Chrysopelea paradisi H. Boie

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 136-138

Chrysopelea paradisi H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827— Native.

Chrysopelea paradisi H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827: 547. Neotype: RMNH.RENA.885, designated by Mertens (1968: 203). Type locality: “ Java ”, Indonesia.

Paradise Gliding Snake

( Figure 16C )

Singapore records.

Chrysopelea ornata (non Shaw, 1802)— Dennys, 1880a: 3.— Dennys, 1881b: 3.— Blanford, 1881: 215.—Sclater, 1891a: 53.— Davison, 1892: 90.— Boulenger, 1896: 197.— Flower, 1899: 682.— Hanitsch, 1908: 44.— de Rooij, 1917: 212.—Sworder, 1923: 67.—Sworder, 1924a: 20 (Pulau Ayer Merbau).

Chrysopelea ornata var. A— Flower, 1896: 870.— Hanitsch, 1898: 820.

Chrysopelaea [sic] ornata (non Shaw, 1802)—Ridley, 1899: 209.

Chrysophelaea [sic] ornata var. A— Hanitsch, 1912b: 18.

Chrysoplea [sic] ornata (non Shaw, 1802)— Buddle, 1929: 40 (Sembawang Naval Base [= SML]).

Chrysopelea paradisii — Harman, 1961: 182.

Chrysopelea paradisi — de Haas, 1950: 586.—D.S. Johnson, 1964: 27.— Choo-Toh et al., 1985: 122 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).—F. Lim, 1988: 4 (Nee Soon [ NSSF]).—K. Lim & F. Lim, 1988a: 27 (Palm Valley [ SBG]).—K. Lim & F. Lim, 1988b: 49 (Pulau Ubin).—L.M. Chou, 1988a: 58 (Fraser & Neave [Alexandra Road]; Kent Ridge Campus [ NUS].— Hall, 1988: 89 (Pasir Panjang Hill).—K. Lim, 1989b: 19 (Coralarium [Sentosa]).—K. Lim, 1989e: 38 (Old Upper Thomson Road).—F.L.K. Lim & M.T.-M. Lee, 1989: 116.—K. Lim, 1990a: 8 (Musical Fountain [Sentosa]; Yishun Heronry [ SKB].—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 54.— Anonymous, 1991b: 13.—K.K.P. Lim, 1991a: 3 (King’s Avenue; Neo Tiew Lane Track 6 [ LCK]).—K.K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1991: 5 (Mount Faber Park ).—Subharaj & K.K.P. Lim, 1991b: (Lorong Ayam Denak [ LCK]; Neo Tiew Road [ LCK]).— F.L.K. Lim, 1991: 68.—K.K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1992: 7 (Choa Chu Kang Road [ CCK]; Cranwell Road; Mandai Track 15; Kent Ridge [ NUS]; Mandai Road; Neo Tiew Road [ LCK]; Old Holland Road [ CF]; Old Upper Thomson Road; Parkway Parade [in a car, possibly from Mandai]; Pulau Ubin; Ulu Sembawang Track; Upper Peirce Reservoir Road; Upper Thomson Road).—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 68, 146.—Wee, 1992: 74 (Lower Peirce Reservoir Park).—E.K. Chua, 1993: 57.—K.K.P. Lim, 1993a: 3 (Malcolm Road; Pulau Ubin; Rifle Range Road; Siloso Road [Sentosa]).—K.K.P. Lim, 1993b: 2 (Lim Chu Kang Road [ LCK]; Lower Peirce Reservoir Road [ LPRP]; Neo Tiew Road [ LCK]; Rifle Range Road).—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 6 (Island Club Road [ SICC]; Upper Peirce Reservoir Road).—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 7 (Botanic Gardens).—R. Subaraj, 1994: 11 (Fern Valley [ BTNR]).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—L.M. Chou, 1995: 148.—R. Subaraj et al., 1995: 3 (Rifle Range Road).—K. Lim et al., 1995: 14 (Upper Thomson Road).—K.Lim, 1995:16(Coralarium [Sentosa]; Mount Serapong[Sentosa]; Palm Valley Road [ SBG]; Pulau Ubin; Sungei Buloh Nature Park [= SBWR]).—R. Subaraj, 1995: 35 (Pulau Ubin).—R. Subaraj, 1996: 101.— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 333.—R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 379.— Cox et al., 1998: 67.—Chan-ard et al., 1999: 31.—E.K. Chua, 2000: 107.—E.K. Chua, 2002: 107.—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 147.—Socha, 2002: 603.— Anonymous, 2003: 92 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).— de Lang & Vogel, 2005: 109.—Socha & Labarbera, 2005: 1827.—Socha et al., 2005: 1818.—Socha, 2006: 3359.—Sharma, 2007: 188.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 97, 160.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2008: 83.—R. Subaraj, 2008: 110.—T.M. Leong & Foo, 2009: 311, 316.— Das, 2010: 272.—Socha et al., 2010: 3.—H.H. Tan, 2010: 641.—L.L. Grismer, 2011a: 184.—T.M. Leong & C.K. Wai, 2011: 48.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 272.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 68, 97, 160.— Das, 2012a: 31.— Ang et al., 2012: 57 (Hort Park).—L.K. Wang et al., 2012: 84, 144.— Chan & D’Rozario, 2013: 52–58 (Botanic Gardens).— Chim, 2014: 112, 114 (Saint John’s Island).—H.H. Tan, 2014g: 229 (Choa Chu Kang Street 64 [ CCK]).—T.H.T. Tan, 2014g: 317 (Hillview Road-Hume Avenue).—Thomas & Boopal, 2014: 51.—Wallach et al., 2014: 168.—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 193.—E.K. Chua, 2015: 51.—R. Subaraj, 2015: 25, 52 (Mandai Range Forest; Night Safari).—S. Subaraj, 2015: 5, 6 (Mandai Range Forest; Night Safari).—E.K. Chua et al., 2016: 111.— Kaiser et al., 2016: 8488.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2016: 181 (Pulau Tekong).—T. Ng, 2017: 14.—W. Wong, 2017: 52.— Das, 2018: 39.—O’Shea, 2018: 132.— Morgany, 2018b: 136 (Labrador Park).—E. Goh, 2019: 93 (Pulau Ubin).—H.C. Ho et al., 2019: 125 (Alexandra Woodlands).—H.T.W. Tan et al., 2019: 131, 134, 135 (Kent Ridge Park; National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus).—S.H. Tan & Chapman, 2019: 67 (Boon Tiong Road; Margaret Drive).—R.C.H. Teo & Thomas, 2019: 161, 181 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).— Charlton, 2020: 149–150 (Pasir Ris [ PRP]; Sungei Buloh [ SBWR]).—K.K.P. Lim, 2020: 4 (Dunearn Road; Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).—H.B. Thio, 2021: 1 (Mount Faber Road).—Thirumurugan & R. Tan, 2022: 1 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).

