First herpetological appraisal of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Gaza Province, southern Mozambique Darren W. Pietersen1,2*, Errol W. Pietersen3 and Wulf D. Haacke4 1Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028 South Africa 2Research Associate, Department of Vertebrates, Herpetology Section, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 413, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa 3Ecological Consultant, P.O. Box 293, Upington, 8800 South Africa 4Honorary Curator of Herpetology, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 413, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa PIETERSEN, D. W., PIETERSEN, E. W. and HAACKE, W. D., 2013. First herpetological appraisal of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Gaza Province, southern Mozambique. Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 3: 153–163. The herpetofauna of Mozambique remains poorly documented despite recent surveys. We present here the first report on the herpetofauna occurring in Parque Nacional de Banhine in Gaza Province.Four chelonian, 13 snake, one amphisbaenid, 16 lizard and 15 frog species were recorded in the park, while an additional six snake, five lizard and two frog taxa have been recorded in close proximity and probably also occur in the park. Numerous range extensions are recorded, and these are discussed in the light of our present knowledge of the distribution of herpetofauna in Mozambique. Keywords: Banhine National Park, Gaza Province, Mozambique, Reptiles, Amphibians. INTRODUCTION Gaza Province (Fig. 1). PNB was proclaimed in The herpetofauna of Mozambique remains poorly 1972 after representation by Ken Tinley to protect sampled and our knowledge of the distribution of the vast numbers of game that roamed these plains. most species is scant. Most of our knowledge on The park lies between latitudes 22°30’–23°20’S and the Mozambique herpetofauna stems from ad hoc longitudes 32°15’–33°25’E, and consists of near- and often opportunistic sampling (Downs and pristine habitat. PNB is located in Gazaland, probably Wirminghaus, 1997) and as such the distribution of the driest province in Mozambique (Tinley, 1972), reptiles along the coast, especially in areas attract- with mean annual rainfall ranging from 399 mm in ing large numbers of tourists, is better known than the west to 427 mm in the east (Stalmans, 2003). the distribution of taxa inland. Broadley (1966, 1983) The topography is predominantly flat, with a slight and Poynton and Broadley (1985a,b, 1987, 1988) rise in elevation from 69 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in provided initial distributions for the herpetofauna of the southeast to 181 m a.s.l. in the northwest Mozambique, while more recently Broadley (1990, (Stalmans and Wishart, 2005; McNamara and 1992), Channing (2001) and Jacobsen et al. (2010) Larsen, 2006). Geology consists of deep sandy added to the slowly growing volume of literature. soils overlying calcrete at a depth of c. 7m Northern and central Mozambique have received (Stalmans and Wishart, 2005). Occasionally this more attention than southern Mozambique in recent calcrete reaches the surface and extends as years, with a number of new taxa recently being intermittent calcrete bands for a few hundred described from the former regions (e.g., Branch metres (Stalmans and Wishart, 2005; DWP pers. et al., 2005; Branch and Bayliss, 2009; Branch and obs.). Clayey sediments are present in the Tolley, 2010). northeast of the park (Stalmans, 2003) and are A herpetological survey of Parque Nacional de largely associated with closed woodlands along the Banhine was undertaken while one of the authors seasonal drainage lines and some of the mopane (EWP) was stationed there, with occasional visits by woodland communities (Stalmans and Wishart, DWP.Additional unpublished records from an earlier 2005). The grasslands and main wetland also have collecting trip by WDH are also included. a moderate to high clay content (Stalmans, 2003). Using the Koppen classification system, the study Study site area can be described as having a warm, dry Parque Nacional de Banhine (PNB) is a 700 000 ha climate with dry winters (van Rooyen et al., 1981). national park situated in southern Mozambique’s Eleven plant communities have been identified in *Author for correspondence. PNB, which can be further assigned to five major E-mail: [email protected] landscape types. These are (with their respective 154 ANNALS OF THE DITSONG NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, VOLUME 3, 2013 Fig. 1 Location of Parque Nacional de Banhine in Mozambique, and its geographic proximity to other major protected areas. Place names used in the text are indicated on the main map. percentage area): wetland (1.1%), grassland PNB forms part of the Gazaland Plain (Smithers (13.6%), mopane woodland (33.9%), sandveld and Tello, 1976). This plain most probably has its (46.7%) and Androstachys forest (4.7%). A detailed origins in fluvial deposits of the Zambezi, Save, and vegetation map can be found in Stalmans and Limpopo Rivers, originating from headwater erosion Wishart (2005). The main wetland is located in the together with marine depositions prior to the northeast of the park and represents a seasonally Plio-Pleistocene (Moore and Larkin, 2001). During flooded deltaic system with limited overflow. The the Plio-Pleistocene, major flexing occurred along water level is governed by an alluvial plug (fan) at the Ciskei-Swaziland flexure axis (du Toit,1933; Par- the confluence of the main wetland and the tridge, 1998), resulting in the down-warping of the Changane River, formed by sediment deposition by margins of the subcontinent (King, 1967; Moore the Changane River during flooding events and Larkin, 2001) and ultimately the raised marine (McNamara and Larsen, 2006). A number of terrace that today is the Gazaland plain. smaller, cut-off pools occur along the margins of the main wetland, and permanent to semi-permanent MATERIAL AND METHODS pools usually persist in portions of the wetland Observations were made on an ad hoc basis during dry spells. A number of temporary pans also between November 2006 and May 2008. From form in the mopane woodlands after heavy rains. November 2006 to December 2007, the main wet- The grasslands form a large plain surrounding the land was dry owing to a prolonged drought, and wetland, and may also be seasonally inundated water remained only in a few scattered natural pans forming moist grassland. Sandveld is the dominant and man-made wells. In December 2007, the wet- landscape and occurs in the western, south-central land flooded for the first time in five years, and and eastern portions of the park, with some isolated remained inundated until at least May 2008. pockets in the north as well. Mopane woodland is Reptiles were actively searched for from a vehicle most prominent in the northern and central portions traversing roads by day and night, and by exploring of the park, with isolated pockets of varying sizes various habitats on foot. All likely microhabitats scattered throughout the remainder of the park. were actively sampled in search of reptiles and Androstachys forests are present in the south and amphibians. The old subterranean water tank at the extreme northeast border areas of the park. Pio Cabral park headquarters acted as a de facto PIETERSEN ET AL.: HERPETOLOGICAL SURVEY OF PARQUE NACIONAL DE BANHINE, MOZAMBIQUE 155 pit-fall trap and was checked regularly. The clearing some instances. Whenever lengths or scale counts of vegetation for the new airstrip also provided were recorded, these have been included in the opportunities to search for additional fossorial relevant species accounts. species. Frogs were actively searched for on a number of summer nights following rains. A search SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT was also made of the herpetological records of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History REPTILIA (formerly the Transvaal Museum), which houses TESTUDINES material collected by WDH on a much earlier field CRYPTODIRA trip to the Banhine swamps in 1964. Where taxo- TESTUDINIDAE nomic changes have been effected subsequent to this early collection trip specimens were Stigmochelys pardalis* (Bell, 1828) re-examined to confirm their identity. Records were One individual was observed near Cantine on the also gleaned from published sources. eastern boundary of the park and another was The distributions of species recorded from PNB noted on the edge of the main wetland to the west of were compared to the distributions as currently the old Pio Cabral homestead. A carapace of this depicted in major reference works (Broadley, 1983; species is on display in the warden’s caravan at the Branch, 1998; du Preez and Carruthers, 2009). park headquarters. WDH collected a specimen at Nomenclature follows the most recent list available Chigubo (TM 29330). from Johan Marais (available online at www. Kinixys zombensis* (Gray, 1831) reptileventures.com, downloaded on 5 June 2012), Asingleindividualwasobservedandphoto- with the exception of the families Lamprophiidae graphed in sandveld after crossing the road and Acontiinae. For the former family, we follow the between Xlekhane and Mungazi. nomenclature of Vidal et al. (2008). Current Acontiinae nomenclature follows Lamb et al. (2010). PLEURODIRA However, the findings of Lamb et al. (loc. cit.) have PELOMEDUSIDAE been called into question by S. Daniels (pers. comm.) and D.W. Pietersen et al. (in prep.) and we Pelomedusa subrufa* (Lacépède, 1788) therefore follow the former accepted nomenclature An individual was observed and photographed for this subfamily. on the edge of the wetland east of Fish-Eagle Most specimens collected were deposited in Research Camp. the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History Pelusios subniger subniger (Lacépède, 1788) (abbreviated TM) in Pretoria, South Africa. Some A specimen was collected in the Banhine Swamp specimens were also deposited in the Eduardo area by WDH in 1964 (TM 29316) and the anterior Mondlane National Museum of Natural History portion of a plastron was collected in front of (MHN) in Maputo, Mozambique, and in the National Fish-Eagle Research Camp by DWP (TM 85585).