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All articles available online at http://www.salamandra-journal.com
© 2011 Deutsche Gesellscha für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT), Rheinbach, Germany
Correspondence
SALAMANDRA 47(2) 112–115 20 May 2011 ISSN 0036–3375
New record of Corallus cropanii (Boidae, Boinae):
a rare snake from the Vale do Ribeira, State of São Paulo, Brazil
P R. M-F , M R. D , L F. C
F L. F
1) Laboratório de Herpetologia, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brazil, 1500, São Paulo, SP, CEP: 05503-900, Brazil
2) Departamento de Agroindústria, Alimentos e Nutrição. Escola Superior de Agronomia “Luiz de Queiroz” – ESALQ/USP,
Av. Pádua Dias, 11 C.P.: 9, Piracicaba, SP, CEP: 13418-900, Brazil
Correspondig author: F L. F, e-mail: franco@butantan.gov.br
Manuscript received: 9 December 2010
e boid genus Corallus D, is comprised of nine
Neotropical species (H et al. ): Corallus an-
nulatus (C, ), Corallus batesii (G, ), Co-
rallus blombergi (R V, ), Coral-
lus caninus (L, ), Corallus cookii G, ,
Corallus cropanii (H, ), Corallus grenadensis (B-
, ), Corallus hortulanus (L, ), and
Corallus ruschenbergerii (C, ). e most conspic-
uous morphological attributes of representatives of these
species are the laterally compressed body, robust head,
slim neck, and the presence of deep pits in some of the la-
bial scales (H a, ). Species of Corallus
are distributed from northern Central American to south-
ern Brazil, including Trinidad and Tobago and islands of
the south Caribbean. Four species occur in Brazil: Corallus
batesii, C. caninus, C. cropanii, and C. hortulanus.
H () originally described Corallus cropanii as
Xenoboa cropanii based on a single specimen (adult male,
IBSP ., snout–vent length (SVL) = mm; tail
length (TL) = mm; head length (HL) = . mm; Fig-
ure ) from Miracatu, Vale do Ribeira, State of São Paulo,
Brazil (°’ S, °’ W, m elevation) (Figure ). Un-
fortunately, this holotype was probably lost in the recent
re in the herpetological collection of Institute Butantan
(K ) on March th, . Based on osteologi-
cal characters, K () regarded Xenoboa as a junior
synonym of Corallus, and C. cropanii as a sister species of
C. caninus. According to the literature, this species is vi-
viparous, semi-arboreal, and preys upon small mammals,
similar to other members of the genus (H b,
M C , M et al. ).
Corallus cropanii shows in vivo an olive-beige dorsal col-
ouration, with dark brown rhomboidal spots that appear
from the neck as far as the tail (H ). e ventral
shields are yellow with the borders being stained with dark
brown; these stains progressively become larger, darkening
the abdomen, towards the tail.
Until recently, only four specimens (including the above
mentioned holotype) of C. cropanii were deposited in her-
petological collections: three in the Coleção Herpetológica
“Alphonse Richard Hoge”, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo,
Figure 1. Holotype of Corallus cropanii (adult, male, IBSP 15.200)
from the Miracatu municipality, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Photo:
A R. H.
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Brazil (IBSP), and one in the American Museum of Natu-
ral History, New York, United States of America (AMNH).
All specimens of Corallus cropanii in both collections
are from the Atlantic Forest domain, a bioma that has by
now been reduced to just of its original expanse, and
its remnants are very fragmented. Nevertheless, it still ac-
commodates a high degree of biodiversity and is consid-
ered a conservation hotspot (G-L C
). e Ribeira de Iguape River basin and the Estuary
Complex Lagoon of Iguape, Cananéia and Paranaguá, also
known as Vale do Ribeira, has an area of . km² cov-
ered by well-preserved Atlantic Forest (EPM ) (Fig-
ure).
e second known specimen (adult male, AMNH
, ex IBSP , SVL = mm; TL = mm; HL =
mm; Figure ) came from Padre Anchieta Railway Sta-
tion (°’ S, °’ W, m elevation) (Figure ), Pedro
de Toledo municipality, State of São Paulo. A doubtful col-
lection locality is attributed to the third specimen (adult
male, IBSP ., SVL = mm; TL = mm; HL =
. mm; Figure ), received from the Santos railway sta-
tion (Figure ) in the state of São Paulo. Due to its being a
central economic covered hub of importance, Santos City
used to receive a lot of snakes from the southern coast of
São Paulo, including the Vale do Ribeira, and sent them
on as parcels to IBSP via the railway. Given that all other
specimens were from Vale do Ribeira, it is more likely this
specimen was originally from that area and only shipped
from Santos. is specimen was saved from the re and is
still in the IBSP collection.