Chrysopelea chrysochlora (non Linnaeus, 1758)—L.M. Chou et al., 1980: 71.

Chrysopelea paradisis [sic]—F.L.K. Lim, 1984: 19.

Chrysopelea paradisi paradisi — David & Vogel, 1996: 71.— Iskandar & Colijn, 2001: 49.— de Lang, 2017: 118.

Chrysopelea peleas — Cross, 2020b: 2 (Dunearn Road).— Cross, 2020j: 1 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020l: 1 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020m: 2, 5 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020n: 2, 7 (Dunearn Road; Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).

Remarks. Before Smith (1943) removed C. paradisi from the synonymy of C. ornata , records of C. paradisi from Singapore were listed under C. ornata . Nonetheless, C. paradisi was first reported from Singapore by specimens collected by Dennys ( Dennys 1880a; Blanford 1881). Compared to A. prasina , very few specimens of C. paradisi were collected historically, but it was still regarded as common as A. prasina (Hanitsch 1908; Sworder 1923). Much like A. prasina , C. paradisi went unreported for 32 years ( Table 2 ) in the time between Buddle (1929) and Harman (1961). There are several museum specimens at LKCNHM from that time period, and Cross (2020n) recorded several individuals in 1944 and 1945 that he misidentified as C. pelias ( Lim 2020) . Chrysopelea paradisi is common throughout Singapore and has been frequently reported since 1985 (see records above), but just like A. prasina , it is uncommon on PT ( Lim et al. 2016). Studies investigating the gliding mechanics of C. paradisi were performed in Singapore (e.g., Socha 2002; Socha & Labarbera 2005; Socha et al. 2010).

