Dolichophis caspius (Gmelin, 1789)

Number of records.

171 (18% of the data).

Number of grid cells.

54 (18.3% of the entire grid; Table 1; Figs 6, 9D).

Comments.

This is the most common snake with a high number of observations per grid cell (Table 1). This species is known throughout the Mykolaiv Oblast (Dotsenko and Radchenko 2005; Tarashchuk 2007; Bilyakov and Tarashchyuk 2008; Nekrasova 2013; Sillero et al. 2014; Marushchak et al. 2018; Redinov 2018; Mykytynets et al. 2019; Nekrasova et al. 2019; Voblenko et al. 2019). We found multiple individuals within the Southern Bug eco-corridor in the steppe zone and a single one near the village of Snihurivka. Most records were from Buzk’s Gard National Nature Park (Fig. 10D). The known distribution for this species shows a broad occurrence throughout the oblast, albeit with significant gaps, most likely due to lack of sampling. We found this species more often than other snakes in this oblast.