A New Amphisbaenian from Cuba

Abstract

-A new species of Amphisbaena is described from the Cabo Cruz region of eastern Cuba. It shares with two other Cuban species, Amphisbaena barbouri (new rank) and A. cubana, fusion of the second supralabial and ocular scales. It is a pallid, long-tailed, xerophilic species associated with dry, coastal limestone habitats. In the West Indies, amphisbaenians occur only on the island banks of Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991). Three species are currently recognized from Cuba: Amphisbaena blanoides, A. palirostrata, and A. cubana. The first two occur in western Cuba and were placed in the genus Cadea until recently (Hedges, 1996; Powell et al., 1996). A fourth taxon, barbouri, was described as a subspecies of A. cubana (Gans and Alexander, 1962). It has a peculiar distribution in west-central Cuba in that it is known only from coastal or near-coastal localities in the north (Havana-Matanzas) and south (Bay of Pigs-Cienfuegos). Specimens from east and west (including Isla de Juventud) of these areas are assigned to the nominate subspecies (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991) and no morphologically intermediate specimens are known despite the close proximity of some localities and apparent sympatry at Soledad, Cienfuegos Province (Gans and Alexander, 1962). For these reasons (and, see below), we choose to recognize A. barbouri at the species level. During July, 1994, we collected along the south coast of eastern Cuba (Oriente) in the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba. Although the entire coast between Cabo Cruz in the west and Cabo Maisi in the east is generally dry, the areas near the two capes are more xeric 3Author for correspondence and reprints. E-mail: sbhl@psu.edu than the intermediate coast. In the western xeric area (Meseta de Cabo Cruz), between Cabo Cruz and Boca del Toro, a series of limestone terraces descends stepwise to the coast, and the xeric scrub vegetation grows within solution holes in the limestone. The conditions are very reminiscent of the xeric, scrub-covered, terraced limestone on the southern part of the Barahona Peninsula in Hispaniola. Within a kilometer to the west of Boca del Toro we collected four specimens of a distinctive, slender, pale species of Amphisbaena. A fifth specimen of this new species, also from the Cabo Cruz region, was found among specimens of A. cubana in the collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. MATERIALS AND METHODS Scale counts were taken according to the criteria of Gans and Alexander (1962); measurements of head scales were taken with a dissecting microscope and digital readout micrometer caliper. The count of total half-annular segments of the head is a count of the segments dorsal to the splitting of the second body annulus into two half-annuli, which may be given as a total count (the number of segments in anterior halfannulus + number of segments in posterior half-annulus). Snout-vent length (SVL) and tail measurements were taken to the nearest mm by laying the specimen along a ruler. Other length measurements were made with a digital readout micrometer caliper and recorded to the nearest 0.1 mm. Drawings of head scalation 92 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.180 on Mon, 25 Apr 2016 06:02:31 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NEW CUBAN AMPHISBAENIAN FIG. 1. Amphisbaena carlgansi, from the type-locality in Granma Province, Cuba. were made with a camera lucida attachment to a Wild dissecting microscope. Museum abbreviations follow standardized usage (Leviton et al., 1985), except for MNHNCU, which refers to the collection of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Havana, Cuba). Amphisbaena carlgansi, sp. nov. Figs. 1-2 Holotype.-MNHNCU 4421, a female, taken on the second limestone terrace above the sea, within 1 km west of Boca del Toro, Granma Province, Cuba, ca. 50 m. Collected on 8 July 1994 by Richard Thomas; fixed in 80-90% ethanol. Original field tag number 193876.