The Herpetological Bulletin 150, 2019: 39-40 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE https://doi.org/10.33256/hb150.3940 Autohaemorrhaging in a Bahamian pygmy boa, Tropidophis curtus barbouri SEBASTIAN HOEFER*, SOPHIE MILLS & NATHAN J. ROBINSON Cape Eleuthera Institute, The Cape Eleuthera Island School, Cape Eleuthera, Eleuthera, The Bahamas *Corresponding author e-mail:
[email protected] nakes use a wide variety of antipredatory behaviours, Sincluding gaping, exuding musk, defecating, convolving, feigning death, and autohaemorrhaging (Greene, 1994). Autohaemorrhaging, or the deliberate ejection of blood, in snakes occurs via either the cloaca or the orifices of the head (i.e. nares, mouth and orbits). In reptiles, autohaemorrhaging is already known from a few species of snakes in the genera Heterodon, Nerodia, Rhinocheilus, Natrix, Zamenis, and Tropidophis as well as in the lizard genus Phrynosoma (Smith et al., 1993; Greene, 1994; Sherbrooke & Middendorf, 2001; Gregory et al., 2007; Iiftime & Iftime, 2014). In the genus Tropidophis specifically, which is also unusual in that some species are known to be able to change colour, cephalic autohaemorrhaging has so far Figure 1. Bahamian pygmy boa (T. curtus barbouri) found at the Leon been recorded in 13 out of 32 species (Smith et al., 1993; Levy Preserve showing the tail with yellow colouring ventrally Greene, 1994; Torrest et al., 2013; Iturriaga, 2014). In a brief report, Hecht et al. (1955) were the first to describe autohaemorrhaging in Tropidophis curtus curtus (formerly known as Tropidophis pardalis). Here we offer greater detail of cephalic autohaemorrhaging in a different sub-species, the Bahamian pygmy boa (Tropidophis curtus barbouri), including access to the first-ever published video footage of this behaviour in any snake species (YouTube, 2019).