Occurrence. Widespread. Common.

Singapore conservation status. Least Concern.

Conservation priority. Lowest.

IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2022].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : BMNH 1880.9 .10.21 (no date) , BMNH1971.791 (no date) , ZRC.2.3611– ZRC.2.3612, ZRC.2.3617, ZRC.2.6436 (no date), ZRC.2.5901 (24-Apr-1934) , ZRC.2.3622 (1937), ZRC.2.3623 (Mar-1938) , ZRC.2.3610 (1948), ZRC.2.3590 (Apr-1950) , ZRC.2.3592 (Jun-1954) ; Botanic Gardens: ZRC.2.3641 (no date), ZRC.2.3630 (24-Oct-1900) , ZRC.2.6739 (15-May-2008) ; Bukit Timah [ NUS] : ZRC.2.4255 (10-Mar-1989) ; Bukit Timah Nature Reserve : ZRC.2.6810 (08-Apr-2009) ; Changi : ZRC.2.3593 (Feb-1928) ; Chip Bee Gardens : ZRC.2.6961 (07-Feb-2012) ; Kangkar : ZRC.2.4254 (09-Dec-1980) ; Kent Ridge [ NUS] : ZRC.2.3359 (10-Mar-1992) , ZRC.2.6372 (03-Dec-2003) , ZRC.2.7235 (13-Jan-2016) ; Lim Chu Kang : ZRC.2.7105 (04-Nov-2013) , ZRC.2.7244 (08-Nov-2016) ; Mandai Lake Road : ZRC.2.2603 (Mar-1990) ; Mount Faber: ZRC. 2.5514 – ZRC.2.5515 (1986); Pasir Panjang : ZRC.2.3605 (26-Oct-1898) ; Pulau Senang: ZRC.2.3627 (Feb-1938) ; Rifle Range Road : ZRC.2.6062 (12-Feb-2004) , ZRC.2.6840 (21-Aug-2009) ; Sentosa : ZRC.2.5892 (01-Feb-2003) , ZRC.2.6912 (04-May-2008) ; Singapore General Hospital : ZRC.2.6949 (Jan-2011) ; St. John’s Island : ZRC.2.6066 (27-May-2004) ; Tanglin Road: ZRC.2.4151 (29-Sep-1978) , ZRC.2.5075 (07-Aug-2001) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): AMNH, CAS, NMW, SMNS, UF, ZMO; Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: UWBM; Chequers Boarding House [= EtonHouse International School Thomson]: MCZ; University of Malaya [= NUS Bukit Timah]: BPBM.

Singapore localities. Alexandra Road—Alexandra Woodlands—Boon Tiong Road—Bukit Timah Nature Reserve— Changi—Chip Bee Gardens—Choa Chu Kang—Clementi Forest—Cranwell Road—Dunearn Road— EtonHouse International School Thomson—Hillview—Hort Park—Kangkar—Kent Ridge Park—King’s Avenue—Labrador Park—Lim Chu Kang—Lower Peirce Reservoir Park—Malcolm Road—Mandai Lake Road—Mandai Range Forest—Mandai Road—Mandai Track 15—Margaret Drive—Mount Faber Park —National University of Singapore Bukit Timah Campus—National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Night Safari—Old Upper Thomson Road—Pasir Panjang Hill—Pasir Ris Park—Pulau Ayer Merbau—Pulau Senang—Pulau Tekong—Pulau Ubin—Rifle Range Road—Saint John’s Island—Sembcorp Marine Ltd.—Sentosa— Singapore Botanic Gardens— Singapore Island Country Club—Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve—Sungei Khatib Bongsu—Tanglin Road—Ulu Sembawang Forest—Upper Peirce Reservoir Road—Upper Thomson Road.

Figures

FIGURE 16. A) Ahaetulla mycterizans, B) Ahaetulla prasina C) Chrysopelea paradisi, D) Chrysopelea pelias, E) Dendrelaphis caudolineatus, F) Dendrelaphis cyanochloris, G) Dendrelaphis formosus, and H) Dendrelaphis haasi. Photographs by: Alex Figueroa [A–B, E, G–H], Kelvin K.P. Lim [C], Joys Tan [D], and Law Ing Sind [F].