First record of the Cuban Many-ringed Wormlizard, Amphisbaena barbouri (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae), from an offshore cay

Abstract

Amphisbaena barbouri Gans and Alexander, 1962 is a Cuban endemic distributed in the western half of the main island (Rodríguez et al. 2013). This species has been reported at about 15 sites from Pinar del Río to Cienfuegos provinces (Rodríguez et al. 2013; iNaturalist 2020; Fig. 1). On 10 August 2017 we found an adult A. barbouri (173 mm SVL, 14 mm tail length; Fig. 2) near the biological station at Cayo Galindo (23.2547, -80.8725; 1 m a.s.l.; point 4 in Fig. 1). This key is located towards the westernmost end of the Archipiélago de Sabana-Camagüey cay system, in Martí Municipality, Matanzas Province (Fig. 1). This finding constitutes the first record of the species from an offshore cay. It also represents the northernmost record, just 4 km southeast of the northernmost point of the Cuban archipelago (i.e., Cayo Cruz del Padre). The distribution of A. barbouri is now extended about 75 km east-northeast of Matanzas, the nearest published record (Gans & Alexander 1962).