102
Hamadryad
of males in the present study may be because the
study area is dominated by tall trees, and males
prefer to perch at higher heights. However, the
females seem to be more selective in choosing
areas dominated by bamboos and hence, showed
clustered distribution.
The present study provides baseline data on
population density of forest Calotes in a forest
area near Gobral village in Karnataka. More
such surveys need to be undertaken at different
times of the year, especially outside breeding
season, to understand population dynamics of
the species.
This research was supported by a grant from
the University Grants Commission, New Delhi
(SAP–DRS–II programme). BNP was supported by UGC’s DSKPDF programme during the
preparation of the manuscript.
Literature Cited
DEEPAK, V. & K. VASUDEVAN. 2008. Density and mi-
crohabitat association of Salea anamallayana
in Eravikulum National Park, Western Ghats,
India. Herpetological Journal 18:165–170.
ISHWAR, N. M., R. CHELLAM, A. KUMAR & B. R. NOON.
2003. The response of agamid lizards to rain-
forest fragmentation in the Southern Western Ghats, India. Conservation and Society
1(2):69–86.
KANNAN, P. & S. BHUPATHY. 2009. Spatial distribution pattern of agamid lizards (Family: Agamidae) in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu,
India. Scientiic Transactions in Environment
and Technovation 3(1):41–47.
LLOYD, M. 1967. Mean crowding. Journal of Animal Ecology 36:1–30.
RADDER, R. S., S. K. SAIDAPUR & B. A. SHANBHAG.
2005. Population density, microhabitat use
and activity pattern of the Indian rock lizard,
Psammophilus dorsalis (Agamidae). Current
Science 89:560–566.
SHANBHAG, B. A., R. S. RADDER, N. P. GRAMAPUROHIT, K. V. DHEERAJ, V. H. AMMANNA, B. N. PANDAV
& S. K. SAIDAPUR. 2003. Demography of fan-
throated lizard, Sitana ponticeriana (Cuvier) in a cotton ield in Dharwad District
of Karnataka State, India. Current Science
85:1363–1366.
VENUGOPAL, P. D. 2010. An updated and annotated
list of Indian lizards (Reptilia: Sauria) based
on a review of distribution records and check-
[Vol. 35, No. 1
lists of Indian reptiles. Journal of Threatened
Taxa 2(3):725–738.
Bhagyarekha N. Pandav, Bhagyashri A. Shanbhag1,
Dheeraj K. Veeranagoudar, Veena H. Ammana,
Amrapali P. Rajput, Santosh M. Mogali, Swetashree
Purohit and Srinivas K. Saidapur
Department of Zoology, Karnatak University,
Dharwad 580 003, India.
1
Corresponding author Email: bhagyashrishanbhag@gmail.com
Received: 17 May 2010.
Accepted: 28 June 2010.
Hamadryad Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. xx – xx, 2010.
Copyright 2010 Centre for Herpetology,
Madras Crocodile Bank Trust.
First record of Xenochrophis melanzostus
(Gravenhorst, 1807) on Bali Island, Indonesia
(with one text-igure)
The Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider, 1799)
complex is widely distributed across Pakistan,
India and south-east Asia, including Java, and
was recently reviewed by Vogel and David
(2007). These authors showed that Xenochrophis melanzostus (Gravenhorst, 1807) is a valid
species, distinct from X. piscator and Xenochrophis lavipunctatus (Hallowell, 1861), differing
by its dorsal pattern, nuchal marking, subocular
streak, ventral and subcaudal scale counts (see
Table 1). Previously, X. melanzostus was regarded as a widely distributed species. There are old
records from the Andaman Islands (Das, 1999;
Whitaker and Captain, 2004), Sulawesi (In den
Bosch, 1985), Borneo and Sumatra (de Rooij,
1917; Manthey and Grossmann, 1997; David
and Vogel, 2006). The population on the Andaman Islands was shown to be non-conspeciic,
for which the name Xenochrophis tytleri (Blyth,
1863) is available (Vogel and David, 2007). The
records on Borneo and Sulawesi were shown to
be erroneous (Stuebing and Inger, 1999; de Lang
and Vogel, 2005). The occurrence on Sumatra is
doubtful (Vogel and David, 2007). Hence, current evidence points to X. melanzostus being an
endemic of Java. There was no record of Xenochrophis melanzostus or other members of the
November, 2010]
Notes
103
Table 1. Main morphological characters of the Bali specimen of Xenochrophis melanzostus compared with related species (comparative data from Vogel and David, 2007).
Data (females)
Bali specimen
X. melanzostus
X. lavipunctatus
X. piscator
X. tytleri
ventrals
136
136–142
131–143
136–151
144–145
subcaudals
79
66–77
70–87
68–87
77–79
total length
787
975
974
1020
920
tail length/total length
0.235
0.233–0.254
0.256–0.306
0.264–0.290
0.279
nuchal mark
wide V
wide V
V like
inverted V
Wide V
Xenochrophis piscator complex from Bali (de
Rooij, 1917; Manthey and Grossmann, 1997;
Iskandar and Colijn, 2001; McKay, 2006).
A single specimen of the genus Xenochrophis
was collected on 12 August 2009, in the mangrove area of Perancak Beach, Jembrana, Bali
(08.39121°S, 114.62742°E; 21 m asl), ca. 100
m north of the Balai Riset dan Observasi Kelautan (BROK, or Marine Research and Observation Ofice), or 1.3 km north of the Perancak
Beach coastal line. The specimen was collected
alive, preserved and deposited in the Animal
Taxonomy Laboratory of Faculty of Biology,
Gadjah Mada University (collection number:
SHBIUGM/BALI 730001) (Fig. 1).
