Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus (Gray, 1832)

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 : 227-229

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5287.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:78E23714-8973-4755-BC94-0A751D7D2B37

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7968090

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/88502B73-FF78-B892-FF6B-42C47ABF0C9A

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus (Gray, 1832)
status

 

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus (Gray, 1832) View in CoL — Native.

Trigonocephalus purpureo-maculatus Gray, 1832 [in 1830–1832]: pl 81, caption. Holotype: BMNH 1946.1 .19.54 (formerly BM I.2.4a and 1894.6.25.15), by original designation. Type locality: “ Singapore ”.

Shore Pit Viper

( Figure 26B View FIGURE 26 )

Singapore records.

Trigonocephalus purpureo-maculatus —Gray, 1830: pl. 81.

Trimeresurus purpureus — Gray, 1842a: 48.— Gray, 1849: 8.— Ģnther, 1864: xxiv, 387.— Davison, 1892: 93.

Trigonocephalus puniceus — Cantor, 1847c: 1043.

Atropos puniceus — Duméril et al., 1854b: 1520.

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus View in CoL —Sclater,1891a:71.—Sworder, 1923:73.—Sworder, 1924a:19, 20(Pulau Senang; Pulau Sudong).— Harman, 1961: 182.—D.S. Johnson, 1964: 29.—Sharma, 1973: 236.— L.M. Chou et al., 1980: 71.—F.L.K. Lim & M.T.-M. Lee, 1989: 106, 117 (“Ponggol swamps” [= Punggol]; Sentosa).— Gopalakrishnakone, 1990: 3.—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 55.—K.K.P. Lim, 1991a: 4 (Coralarium [Sentosa]).—D.S. Johnson, 1992: 39.—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 149.—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 106.—J.K.Y. Low et al., 1994: 158.— David & Vogel, 1996: 167.— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 410.—Chan-ard et al., 1999: 37.—P.K.L. Ng & Sivasothi, 1999: 145.—E.K. Chua, 2000: 107 (Pulau Ubin).— Iskandar & Colijn, 2001: 159.— Karns et al., 2002: 488 (Pasir Ris Park Mangroves).—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 149.— Anonymous, 2003: 92 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).—K. Lee, 2003: 55.— Leviton et al., 2003: 447.— Gumprecht et al., 2004: 37.— Luther & Greenberg, 2009: 604.—E.K. Chua, 2010: 142.—H.H. Tan, 2010: 645.—Wallach et al., 2014: 742.—Mong & H.H. Tan, 2016: 266.— Cox et al., 2018: 34.—O’Shea, 2018: 602.—M.E.Y. Low & Pocklington, 2019: 156.— Figueroa & McCleary 2021: 1281 (Pasir Ris Park Mangroves).—K.H. Koh & Chanani-Parikh, 2021: 1 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).

Lachesis purpureomaculatus — Boulenger, 1896: 554.— Hanitsch, 1898: 20 (Pulau Brani).— Flower, 1899: 695.—Hanitsch, 1908: 46 (“Pulo Brani” [= Pulau Brani).— Boulenger, 1912: 217.— Hanitsch, 1912b: 17.— de Rooij, 1917: 284.— Buddle, 1929: 25 (Sembawang Naval Base [= SML]).

Lachesis purpureomaculatus var. A— Flower, 1896: 896 (Tanjong Katong).

Lachesis purpureo-maculatus —Ridley, 1899: 203 (Blakang Mati [= Sentosa]; “Toas” [= Tuas]).

Trimeresurus purpureo-maculatus — Smith, 1943: 528.

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus purpureomaculatus — de Haas, 1950: 611.—Regenass & Kramer, 1981: 180, 193–195, 201.—Golay et al., 1993: 104.

Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus — Cox et al., 1998: 96.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 119, 161.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2008: 265.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2008: 82.— Das, 2010: 304.—M.A.H. Chua, 2011: 282 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 499.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 119, 161.— Das, 2012a: 73.— Davison et al., 2012: 109.—M.F.C. Ng, 2012: 69, 146 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).— Chim, 2014: 112.—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 285.—M.A.H. Chua, 2015c: 57.—E.K. Chua et al., 2016: 110.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2016: 186 (Pulau Tekong).—J.W.L. Yeo & H.H. Tan, 2016: 20 (Pasir Ris Park Mangroves; Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).— Kurniawan et al., 2017a: 91–92.— Das, 2018: 138.—E.K. Chua, 2022: 16 (Pasir Ris Park).

Trimeresurus (Cryptelytrops) purpureomaculatus purpureomaculatus — Chanhome et al., 2011: 325.

Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) purpureomaculatus View in CoL — Charlton, 2020: 268.

“shore pit viper”—A. Tan, 2021f (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).

Remarks. Disregarding the unidentified snake seen by Raffles whose description resembles Ptyas fusca (1822) , T. purpureomaculatus was the first snake reported from Singapore (Gray 1830–1832). The holotype (BMNH 1946.1.19.54) was part of Hardwicke’s collection and was illustrated in Gray (1830–1832). This plate was published on 14 April 1832 (Wheeler 1998). No additional specimens from Singapore were recorded until Sclater (1891a) examined two specimens collected by Davison and two collected by Spon, deposited at ZSI. Davison (1892) described T. purpureomaculatus as rare and mentioned that the Raffles Museum received two specimens in 1889 from Goldney, but only one was preserved in the museum. In addition to the Hardwicke specimen, Boulenger (1896) reported two additional specimens at NHMUK collected by Dennys and Collingwood. Unlike for other species, historic authors made it a point to provide the locality where specimens of T. purpureomaculatus were taken, obviously recognising that it is a mangrove obligate, and thus confined to coastal areas. Flower (1896) collected one at Tanjong Katong, Hanitsch (1898) listed specimens from Pulau Brani, Ridley (1899) noted additional specimens at the Raffles Museum from Sentosa and Tuas, Sworder (1924a) collected specimens from Pulau Senang and Pulau Sudong, Buddle (1929) indicated two at SNB, and Harman (1961) reported it from an unknown location, likely from Changi or Pasir Panjang. Between Buddle (1929) and Harman (1961), T. purpureomaculatus went unreported for 32 years ( Table 2 View TABLE 2 ). T. purpureomaculatus was next reported from Punggol (Lim & Lee 1989), PU ( Chua 2000), PRPM ( Karns et al. 2002), SBWR ( Anonymous 2003), Pulau Semakau ( Chua 2011), and PT ( Lim et al. 2016). Not much is known concerning T. purpureomaculatus , but in Singapore it appears to be most common SBWR. Figueroa & McCleary (2021) documented a juvenile feeding on a F. leucobalia at PRPM on 25 November 2014. This species was also recently photographed being eaten by an Ophiophagus hannah on two separate occasions at SBWR, first on 1 July 2021 (Tan 2021f), and then on 16 August 2021 ( Koh & Chanani-Parikh 2021). However, given that some of the offshore islands have adequate habitat and strict restrictions against human presence and activity, they may harbour larger populations of T. purpureomaculatus . Nonetheless, on PT T. purpureomaculatus is only known from a roadkill from January 2012 ( Lim et al. 2016).

Occurrence. Restricted to mangroves of LCK, PRPM, PS, PT, PU, and SBWR. Uncommon.

Singapore conservation status. Vulnerable.

Conservation priority. Highest.

IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2022].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : BMNH 1868.1 .27.21 (no date) , BMNH 1888.7 .10.3(no date) , BMNH1930.12 .2.18(no date) , BMNH1946.1 .19.54(no date)[holotype] , ZRC.2.2912 (no date), ZRC.2.2913 (1986); Changi : ZRC.2.5906 (07-Mar-1933) ; Kranji : ZRC.2.2905 (12-Apr-1923) , ZRC.2.2908 (01-May-1923) ; Lim Chu Kang Mangroves: ZRC.2.6909 (05-Apr-2010) ; Pandan Forest Reserve [Sungei Pandan] : ZRC.2.2910 (Aug-1934) ; Pasir Panjang: ZRC.2.2906 (Apr-1923) ; Pasir Ris Park Mangroves: ZRC.2.2610 (14-Nov-1989) ; Pioneer Circle [Neythal Road, in truck] : ZRC.2.7023 (14-Aug-2013) ; Pulau Brani: ZRC.2.2903 (10-Jun-1897) ; Pulau Senang: ZRC.2.2907 (24-May-1923) ; Pulau Sudong: ZRC.2.2915 (24-May-1923) , ZRC.2.2916 (28-May-1923) ; Pulau Tekong: ZRC.2.6957 (21-Jan-2012) ; Pulau Ubin: ZRC.2.4988 (17-Jan-2001) ; Punggol : ZRC.2.2911 (Aug-1949) ; Sentosa Island : ZRC.2.2909 (17-Sep-1928) , ZRC.2.2258 (Feb-1979) , ZRC.2.3262 (Feb-1991) ; Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve : ZRC.2.6111 (02-Oct-2004) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): BPBM, FMNH; Telok Paku Beach [= Changi Beach]: BPBM; Ulu Pandan Reserve [= Ulu Pandan Reservoir]: MCZ; West Coast Road Prawn Ponds [= Jurong Prawn Ponds]: BPBM.

