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

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus (Gray, 1832) — 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 )

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 —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 — 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 ). 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*.

Figures

FIGURE 26. A) Trimeresurus hageni, B)Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus, C)Tropidolaemus wagleri (male), D) Tropidolaemus wagleri (juvenile female), E) Tropidolaemus wagleri (adult female), F) Xenopeltis unicolor, G) Hydrophis cyanocinctus, and H) Hydrophis viperinus. Photographs by: Alex Figueroa [A–F], and Sanjaya Bandara [G–H].