The specimen shows the following characters: total length 78.7 cm, SVL 60.2 cm, weight
102.9 g, female. Characteristic for species of
this complex are the two black streaks running
from the eye to the supralabial scales, the irst
streak running from the lowest postocular scale
to sixth supralabial, while the second streak running from temporal scale to 8th supralabial. It has
9 supralabial scales and 9 infralabial scales, 3
postocular scales, 1 preocular ocular scale and
a loreal scale. Head shield formula is 2 small
triangular internasal scales, 2 prefrontal scales,
a frontal scale shaped as an elongated hexagon,
2 supraocular scales, 2 large parietal scales with
a nuchal scale lying at posterior edge of parietal scale. The nuchal mark looks like a wide
V. There are 136 ventral plates and 79 pairs
of subcaudal plates, both of these scales with
clearly black margins. Anal plate is divided,
with no black margin. The specimen has two
scars in the ventral part. The specimen shows
the typical blotches pattern, which is one of the
two patterns known for Xenochrophis melanzostus (longitudinal stripes or blotched pattern [Hodges, 1993; Vogel and David, 2007]).
This blotched pattern is clearly seen in irst half
body, while it is more confused in the second
half of the body. Dorsal scales are keeled, with
19 rows around midbody.
The pholidosis of this specimen is typical for
the species X. melanzostus (Table 1) except for
the number of subcaudal scales
which is higher by two scales
than the value given by Vogel
and David (2007). Bergman
(1958) gave the number of
subcaudal scales for females
as 65–80. From Table 1, it is
evident that this specimen
differs from X. piscator and
X. lavipunctatus by its much
shorter tail.
The mangrove area where
Xenochrophis
melanzostus
was collected is an area with
brackish water for which the
water availability depends on
the rise and fall of the tide.
The salt water loods the manFigure 1. Xenochrophis melanzostus from Jembrana, Bali, Indonesia
(SHBIUGM/BALI 730001).
grove when high tide occurs,
104
Hamadryad
but empties after ebb tide, forming puddles in
several parts of the mangrove. In these puddles
are a number of ish which presumably are prey
of Xenochrophis melanzostus. In the north and
south of this mangrove lies a perennial river
with brackish water. In Java, Xenochrophis
melanzostus is usually found in freshwater areas
that are often disturbed by humans, for example
rice ields, ish ponds and rivers.
This irst record of Xenochrophis melanzostus for Bali proves that the species is not endemic to Java. McKay (2006) listed 31 snake
species for Bali, so this number should be raised
to 32. At the moment, it cannot be ruled out, that
this species was introduced to Bali recently.
We are indebted to Yudha Rahina Putra and
Rina Ristiyani for their help while working in
Bali. We want to thank Rizka Apriani Putri,
Donan Satria Yudha and Hastin Ambar Asti for
their suggestions and discussion, and Deera A.P
and Zuliyati Rohmah for the help in taking care
of the live specimen. Patrick David kindly reviewed the manuscript.
Literature cited
BERGMAN, R. A. M. 1958. The anatomy of Natrix
piscator. Biologisch Jaarbock 26:77–99.
DAS, I. 1999. Biogeography of the amphibians
and reptiles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. In: Tropical island herpetofauna:
origin, current diversity, and conservation.
pp:43–77. H. Ota (Ed). Elsevier, Amsterdam.
DAVID, P. & G. VOGEL. 1996. The snakes of Sumatra. An annotated checklist and key with natural history notes. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt
am Main. 260 pp.
DE LANG, R. & G. VOGEL. 2005. The snakes of
Sulawesi. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am
Main. 312 pp.
DE ROOIJ, N. 1917. The reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. II. Ophidia. E. J. Brill,
Leiden, xvi + 334 pp.
HODGES, R. 1993. Snakes of Java with special reference to East Java province. British Herpetological Society Bulletin 43:15–32.
IN DEN BOSCH, H. A. J. 1985. Snakes of Sulawesi:
checklist, key and additional biogeographical
remarks. Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden 217:3–50.
ISKANDAR, D. T. & E. COLIJN. 2001. A checklist of
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(1) + 195 pp.
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und Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und TierVerlag, Münster. 512 pp.
McKAY, J. L. 2006. A ield guide to the amphibians
and reptiles of Bali. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. vii + 153 pp.
STUEBING, R. B. & R. F. INGER. 1999. A ield guide
to the snakes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu.
254 pp.
VOGEL, G. & P. DAVID. 2007. On the taxonomy of
the Xenochrophis piscator complex (Serpentes, Natricidae). In: Herpetologia Bonnensis
II. Proceedings of the 13th Congress of the
Societas Europaea Herpetologica. pp:241–
246. M. Vences, J. Köhler, T. Ziegler & W.
Böhme (Eds). Societas Europaea Herpetologica, Bonn.
WHITAKER, R. & A. CAPTAIN. 2004. Snakes of India.
The ield guide. Draco Books, Chennai. xiv
+ 479 pp.
Kukuh Indra Kusuma1, Rury Eprilurahman2
and Gernot Vogel3
1
Herpetology Study Club, Faculty of Biology
Universitas Gadjah Mada. Jl. Teknika Selatan, Sekip Utara, Sleman – D.I. Yogyakarta,
Indonesia 55281.
2
Animal Taxonomy Laboratory, Faculty of
Biology Universitas Gadjah Mada. Jl.
Teknika Selatan, Sekip Utara, Sleman – D.I.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia 55281.
3
Society for Southeast Asian Herpetology, Im
Sand 3, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
Email: Gernot.Vogel@t-online.de
Received: 9 January 2010.
Accepted: 23 July 2010.
Rury Eprilurahman