BOTHROPS DIPORUS (Southern Pitviper/Chaco Lancehead). DIET / OPHIOPHAGY.

RUIZ GARCÍA JOSÉ AUGUSTO; CURI LUCILA MARILÉN; CALAMANTE CINTHIA CAROLINA; CÉSPEDEZ JORGE ABEL

HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Lugar: Kansas; Año: 2018 vol. 49 p. 124 - 124

0018-084X

Bothrops diporus is a medium-sized pitviper found in southern Brazil, southern Paraguay, northern Argentina, and probably extreme south-central Bolivia. It feeds on a wide diversity of prey, including rodents, frogs, and lizards(Yanosky et al. 1996. Herpetol. Nat. Hist. 4:97?110; Giraudo et al.2008. Revista FABICIB 12:69?89), and also sometimes on snakes(e.g., Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus, Chironius maculoventris; Giraudoet al., op. cit.; Barros and Waller 2015. Herpetol. Rev. 46:443?444). Between 0935 and 1000 h on 23 March 2013, we collected two juvenile specimens of B. diporus, both with umbilical scars, within30 m of one another in a Prosopis and Aspidosperma forest in the impenetrable region (Dry Chaco eco-region) of General GüemesDepartment, Chaco Province, Argentina (24.9701°S, 61.0579°W; WGS 84). The female (SVL = 242 mm, tail length = 34.86 mm;12 g, Fig. 1A) and the male (SVL = 244 mm, tail length = 33.94mm; 12.1 g, Fig. 1B) each had a single prey item, both Epictiaalbipuncta (Leptotyphlopidae), which were partly digested in the stomach and anterior portion of the intestine. The female B. diporus had ingested the E. albipuncta headfirst, whereas the male had ingested its prey tail first. Our observation is the first record of E. albipuncta in the diet of Bothrops diporus. Voucher specimens are deposited in the Herpetological Collection of the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNEC 13114, 13115).Epictia albipuncta is a small (to 341 mm total length) fossorial threadsnake distributed in the Chaqueña, Espinal, Monte and Pampean phytogeographic provinces (Kretzschmar 2006. Cuad. Herpetol. 19:43?56). Scolecophidian snakes are common prey of Micrurus coralsnakes (Marques and Sazima 1997. Herpetol. Nat. Hist. 5:88?93; Giraudo et al., op. cit.; Ávila et al. 2010. South Am.J. Herpetol. 5:97?101). However, predation on blindsnakes has also been recorded in juvenile Bothrops leucurus (Baptista et al. 2016. Herpetol. Rev. 47:474?475) and in juvenile Porthidiumyucatanicum (McCoy and Censky 1992. In Campbell and BrodieJr. [eds.], Biology of the Pitvipers, pp. 217-222. Selva, Tyler, Texas).JOSÉ A. RUIZ GARCÍA (e-mail: ruizgarciaja@gmail.com), LUCILA M.CURI (e-mail: lucilacuri@gmail.com), CINTHIA C. CALAMANTE (e-mail:cccalamante@hotmail.com), and JORGE A. CÉSPEDEZ, Anatomía Comparadade los Cordados, Laboratorio de Herpetología. Departamento deBiología. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura. UniversidadNacional del Nordeste. Corrientes, Argentina (e-mail: cespedez@hotmail.com)