A Rare Red Morph of a Buff-striped Keelback, Amphiesma stolatum (Linnaeus 1758), in Sawantwadi City, Maharashtra, India

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 25(1):48–49 • APR 2018
A Rare Red Morph of a Buff-striped Keelback,
Amphiesma stolatum (Linnaeus 1758),
in Sawantwadi City, Maharashtra, India
Lalit Ghadi1 and Kishor Shirkande2
1Military Boys’ Hostel, Sawantwadi City, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra 416510, India (lalitghadi55@gmail.com)
2Department of Zoology, Prof. Ramkrishna More College of Science, Akurdi, Pune 411044, India (wildlife.kishor@gmail.com)
Photographs by the senior author.
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE ARTICLES
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin:
On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190
The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada:
A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
RESEARCH ARTICLES
The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204
The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
............................................. Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
CONSERVATION ALERT
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220
More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223
The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
HUSBANDRY
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
PROFILE
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
COMMENTARY
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
BOOK REVIEW
Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox,
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CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245
NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247
NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248
EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251
FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
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IRCF
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY
Copyright © 2018. Lalit Ghadi. All rights reserved.
WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL
Buff-striped Keelbacks (Amphiesma stolatum) are non-
venomous natricid snakes that range throughout the
Indian Subcontinent. These predominantly diurnal snakes
are most frequently encountered during the rainy season
(June–September) when males are searching for mates and
females are laying eggs (Whitaker and Captain 2004; Pryce et
al. 2016). Typical dorsal ground color of the head and body is
olive-brown to gray with two chrome-yellow dorsolateral lines
and a series of black crossbands; sides of the head are either
yellow or white; the venter is pale yellowish or cream. During
the mating season, females temporarily acquire some reddish
coloration around the neck. Red morphs have been encoun-
tered some 600 km to the south in Manipal (http://manipal-
blog.com/2011/09/12/manipal-snake-watch/) and Bangalore
Fig. 1. Red color morph of a Buff-striped Keelback (Amphiesma stola-
tum) found in a small puddle in Sawantwadi City, Sindhudurg District,
Maharashtra, India.
Fig. 2. The head of a red Buff-striped Keelback (Amphiesma stolatum) from
Sawantwadi City showing characteristic scalation.
IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324

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(http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-buff-striped-keelback-
amphiesma-sp-bangalore-india-thebuff-striped-138945068.
html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=0CA2AF1F-BC6F-4009-
8AD2-03FA2F585), Karnataka, but we are unaware of
reports of this color variant from elsewhere in India.
At about 1400 h on 4 July 2017, the senior author
responded to a rescue call at the Military Boys’ Hostel in
Sawantwadi (15.90°N, 73.81°E, elevation 112 m), where
he found a red female Buff-striped Keelback with an olive-
brown head laying in a puddle (Fig. 1). Total length was 533
mm and the snake appeared to have just eaten. Despite the
unusual coloration, meristics and pattern elements (Figs. 2 &
3) were well within ranges listed by Whitaker and Captain
(2004): 8 supralabials, the 3rd to 5th touching the eye, 148
(118–161) ventrals, and 77 (46–89) paired subcaudals; dor-
solateral lines (albeit red rather than yellow) and black cross-
bands were present.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for support provided by Dr. Ganesh
Margaj Sir, Assistant Professor of Zoology, SPK College of
Sawantwadi. We also thank Prof. Siddhesh Nerurkar and
the final-year students of B.S. Bandekar College of Fine
Arts, Sawantwadi, Batch 2017–18 for assistance in docu-
menting the specimen, the Sawantwadi Forest Department,
and Mr. Aniket R. Kadam, founder of the Wildlife Welfare
Association (WWA) Thane, for ongoing support.
Literature Cited
Pryce, D., J. Thorpe, S. Kulkarni, and T.R. Lewis. 2016. Amphiesma stolatum
(Striped Keelback): Habitat and reproduction. Herpetological Bulletin 136:
37–38
Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India, The Field Guide. Draco Books,
Chennai, India.
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 25(1):48–49 • APR 2018GHADI AND SHIRKANDE
Fig. 3. A red Buff-striped Keelback (Amphiesma stolatum) from Sawantwadi
City showing characteristic pattern elements.