactylus bufonius constrain diet selection in the amphisbaenian Trogon- ophis wiegmanni .- Journal of Zoology, london; 291: BOulENgER , 1894, 226-233. mATEO , J. A . (2013): culebrilla de las mac - in the Brazilian chaco etas – Ramphotyphlops braminus . in : S AlVADOR , A. & mARcO , A. (Eds.): Enciclopedia virtual de los vertebra - dos españoles. madrid (museo Nacional de ciencias The chaco is the southernmost ecore - Naturales). WWW document available at < http://ver - tebradosibericos.org > [last accessed, April 5, 2017]. gion of the diagonal zone of seasonally-dry miRANDE , l. & D ESNEux , N. & H ARAmBOuRE , m. & open areas in South America, which in - ScHNEiDER , m. i . (2015): intraguild predation between cludes the caatinga in northeastern and the an exotic and a native coccinelid in Argentina: the role cerrado in central Brazil ( PENNiNgTON et al. of prey density.- Journal of Pest Science, Berlin; 88: OuZA 155-162. miZuNO , T. & K OJimA , Y . (2015): A blind - 2000; S et al. 2010). The climate is snake that decapitates its prey.- Journal of “Aw” type (tropical wet and dry or savanna Zoology, london; 297: 220-224. NuSSBAum , R. A . climate; with the driest month having pre - (1980): The brahminy blind snake ( Ramphotyphlops cipitation less than 60 mm and less than 4 % braminus ) in the Archipelago: Distribution, variation, and further evidence for parthenogenesis.- of the total annual precipitation), according Herpetologica, Austin; 36: 215-221. OTA , H. & to KöPPEN ’s (1884) climate classification HiKiDA , T. & m ATSui , m. & m ORi , A. & W YNN , A. H . (AlVARES et al. 2013) , with a hot rainy sea - (1991): morphological variation, karyotype and repro - son from October to April and a dry season duction of the parthenogenetic blind snake, Rampho- typhlops braminus , from the insular region of East Asia from may to September. and .- Amphibia-Reptilia, leiden; 12: 181-193. Vizcachera’s White-lipped Frog, Lep - PERRiNgS , c. & D EHNEN -S cHmuTZ , K. & T OuZA , J. & todactylus bufonius BOulENgER , 1894 , oc- WilliAmSON , m . (2005): How to manage biological curs in the chaco from southern Bolivia to invasions under globalization.- Trends in Ecology and Evolution, cambridge; 20: 212-215. RATO , c. & S il - northern Argentina, Paraguay and central VA -R OcHA , i. & g ONZÁlEZ -m iRAS , E. & R ODRíguEZ - Brazil, where it is found in the state of mato luQuE , F. & F ARiñA , B. & c ARRETERO , m. Á . (2015): grosso do Sul ( SOuZA et al. 2010; FROST A molecular assessment of European populations of 2016). The species belongs to the Lepto - Indotyphlops braminus (DAuDiN , 1803).- Herpetozoa, cHNEiDER Wien; 27: 179-182. SAlVADOR , A . (2014): culebrilla dactylus fuscus (S , 1799) group de maría – Blanus mariae . in: SAlVADOR A. & m ARcO , (HEYER 1969), a monophyletic clade, and is A. (Eds.). Enciclopedia virtual de los vertebrados closely related to Leptodactylus troglodytes españoles. madrid (museo Nacional de ciencias luTZ , 1926 (PONSSA 2008; DE SÁ et al. 2014), Naturales). WWW document available at < http://ver - tebradosibericos.org > [last accessed, April 5, 2017]. a species endemic to the semi-arid caatinga uETZ , P. & H AllERmANN , J. & H OSEK , J. (2012): The in northeastern Brazil ( ARZABE & A lmEiDA Reptile Database. WWW database available at < 1997). in a single study conducted in a pop - http://www.reptile-database.org > [last accessed: April ulation from Argentina, L. bufonius was con - 5, 2017]. uRiOSTE , J. A. & m ATEO , J. A. ( 2011): Nu - evos datos acerca de la culebrilla ciega de las macetas, sidered a generalist forager, employing an Ramphotyphlops braminus (DAuDiN , 1803), en canari - intermediate foraging strategy between sit- as.- Boletín de la Asociación Herpetológica Española, and-wait and active search ( DuRé & K EHR Salamanca; 22: 135-137. WAllAcH , V. (2008): Range 2004). However, L. bufonius showed a nar - extensions and new island records for Ramphotyphlops braminus (Serpentes: Typhlopidae).- Bulletin of the rower trophic niche than the sympatric spe- chicago Herpetological Society, chicago; 43: 80-82. cies Leptodactylus latinasus JiméNEZ DE lA WHiTE , E. m. & W iSON , J. c. & c lARKE , A. R. (2006): ESPADA , 1875 , with both species showing a Biotic indirect effects: a neglected concept in invasion high overlap in diet but low overlap in micro - biology.- Diversity and Distributions, Oxford, Berlin, uRé EHR Vienna; 12: 443-455. YOKOYAmA , m. (2012): Reptiles habitat preferences ( D & K 2004). and amphibians introduced on St. martin, lesser most information on the chaco her - Antilles.- iRcF Reptiles & Amphibians, Tucson; 19: petofauna is limited to Paraguay and Argen- 271-279. tina (e.g., lEYNAuD & B ucHER 1999; B RuS- KEY WORDS: Reptilia: : Serpentes: QuETTi & l AVillA 2006). Although the first Indotyphlops braminus ; introduced species; invasive list of amphibians and reptiles from the Bra - species; plant nursery; propagule pressure; Spain. zilian chaco was published six years ago SuBmiTTED: September 12, 2016 (SOu ZA et al. 2010), studies on the feeding AuTHOR: Francisco Javier ZAmORA - ecology of anurans from this area are still cAmAcHO < [email protected] > - Department of missing. Biogeography and global change, museo Nacional de ciencias Naturales – consejo Superior de investigaci- Thus, in the present study the authors ones científicas, madrid, Spain. describe (1) the diet of L. bufonius in the