Trachischium apteii: A new species of Worm-eating Snake from Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Members of the Natricid Snake genus Trachischium are commonly known as Slender Snakes or Worm-eating Snakes. They are fossorial in nature (live underground in burrows) and are distributed in montane ranges of India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The genus currently contains six species: Trachischium fuscum, Trachischium guentheri, Trachischium laeve, Trachischium monticola, Trachischium sushantai, and Trachischium tenuiceps. The Snakes of this genus are poorly studied, likely due to their fossorial nature; however, these are common elements of high-elevation herpetofaunal assemblages.

In a paper published in the journal Comptes Rendes Biologies on 19 November 2019, Harshal Bhosale of the Bombay Natural History Society,  Gaurang Gowande of the Department of Biotechnology at Fergusson College, and the Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity at Abasaheb Garware College, and Zeeshan Mirza of the National Centre for Biological Sciences at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, describe a new species of Trachischium from Arunachal Pradesh State in India.

In the course of a herpetological investigation, Bhosale et al. visited Talle Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India, and collected three specimens of a Trachischium species that resembled Trachischium monticola in bearing 15 dorsal scale rows, but did differed from it in some aspects, primarily their colouration. In order to ascertain the identity of the specimens from Talle Valley, type material of Trachischium in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London, as well as non-type material in the collection of Bombay Natural History Society in Mumbai were examined. Based on our observations, the specimens from Talle valley appear to be a form that is distinct from Trachischium monticola and other congeners, and is therefore described as a new species.

The new species is named Trachischium apteii, in honour of Deepak Apte, the Director of the Bombay Natural History Society, a marine biologist and conservationist, for his contribution to conservation, and for his continued support to Harshal Bhosale and to the Arunachal Expedition, which led to the discovery of the new species.

The species was found during an expedition to Arunachal Pradesh which ran from 25 June 2019 to 5 August 2019, along with other members of the genus. The study was conducted under permits issued by the Forest Department of Arunachal Pradesh. Three specimens of the new genus were collected in the field by hand, were photographed, and later two specimens were euthanized within 24 hours of capture. The other specimen was released after recording scalation and other morphometric data and clipping a single scale for molecular work. The Snakes were found under logs during a daytime search. The individuals were likely seeking refuge under the logs during the day. Locals informed the scientific team that the Snakes have also been found while digging during non-monsoon seasons.

Trachischium apteii, holotype female specimen, BNHS 3550, in life. Bhosale et al. (2019).

Trachischium apteii  is a large-sized member of the genus, with the female specimen collected having a total length of 331 mm. The tail comprises 11-13% of the total length. Dorsal scales smooth and glossy, arranged in 15 rows throughout the body. The Snakes are dark brown to black with faint dorsal longitudinal lines, lacking yellow patch on the neck and the belly being yellowish.

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Toxicocalamus ernstmayri: A new species of Worm-eating Snake from the Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea.

Worm-eating Snakes, Toxicocalamus, are Elapid Snakes known from Papua New Guinea and some nearby island groups. They are burrowing Snakes, which get their name from their habit of eating Oligochaete Earthworms. There are currently eleven described species, though this is thought to be an underestimation, with the most numerous species currently described, Toxicocalamus loriae, thought likely to be a cluster of similar species and other unknown species likely to be dwelling in underexplored areas of Papua New Guinea.

In a paper published in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology on 26 July 2015, Mark O'Shea of the West Midland Safari Park and the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Wolverhampton, Fred Parker of Townsville in Queensland, Australia and Hinrich Kaiser of the Department of Biology at Victor Valley College and the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History, describe a new species of Worm-Eating Snake from the Star Mountains in Western Province, Papua New Guinea.

The new species is named Toxicocalamus ernstmayri, in honour of the ornithologist and evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr, It is described from a single specimen killed by a local resident at Wangbin village in the Star Mountains in December 1969 and subsequently obtained by Fred Parker on behalf of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. The specimen was originally described as a specimen of Micropechis ikaheka, the New Guinea Small Eyed Snake, but re-examination of the specimen revealed it to be a previously unknown species of Toxicocalamus. The specimen is female, and larger than any previously described species in the genus, at 120 cm, and has a distinctive pattern of scales (usually a reliable way to identify species of Snakes). It was blackish in life with bright yellow markings, but has faded to a dull brown colour in preservative since death.

Toxicocalamus ernstmayri in (A) dorsal and (B) ventral view. Scale bar is 5 cm. O'Shea et al. (2015).

The discovery that the specimen is a Worm-eating Snake helps to shed some light upon the diet of the group. Most members of the genus are quite small, but the largest members, like Toxicocalamus ernstmayri, can exceed a meter in length, and a diet of Earthworms seems highly unlikely for such large snakes, particularly as they are highly venomous and apparently would be more than capable of subduing small Vertebrate prey. However no member of the genus has ever been found with a vertebrate among its stomach contents, and captive Worm-eating Snakes have refused all food other than Earthworms.

The single specimen of Toxicocalamus ernstmayri was examined for stomach contents when it was first obtained, with one Earthworm and one parasitic Nematode being found. As this is the largest Worm-eating Snake specimen known to have been examined, this finding strongly supports the theory that despite all members of the genus rely almost entirely on a diet of Earthworms.

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