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Home , Corallus, Grenadines

576.1 REPTII& SERPENTES: CORAILUS ENYDRIS

Catalogue of American Amphibians and . hourglass shapes or round-cornered rhomboid-like shapes (Henderson, 1991: Pig. 1, paern 3). The venter is usually heavily Henderson, RW. 1993. Comllus enydh patterned with dark brown. (2) Bank: Maximum SVL is at least 1625 mm. On Grenada the dorsal ground color is extremely CoralZus enydris (Linnaeus) variable, including shades of yellow, orange, red, gray, taupe, brown (to nearly black), and olive. For in which the dorsal ground Boa Envd* Linnaeus. 1758:215. Tvw-localitv. uAmerica." Hole color is vellowish. the dorsum mav be comoletelv devoid of att tern. ty&, ~aturhistorika~iksmusee( ~tockhoi&(~ndersson, 1899), lightly patterned aith flecks of brown that &cupy less than singld mssiblv uncatalonued, collector and date of collection un- scale. or have a Danern of dark flecks ~rovidin~the indication of an known[sex unknok, sVL 1020 mm (not examined by author). hourglass shape: Snakes that have a dorsal gro"und color other than Comllus en$&: Forcan, 1951:197. yellow exhibit tremendous variability in pattern shape (anteroposteriorlyelongated,dorsoventrally broadenedrhomb, hour- Conten+ Two subspecies are recognized, C. e. enydris and glass, spade; Henderson, 1991: Fig. 1, patterns 16). Dingy yellow is C. e. cooki. the predominant ventral ground color, but occasionally the venter is cream or white. The ventral pattern may be almost immaculate, Defhitlon MaximumSVLisat least 1870 mm(fromTrinidad). marked with flecks and spots, large blotches, or nearly covered with The general habitus is with a large chunky head, long anterior dark brown. Theventral panern usually becomesdenser posteriorly. maxillary teeth, slender neck, strongly laterally compressed body, On the islands of the , yellow snakes have been collected and prehensile tail. CwaUus arydris exhibits virtually no sexual on and Union. Elsewhere dorsal ground color is gray, taupe, dimdrphism in pertinent scale chkcters. ~an~esin meritic features some shade of brown, or bright red-range ( only). The are as follows: dorsal scale rows at midbodv 37-63: ventrals 250-294: dorsal pattern is variable, but usually consists of some rhomboid subcaudals 94-133; ventrals + subcaudals 351-436;iupralabials (with derivative, spade, or hourglass shape (Henderson, 1991: Fig 1). 0) well-developed labial pits) 8-14; infralabials (with well-developed Costa Ria, Panad (and associated islands), and nonhern labial pits) 11-17; scales between supraorbitals 3-14; loreals 1-4; (north of the Cordillera Oriental): Maximum SVL is at least 1665 mm. subloreals 0-9; loreals + subloreals 1-11; circumorbital series 9-17; Dorsal ground color is yellowish, taupe, gray or some shade of brown nasals usually in contact with 4-14 scales bordering nasals. (browns predominate). The dorsal pattern is usually a series of lame Few show greater color panern variation than C. rhombs benderson 1991: Fig. 1,- pattern 5). snakes from tks enydtis. Following are color pattern descriptions and notations of geographic area show more consistencythan elsewhere in the shape size from fwe geographic areas (some very broad) that describesome of the main dorsal element. The ventral ground color usually is dingy ofthe variability in this species- (1) St. Vincent: Maximum SVL is at yellow, and may be nearly immaculate to heavily patterned (if least 1374 mm. Dorsal ground color is gray, taupe, or brown; always patterned, more so on the posterior portion of the body). (4) with a conspicuous dorsal (- lateral because of strong lateral com- , , lsla Margarita, and nonhern : Snakes pression) pattern, the main elements of which are gray or brown from this area tend to be very large (especially fromTrinidad and the

Map. Distribution of Comllus enydris. The type-localities of both subspecies are too imprecise to plot. Solid circles mark known locality records. Subspecies of specimens from areas indicated by cross-hatching are undetermined. Delta) and maximum SVL is at least 1870 mm. The dorsal principal nerves innervating the heat sensitive scales in Bullock and ground color is yellow, yellow-brown, khaki-brown, or copper Barren (1968). brown. Adistina dorsal panern may be absent, faint or conspicuous rhombs may be present, or the free edges of the dorsal scales may be Distribution. enydris has an extensive distribution dark brown. The venter may be whitish, cream, dingy yellow, or in the Neotropics, occurring from southwestern (south of bright yellow, and may be immaculate to heavily marked with dark 10°N) through Panad(including Isla del Rey, Isla Contadora, Isla de brown to black (becoming more predominant posteriorly). (5) Cebaco, Isla Suscantupu) into , where the species may Amazonia (including Atlantic coastal forest) and Guianan South be found in Colombia (east of the , although Perez-Santos and America: Maximum SVL is at least 1640 mm. Dorsal ground color is Moreno [I9881 note specimens from west of the Andes). Venezuela yellow, some shade of brown or gray, but taupe is the predominant (including Isla ~arg&ta)andthrou~h~u~ana,Surinamejand~rench color. A dorsal pattern may be absent (if the dorsal ground color is Guiana into Amazonian . . , and Brasil. In Brasil. yellow), but usually consists of a dorsovenmlly elongated rhomboi- C. enydris is encountered south of the-~ro~icbf~a~ricorn to 24043' dal shape (Henderson, 1991: Fig. 1, pattern 2), distinct or not, gray, in the state of SoPaulo, and also on Ilha Grande off the southeastern taupe, or brown in color. The venter may be white, cream, or coast. Insular distribution includes Trinidad and Tobago, and in the (predominantly) dingy yellow; immaculate, with a few flecks, scat- the species is known from St. Vincent, many of the tered spots and blotches, or nearly completely covered with dark Grenadines (Bequia, Ile Quane, , Mustique, Canouan, brown. The ventral pattern becomes heavier posteriorly. Mayreau, Union, Carriacou, Petit Maninique), and Grenada. Altitudi- The hemipenis in a C. e. enydris (from Venezuela south of the nal distribution is from sea level to about 1000 m, although Perez- KO Orinoco) is 19 mm long and undivided, the arms are reduced to Santos and Moreno (1988) note a specimen collected at 1900 m in terminal lateral bulges; the sulcus divides 10 mm from the base and Colombia. the forks run centrifugally to the tips of the lateral bulges; sulcal folds The distribution of C. e. enydris is largely coincident with the are large, slightly raised and unadorned; ornamentation is flounced; distributionof lowland tropical rainforest. These snakes are virtually the proximal third of the organ is nude, followed distally by three absent fromcaatinga in eastern Brasil, and, in general, fromareas that shallow, transverse flounces that fuse with the sulcal folds and receive