A NEW SNAKE FROM ST LUCIA 



9-11 



Alsophis antillensis 

 sibonius 



Dominica, June '89 



12 



Clelia errabunda 



Dominica, June '89 



13 



Bothrops caribbaeus 



Dominica, June '89 



14 



Thecadactylus 

 rapicauda 



St Lucia, April '89 



Cm -. 



There follow another eight species attributed to St Lucia, 

 including the St Lucia endemics Hyla rubra, Sphaerodactylus 

 microlepis, Anolis luciae and Liophis ornatus. these St Lucia 

 attributions are not therefore in question. Boulenger's St 

 Lucia entries are interrupted by four fish entries in a different 

 hand. 



The Typhlops and Alsophis are forms endemic to Domin- 

 ica. What, however, attracts attention is the record of Both- 

 rops from Dominica. We may be sure that if a pit-viper were 

 living on this island there would have been further reports 

 since 1889. It is clear that the Bothrops was mistakenly 

 attributed to Dominica. The specimen of Clelia appears to be 

 the only documented record of the genus from Dominica. Is 

 this attribution to Dominica also a mistake? On the other 

 hand there are several further specimens of Clelia from St 

 Lucia in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 



In addition to Alsophis antillensis, there is no more than 

 hearsay evidence of a second species of black snake on 

 Dominica. Bullock & Evans (1988) list Clelia clelia on 

 Dominica as 'Tete-chyen nwe'. Dr Bullock writes that he has 

 not seen Clelia but he has reports from informants whom he 

 regards as reliable. Dr R. Thorpe, Miss A. Malhotra and Mr 

 M. Day have come across no evidence of Clelia on the island. 

 On Dominica it would be distinguished from Alsophis by the 

 uniform black dorsal colouration and by 17 dorsal scale rows 

 on the anterior trunk. The Alsophis has some irregular yellow 

 markings and 19 scale rows anteriorly. Unless and until there 

 is clear evidence of the occurrence of Clelia on Dominica it 

 should be dropped from the island list. Barbour (1930) says of 

 'Clelia clelia' that "This species is surely extinct on St 

 Lucia. . .". Long (1974) writes that "the cribo no longer 

 exists in St Lucia. . .". Dr D. Corke also reports that he has 

 found no trace of the survival of Clelia on St Lucia. 



Even greater doubts arise about the provenance of the 

 'Demerara' specimen of errabunda. The specimen had no 

 original registration number; the Museum register starts in 

 1837. A search of the early entries shows no record of 

 specimens from E. Sabine. The Museum archivist reports 

 that the trustees' minutes record donations from Capt Sabine 

 between 1818 and 1824 with, however, no indication of any 

 from the Caribbean. 



The collection has other snakes from 'Edw. Sabine'. There 

 is a male Xenodon merremi, a species widely distributed in 

 South America and known from Guyana on the basis of other 

 specimens. There are a male and a female of Oxyrhopus 

 trigeminus, not otherwise known from this part of South 

 America. 



There are also two lots of Bothrops. A female from 'Capt 

 Sabine, Berbice' and two females and a male from 'Col 

 Sabine, Demerara'. These were compared with specimens of 

 B. atrox and B. brazili from Guyana and with B. caribbaeus 

 from St Lucia. With ventral and mid-body counts of: M 

 201:26, F 205:27, F 206:29 and F 210:29 they fall within the 

 range of counts reported by Lazell (1964) for caribbaeus. The 

 postocular stripe passes across the last supralabial scale dorsal 

 to the corner of the mouth as in caribbaeus. The ventral scales 

 are laterally peppered with dark spots, as in caribbaeus and 



Fig. 4. Clelia errabunda sp. nov., BMNH 89.8.14.12. Dissection to 

 show superficial head muscles and glands (reversed). 

 Cc = constrictor colli muscle, overlaying other structures; 

 Cm = cervico-mandibular muscle; Dg = Duvernoy's gland; 

 Hg = Harder's gland; Ig = infralabial gland; 

 Ql = quadrato-labial ligament; Sg = supralabial gland; 

 Rg = rictal gland. 



brazili and unlike atrox. In all, the dorsal bands are indistinct. 

 In two of the Demerara specimens the bands can be seen to 

 have parallel sides or to converge towards the dorsal midline 

 as described by Lazell for caribbaeus. The third shows some 

 diverging bands. The Guyana atrox have dark patches on the 

 lower flanks which extend onto the ventrals unlike these 

 Sabine specimens. The brazili have dark bordered bands 

 which converge towards the midline. These observations 

 suggest that the 'Berbice' and 'Demerara' specimens are most 

 probably caribbaeus, a species known only from St Lucia. 

 The above considerations raise a doubt that Sabine collected 

 any specimens in Guyana. 



It is evident that Sabine was long enough, supposedly in 

 Guyana, to achieve promotion from captain to colonel; in 

 that time he may well have visited St Lucia. The locality of 

 the 'Demerara' Clelia errabunda is therefore discounted. The 

 uniform 17 scale-rows and undifferentiated vertebrals would 

 distinguish it from local Clelia clelia. 



Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril (1854) report that the Paris 

 museum has specimens of 'Brachyruton cloelia from Guy- 

 ana, Brazil, Mexico and Guadeloupe. The Guadeloupe' 

 specimen (MNHP 169) is a hatchling with counts V200, C83 

 and 19:19:19 scale rows. The tip of the heart is at V46, the 

 trachea extends beyond V90. This is clearly a specimen of 

 Clelia clelia, with an unusually low ventral count. The locality 

 is undoubtedly erroneous. 



In the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy for 1870 it 

 is reported that Cope "called attention to a large specimen of 

 Trigonocephalus ( = Bothrops) from St Lucia, of which some 

 fourteen inches was enclosed in the oesophagus and stomach 

 of a larger Oxyrhopus plumbeus ( = Clelia clelia)." Later 

 Cope (1876) wrote that, as he had previously observed, he 

 had received a specimen of Clelia clelia from Martinique(l) 

 which had swallowed a large Bothrops. Malnate (personal 

 communication) examined the specimen(s). It is ANSP 10220 

 from 'Santa Cruz', received from Mrs J.L. Endicott. 'Santa 

 Cruz' presumably means St Croix in the Virgin Islands! It is 

 unlikely to be a St Lucia locality; most of the place names are 

 French. This one specimen thus has three different geograph- 

 ical attributions! 



Malnate reports that the Clelia has 17 scale-rows through- 

 out and an undifferentiated vertebral scale row; it therefore 

 fits C. errabunda. The half-swallowed Bothrops has 25 scale 

 rows about midbody, falling to 19 rows. Lazell (1964) gives 



