Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic Paper
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Corresponding author: Truong Quang Nguyen (nqt2@yahoo.com)
Academic editor: Franco Andreone
Received: 31 Mar 2020 | Accepted: 13 Jun 2020 | Published: 17 Jun 2020
© 2020 Anh Pham, Thomas Ziegler, Truong Nguyen
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Pham AV, Ziegler T, Nguyen TQ (2020) New records and an updated checklist of snakes from Son La Province, Vietnam. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e52779. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e52779
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Son La Province is located in north-western Vietnam and the province contains a large area of 440,000 hectares of natural forest. A wide range of elevations and the complexity of landforms have given this province a great diversity of natural habitats and a high level of biodiversity potential. However, the snake fauna of Son La province is still poorly studied. Previous studies documented 56 species of snakes from this province.
As a result of our field surveys in Phu Yen, Song Ma, Thuan Chau and Van Ho districts, we report five species of snakes for the first time from Son La Province, northern Vietnam, namely Boiga cyanea, B. guangxiensis, Lycodon meridionalis (Colubridae), Protobothrops cornutus and P. mucrosquamatus (Viperidae), with novel data about morphological characters. In addition, we provide an updated checklist of 61 snake species from Son La Province. The snake fauna of Son La Province also contains a number of species of conservation concern: 11 species listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam (2007), four species listed in the IUCN Red List (2020) and four species listed in the Vietnam Governmental Decree No. 06 (2019).
Distribution, new records, morphology, taxonomy
Son La Province is located in north-western Vietnam with an area of 14,118.9 km2. The province contains a large area of 440,000 hectares of natural forest (
Based on our recent fieldwork in Son La Province between 2015 and 2017, we herein provide five new records and an updated checklist of snakes from Son La Province.
Sampling. Four field surveys were conducted in Son La Province, Vietnam: from 28 August to 4 September 2015 in the Phu Yen District; from 24 to 28 June 2016 in the Xuan Nha Nature Reserve of Van Ho District; from 24 to 26 September 2016 in the Thuan Chau District; and from 15 to 19 April 2017 in the Song Ma District (Fig.
Snakes were collected by hand between 08:00 and 22:00 h. After taking photographs in life, snake individuals were euthanised in a closed vessel with a piece of cotton wool containing ethyl acetate (
Morphological characters. Measurements, except body and tail lengths, were taken with a slide-calliper to the nearest 0.1 mm in preserved specimens; all measures on body were measured to the nearest millimetre. The number of ventral scales was counted according to
Morphological characters of the voucher specimen from Son La Province agreed well with the descriptions of
Colouration in preservative: dorsal surface greenish-grey; belly whitish-grey (Fig.
In Vietnam, this species has been recorded from Lao Cai Province in the north, southwards to Ho Chi Minh City (
The voucher specimen was collected at 19:30 h on the ground. The surrounding habitat was secondary forest, composed of small hardwoods, lianes and shrub. Air temperature was 25-30oC and relative humidity was 70-75%.
Morphological characters of the voucher specimen from Son La Province agreed well with the descriptions of
Colouration in life: dorsal surface grey, with dark spots on the anterior body; dorsolateral side light brown on anterior body; belly whitish anteriorly, grey posteriorly (Fig.
In Vietnam, this species has been recorded from Lai Chau and Lao Cai provinces in the north, southwards to Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces (
The voucher specimen was collected at 20:50 h on a tree branch, approximately 1.0 m above the ground. The surrounding habitat was disturbed evergreen karst forest of medium hardwood and shrub. Air temperature was 25-30°C and relative humidity was 70-75%.
Morphological characters of the voucher specimen from Son La Province agreed well with the descriptions of
Colouration in life: dorsal surface black, with 122 narrow yellow cross-bars on body and 35 on tail, bifurcated on the sides, enclosing dark spots; head dark black with symmetrical light markings, the most conspicuous being the one running from the eye to the margin of the snout and another stretching from the hind margin of the parietals; belly cream; lower surface of tail dark brown (Fig.
In Vietnam, this species has been reported from Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces in the north, southwards to Thanh Hoa Province (
The voucher specimen was found at 09:10 h on the ground. The surrounding habitat was secondary forest composed of medium and small hardwoods, lianes and shrub. Air temperature was 27-32°C and relative humidity was 65-70%.
Morphological characters of the voucher specimen from Son La Province agreed well with the description of
Colouration in life: dorsal head grey with dark brown marks; one stripe each side from posterior orbit to edge of the labial; dorsal surface grey-brown with serial blotches along the midbody; dorsolateral side light brown; ventral surface greyish-blue (Fig.
In Vietnam, this species has been reported from Lai Chau and Lao Cai provinces in the north, southwards to Quang Binh and Thua Thien Hue provinces (
The voucher specimen was found at 20:35 h on the ground. The surrounding habitat was secondary forest composed of medium and small hardwoods, lianes and shrub. Air temperature was 25-30°C and relative humidity was 70-80%.
Morphological characters of the voucher specimens from Son La agreed well with the descriptions of
Colouration in life: dorsal head brown, paler below; dorsum greyish-brown, with a series of large brown, dark-edged spots; a dark brown line from the eye to the angle of the mouth, edged in black; ventral surface brownish with white blotches; dorsal tail light brown, with a series of conspicuous black spots (Fig.
In Vietnam, this species has been reported from Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces in the north, southwards to Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces (
The voucher specimens were found between 19:00 and 22:30 h on forest paths. The surrounding habitat was secondary forest composed of medium and small hardwoods, lianes and shrub. Air temperature was 22-27°C and relative humidity was 75-85%.