Aer thirty years without records of this species, a
fourth specimen (head, tail and body’s skin – adult female,
Figure 2. All known records of Corallus cropanii – Holotype: Miracatu; 2nd specimen: Pedro de Toledo, Padre Anchieta railway
station; 3rd specimen: Santos railway station (doubtful locality); 4th specimen: Eldorado, Aboboral district; and 5th specimen: Sete
Barras, Guapiruvu district.
Figure 3. Second specimen of Corallus cropanii (AMNH 92997,
ex IBSP 19.663) from the Padre Anchieta Railway Station, Pedro
de Toledo municipality, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Photo: L
P.
Figure 4. ird specimen of Corallus cropanii (adult, male IBSP
41.510) allegedly from the Santos railway station, State of São
Paulo, Brazil (doubtful locality).
IBSP ., SVL = mm; TL = mm; HL = . mm;
Figure ) (M et al. ) was found on May
in the Eldorado municipality, Aboboral district (°’ S,
°’ W, m elevation, Figure ), at the base of a moun-
tain ridge called Serra do Aboboral, near the Ribeira de
Iguape River. e snake was crossing an unpaved road be-
tween a preserved forest area and a banana plantation, at
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h. Unfortunately, this specimen was also lost in the
re, although the skull is still preserved.
In January , ca. : h, a h specimen of Coral-
lus cropanii was killed by farm workers, but fortunately re-
corded by them with a photograph (Figure ). is adult
snake (ca. m in total length and of indeterminate gen-
der) is from Guapiruvu (approximately °’ S, °’ W,
m, Figure ), a district of Sete Barras, close to the El-
dorado municipality, located in Eta River basin, a tribu-
tary of the middle portion of the Ribeira de Iguape Riv-
er. e snake was crossing an unpaved road near a small
unnamed stream, close to a forest reserve and cultivated
elds (banana-nanica Musa cavendishii (L ex P-
, ), papaya Carica papaya (L, ), and
juçara palm tree Euterpe edulis (M, )). ese
crops grow under the forest canopy (cabruca). is system
is apparently not so hard on the environment, since culti-
vation is done among existing native trees and preserves
the canopy. e same system is also used in cocoa planta-
tions in southern Bahia (northeastern Brazil), where diver-
sity is apparently not aected (A ).
Today, Corallus cropanii is included in the Red List of
the State of São Paulo (SMA ) and regarded as en-
dangered, according to the International Union for Con-
servation of Nature (IUCN , MMA ). e rar-
ity of this species, the rapidly advancing deforestation of
the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and the re tragedy that de-
stroyed about of snake specimens, including two C.
cropanii, housed in one of the largest snake collections in
the world (with more than , specimens), made ex-
plicit the need of this scientic publication reviewing all
the data and knowledge available for this species. Not sur-
prisingly, this threatened species inhabits the most repre-
sentative preserved area of Atlantic Forest in southeastern
Brazil, and we strongly recommend that eorts to preserve
and interconnect the remaining natural areas of theVale do
Ribeira be stepped up.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to V J. G, L A. C. C (In-
stituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil), V C. T (Museu
de Zoologia, USP, São Paulo, Brazil), F F. C (Instituto
de Biociências, USP, São Paulo, Brazil). P P (Instituto
Butantan), R C. G (Instituto Butantan), C
H, T A M, and the anon-
ymous referees for suggestions and their critical reviews of the
manuscript. We are also grateful to G O. O,
H Z (Museu de Zoologia, USP), A R. H
(Instituto Butantan, in memoriam), P B (Museu de
Zoologia, USP), L P. P (e University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia), and O A. V. M (Instituto Butan-
tan) for photos, and to L P. P for taking the meas-
urements of four voucher specimens.
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