Singapore localities. Changi—Changi Beach—Jurong Prawn Ponds—Kranji—Lim Chu Kang Mangroves—Pasir Ris Park Mangroves—Pulau Brani—Pulau Semakau—Pulau Senang—Pulau Sudong—Pulau Tekong— Pulau Ubin—Punggol*—Sembcorp Marine Ltd.*—Sentosa—Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve—Sungei Pandan*—Tanjong Katong*—Tuas—Ulu Pandan Reservoir*.

NHMUK

Natural History Museum, London

ZRC

Zoological Reference Collection, National University of Singapore

BPBM

Bishop Museum

FMNH

Field Museum of Natural History

MCZ

Museum of Comparative Zoology

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Viperidae

Genus

Trimeresurus

Loc

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus (Gray, 1832)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P. 2023
2023
Loc

Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) purpureomaculatus

Charlton, T. 2020: 268
2020
Loc

Trimeresurus (Cryptelytrops) purpureomaculatus purpureomaculatus

Chanhome, L. & Cox, M. J. & Vasaruchapong, T. & Chaiyabutr, N. & Sitprija, V. 2011: 325
2011
Loc

Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus

Das, I. 2018: 138
Kurniawan, N. & Priambodo, B. & Nugraha, F. A. D. & Maulidi, A. & Kurnianto, A. S. 2017: 91
Lim, K. K. P. & Chua, M. A. H. & Lim, N. T. - L. 2016: 186
Chua, M. A. H. 2015: 57
Chim C. K. 2014: 112
Das, I. 2012: 73
Davison, G. & Tan, R. & Lee, B. 2012: 109
Chua, M. A. 2011: 282
Das, I. 2010: 304
Cox, M. J. & van Dijk, P. P. & Nabhitabhata, J. & Thirakhupt, K. 1998: 96
1998
Loc

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus

Figueroa, A. & McCleary, R. J. R. 2021: 1281
Koh, K. H. & Chanani-Parikh, I. 2021: 1
Cox, M. J. & Hoover, M. F. & Chanhome, L. & Thirakhupt, K. & Pongcharoen, C. 2018: 34
Chua, E. K. 2010: 142
Luther, D. A. & Greenberg, R. 2009: 604
Gumprecht, A. & Tillack, F. & Orlov, N. L. & Captain, A. & Rayabov, S. 2004: 37
Anonymous 2003: 92
Lee, K. 2003: 55
Leviton, A. E. & Wogan, G. & Koo, M. & Zug, G. R. & Lucas, R. & Vindum, J. 2003: 447
Karns, D. R. & Voris, H. K. & Goodwin, T. G. 2002: 488
Lim, K. P. & Lim, F. L. K. 2002: 149
Iskandar, D. T. & Colijn, E. 2001: 159
Chua, E. K. 2000: 107
Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. 1997: 410
David, P. & Vogel, G. 1996: 167
Chou L. M. & Ng, P. K. L. & Lim, K. K. P. 1994: 106
Low, J. K. Y. & Arshad, A. & Lim, K. H. 1994: 158
Johnson, D. S. 1992: 39
Lim, K. K. P. & Lim, F. L. K. 1992: 149
Lim, K. K. P. 1991: 4
Gopalakrishnakone, P. 1990: 3
Chou L. M. & Ho, S. H. & Khoo, H. W. & Lam, T. J. & Murphy, D. H. & Tan, W. H. 1980: 71
Johnson, D. S. 1964: 29
Harman, A. J. E. 1961: 182
1961
Loc

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus purpureomaculatus

de Haas, C. P. J. 1950: 611
1950
Loc

Lachesis purpureomaculatus

Buddle, R. 1929: 25
de Rooij, N. 1917: 284
Boulenger, G. A. 1912: 217
Hanitsch, R. 1912: 17
Flower, S. S. 1899: 695
Hanitsch, R. 1898: 20
Boulenger, G. A. 1896: 554
1896
Loc

Lachesis purpureomaculatus

Flower, S. S. 1896: 896
1896
Loc

Atropos puniceus

Dumeril, A. M. C. & Bibron, G. & Dumeril, A. H. A. 1854: 1520
1854
Loc

Trigonocephalus puniceus

Cantor, T. E. 1847: 1043
1847
Loc

Trimeresurus purpureus

Davison, W. 1892: 93
Gray, J. E. 1849: 8
Gray, J. E. 1842: 48
1842
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