Amongst four survey sites in Son La Province, the snake species number recorded in Thuan Chau District was highest (47), followed by Phu Yen District (35 species), Song Ma District (33 species) and Van Ho District (29 species). The forest area in Thuan Chau District (63,260 ha) is larger and the habitat quality is better than those in other districts (forest area of Phu Yen District: 59,493 ha, Song Ma District: 55,814 ha and Van Ho District: 51,528 ha, respectively) (
In terms of conservation concern, Son La Province also harbours a high number of threatened snake species: 11 species listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam (
List of snake species recorded from Son La Province, Vietnam [Decree 06 (2019) = The Governmental Decree No 06/2019/ND-CP, dated 22 January 2019 by the Government of Vietnam on the management of endangered wild flora and fauna. Group IB: prohibited exploitation and use for commercial purpose, Group IIB: limited exploitation and use for commercial purpose; RBVN (2007) = Vietnam Red Data Book (
Name |
Previous record |
RBVN 2007 |
IUCN 2020 |
Decree 06 2019 |
Typhlopidae |
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Indotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803) |
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Pythonidae |
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Python molurus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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CR |
VU |
IIB |
Xenopeltidae |
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Xenopeltis unicolor Reinwardt, 1827 |
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Colubridae |
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Calamaria pavimentata Dumeril, Bibron & Dumerin, 1854 |
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Ahaetulla prasina (Boie, 1827) |
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Boiga cyanea (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril, 1854) |
This study |
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Boiga guangxiensis Wen, 1998 |
This study |
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Boiga multomaculata (Boie, 1827) |
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Chrysopelea ornata (Shaw, 1802) |
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Coelognathus radiatus (Boie, 1827) |
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EN |
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Dendrelaphis ngansonensis (Bourret, 1935) |
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Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, 1789) |
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Euprepiophis mandarinus (Cantor, 1842) |
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VU |
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Gonyosoma frenatum (Gray, 1853) |
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Gonyosoma prasinus (Blyth, 1854) |
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VU |
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Liopeltis frenatus (Gunther, 1858) |
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Lycodon fasciatus (Anderson, 1879) |
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Lycodon futsingensis (Pope, 1928) |
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Lycodon meridionalis (Bourret, 1935) |
This study |
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Lycodon subcinctus Boie, 1827 |
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Oligodon catenatus (Blyth, 1854) |
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Oligodon chinensis (Gunther, 1888) |
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Oligodon fasciolatus (Günther, 1864) |
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Oreocryptophis porphyraceus (Cantor, 1839) |
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VU |
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Elaphe moellendorffi (Boettger, 1886) |
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VU |
VU |
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Orthriophis taeniurus (Cope, 1861) |
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Ptyas korros (Schlegel, 1837) |
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EN |
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Ptyas multicinctus (Roux, 1907) |
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Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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EN |
IIB |
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Gonyosoma boulengeri Mocquard, 1897 |
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Sibynophis collaris (Gray, 1853) |
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Elapidae |
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Bungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801) |
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EN |
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Bungarus multicinctus Blyth, 1860 |
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Naja atra Cantor, 1842 |
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EN |
IIB |
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Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) |
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CR |
VU |
IB |
Sinomicrurus kelloggi (Pope, 1928) |
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Sinomicrurus macclellandi (Reinhardt, 1844) |
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Homalopsidae |
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Hypsiscopus plumbea (Boie, 1827) |
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Myrrophis chinensis (Gray, 1842) |
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Lamprophiidae |
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Psammodynastes pulverulentus (Boie, 1827) |
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Natricidae |
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Amphiesma stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Hebius bitaeniatum (Wall, 1925) |
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Hebius boulengeri (Gressitt, 1937) |
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Hebius chapaensis Bourret, 1934 |
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Rhabdophis chrysargos (Schlegel, 1837) |
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Rhabdophis nigrocinctus (Blyth, 1856) |
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Rhabdophis subminiatus (Schlegel, 1837) |
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Sinonatrix percarinata (Boulenger, 1899) |
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Sinonatrix yunnanensis Rao & Yang, 1998 |
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Fowlea flavipunctatus (Hallwell, 1861) |
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Pareatidae |
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Pareas carinatus (Boie, 1828) |
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Pareas hamptoni (Boulenger, 1905) |
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Pareas margaritophorus (Jan, 1866) |
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Pseudoxenodontidae |
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Pseudoxenodon macrops (Blyth, 1854) |
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Viperidae |
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Ovophis monticola (Günther, 1864) |
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Protobothrops cornutus (Smith, 1930) |
This study |
NT |
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Protobothrops mucrosquamatus (Cantor, 1839) |
This study |
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Trimeresurus albolabris Gray, 1842 |
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Trimeresurus stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925 |
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Xenodermidae |
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Achalinus timi Ziegler, Nguyen, Pham, Nguyen, Pham, Van Schingen, Nguyen & Le, 2019 |
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Parafimbrios lao Teynié, David, Lottier, Le, Vidal & Nguyen, 2015 |
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We are grateful to the directorates of Xuan Nha Nature Reserve, the People's Committee of Phu Yen, Song Ma, Thuan Chau and Van Ho districts for support of our fieldwork (Working Permit No. 22/CCKL, issued by the Forest Protection Department of Son La Province on 7 June 2012). We thank C.A.K.P. Kham, H.V. Tu, T.Q.L. Hoang, L.M. Ha, D.K.K.S. Vanh and N.B. Sung (Tay Bac University), S.V. Cao (Phu Yen District) and C.A. Lau (Thuan Chau District) for their assistance in the field and providing photos of snakes. This research was supported by the Ministry of Education and Training (Grant No. CT.2019.06.05). Research of Truong Quang Nguyen is supported by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (Project Code QTBY01.01/19-20).