THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

Distribution: Coastal lowlands, south from
the Carolinas, and west to Lousiana; range
includes Florida and the Florida Keys.
Habitat: Dry forests and sandy beaches.
Known to occasionally swim in salt water.
Appearance: May grow to be 2.5 m long, but
1–2 m is more common. This is the largest
rattlesnake species. Notable for large pit
between the nostril and eye.
Diet: Small mammals, from mice to rabbits; it
will also eat birds. Diamondback locates prey
by odor, as well as by sensing infrared (heat)
using its pit organ. Its venom disables and
predigests its prey.
Reproduction and Development: 6-21 young
are born ovoviviparously. Maternal care is
minimal, from a few hours to at most a few days
Mortality/Longevity: Can live 20 years or
more. Adults have no natural enemies. The
young are prey to carnivorous mammals,
raptors, and other snakes (especially king
snakes).
Conservation Status: Not listed as endangered,
but populations are in decline due to habitat
destruction and hunting. The rabbit population
in Florida may be on the rise due to reduced
numbers of these natural predators.
Remarks: The world’s largest rattlesnake, it is
considered the most dangerous snake in North
America. A study in the late 1950s reported
a human mortality rate of 30%. It has a high
venom yield, up to 1,000 mg; the estimated
human lethal dose is 100–150 mg. Typically,
the rattler does not strike humans except when
startled or provoked.
Though feared and so often persecuted by
people, this snake plays an important role in
rodent control.
Wagler’s Pit Viper
Tropidolaemus wagleri (Viperidae)
Distribution: Southeast Asia, including
southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi and southern
Philippines.
Habitat: Lives in lowland tropical rainforests.
Arboreal, living in low trees, and active at
night.
Appearance: Juveniles and adult males are
usually green or bluish green with white
markings. Females change colors and markings
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as they mature. The adult female coloration is
dependent on the geographic region of origin.
They can become quite colorful with yellow,
red, blue, and green transverse markings.
Females are larger than males, and can be up
to 1 m long.
Diet: Nocturnal hunters. Juveniles and adult
males prefer lizards, especially geckos. Females
eat a more varied diet, including rats, birds,
frogs and lizards.
Reproduction and Development: Mating may
be seasonal, occurring during the rainy season.
Pit vipers are viviparous, bearing live young.
Litter size from 6 –50.
Remarks: Wagler’s, like all pit vipers, have
heat-sensing organs on their head below and
in front of their eyes (called loreal pits.) They
can use these organs to sense prey, even when
they can’t see it.
Their venom hemotoxic, making it hard
for blood to clot. Bites can cause local pain,
swelling, bruising, and bleeding. They are
rarely fatal to humans.
They, along with the Swamp’s Eastern
Rattlesnake (also a pit viper), are the only
venomous snakes maintained at the Academy.
The Temple of the Azure Cloud in Penang
Island, Malaysia is known as Snake Temple. It
was once filled with hundreds of Wagler’s pit
vipers. Tourists would be photographed with
the snakes. Locals collected the snakes, and
the ones used for photography had had their
fangs removed.
Mangrove Snake
Boiga dendrophila (Colubridae)
Colubrids
Distribution: India to Southeast Asia, including
Borneo.
Habitat: Common in lowland forests, especially
in riverine habitats and mangrove swamps.
Appearance: Strikingly colored, black and
yellow-banded. A large snake; may grow to
almost 2.5 m.
Diet: Mainly birds, but also takes fishes, frogs,
small mammals, and other reptiles. A nocturnal
hunter that basks on tree branches during the
day.
Reproduction and Development: Lays clutches
of 4–15 eggs; young hatch in 3–4 mos.
Remarks: The species, because it is isolated