On the occurrence of the Italian Aesculapian snake, Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891), in Latium (Central Italy) Luigi Corsetti1, Antonio Romano2 1 Via Adige 45/2, 04100, Latina, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scien- tifica, I-00133 Roma. Present address: Via Creta 6, 04100, Latina, Italy. Corresponding author. E-mail: antonioromano71@tele2.it Submitted on 2008, 16th February; revised on 2008, 7th July; accepted on 2008, 18th August. Abstract. In this note we report the first detailed notice of the presence of the Italian Aesculapian snake, Zamenis lineatus, in Latium region. The localities of Morolo (prov- ince of Frosinone) and Latina Scalo (province of Latina) represent respectively the new northern and the new western limits of the species. The first one is 68 km further north compared to the old one (Pannarano, Campania region), whereas the western one is 130 km far from the previous one (Roccarainola, Campania region). Keywords. Snakes, Zamenis lineatus, distribution, Central Italy. The formerly Elaphe longissima Laurenti, 1768 has been splitted into two species by Lenk and Wüster (1999), who used multivariate analyses of external morphological char- acters and colour pattern. The Aesculapian snake, Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768), and the Italian Aesculapian snake, Z. lineatus (Camerano, 1891), are distinguishable using external morphological characters (Lenk and Wüster, 1999), molecular data (Lenk et al., 2001; Utiger et al., 2002), differences in the blood proteins (Lenk and Joger, 1994), visceral organ topography, osteology and allozymes (Helfenberger, 2001). The Italian Aesculapian snake is endemic to the southern Italian peninsula and Sicily, and its occurrence in Sar- dinia needs to be confirmed (see Razzetti and Zanghellini, 2006). Lenk and Wüster (1999) indicated the northern limit of Z. lineatus near Pannarano (province of Benevento, Campania region, southern Italy), and they established the south- ern limit of Z. longissimus near Rosello (province of Chieti, Abruzzi, Central Italy; see also Razzetti and Zanghellini, 2006). However, recently, Capula et al. (2006) revised the distri- bution of both species in Italy considering the Campania region as a parapatric contact area and suggesting analogous pattern for Apulia region where they recorded Z. longis- simus for the first time. Consequently the distribution range of the Aesculapian snake was Acta Herpetologica 3(2): 179-183, 2008 ISSN 1827-9643 (online) © 2008 Firenze University Press 180 L. Corsetti and A. Romano wider than that previously suggested (Lenk and Wüster, 1999), and in some areas there appears to be sympatry between the two species. The most evident character with which we can tell the two species apart is their iris colour: reddish in Z. lineatus and brown, yellowish or greyish in Z. longissimus (Schulz, 1995; Lenk and Wüster, 1999). By analysing our old pictures of Aesculapian snakes and by using this diagnostic character, we realized that during our previous field researches on the Volsci Chain Mountains (Latium region) we had found both the species (e.g., Cor- setti and Capula, 1992; Corsetti, 2006a; Corsetti and Romano, 2007; Romano et al., 2007). The southern parts of this Chain comprises three karstic subgroups: the Lepini, the Auso- ni and the Aurunci Mountains (see Corsetti and Romano, 2007 and Romano et al., 2007, and references therein for detailed information about the boundaries among the three subgroups). While distribution of Zamenis longissimus in Latium is largely known (e.g., Cattaneo and Capula, 2000), there are no accurate data on the occurrence of Z. lineatus in this region. Actually, just a popular book (Corsetti, 2006b) and a recent paper (Capula et al., 2008) reported some information on the occurrence of Z. lineatus in southern Lat- ium. Corsetti (2006b) reported the occurrence of both Z. lineatus and Z. longissimus on the Lepini Mountains, while Capula et al. (2008) reported that Z. lineatus was present in the Ausoni and Aurunci, however without providing any detailed locality. Here we provide accurate records of the presence of both species in the entire Volsci Chain. Italian Aesculapian snakes were observed in 7 locations, two as road kills and the others as living snakes (Table 1 and Fig. 1). The dead individual from site 3 was col- lected, stored in ethanol and deposited in the collection of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Carmagnola, Italy (voucher MCC-R1407). It was a male 131.5 cm long, with Table 1. Records of Zamenis lineatus on the Volsci chain, Latium, Central Italy. Records with “*” were road-killed snakes. The specimen from site 3 was deposited in the collection of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Carmagnola, Italy (voucher MCC-R1407). Site code Site locality, municipality and province Subgroup of the Volsci Chain Mountain Altitude (m a.s.l.) UTM Observation date Photo sex 1 Morolo, Morolo, Frosinone Lepini 450 UG41 24.05.1981 + Male 2 Latina scalo, Latina, Latina Lepini 15 UG30 27.09.1987 + Juv. 3 Camposoriano, Terracina, Latina Ausoni 360 UF58 05.08.2004 + Male* 4 La Taverna, Campodimele, Latina Aurunci 390 UF87 13.06.2000 + Juv.* 5 Lombriccio, Formia, Latina Aurunci 330 UF87 15.06.2004 - Male 6 Cerretello, Esperia, Frosinone Aurunci 825 UF98 18.05.2000 + Undet. 7 Campolaloa, Itri, Latina Aurunci 260 UF66 23.05.2008 + Undet. 181Occurrence of Zamenis lineatus in Latium 23 dorsal scales (at mid-body), 235 ventral scales and 72 pairs of subcaudal scales. In the other cases the snakes were always captured, sexed (except two) and photographed (with one exception; see Tab.1). All living snakes were immediately released after bio- metrical recordings. Fig. 1. Records of Zamenis lineatus (stars) on the Volsci Mountains (Latium, Central Italy). Numeric code as reported in Table 1. 10x10 km UTM grid is also shown. Fig. 2. Adult of Italian Aesculapian snake, Zamenis lineatus, from Ausoni Mountains (Latium, Central Ita- ly). This specimen has been observed in the site 7 (see the text). Photo courtesy of Paolo Mazzei. 182 L. Corsetti and A. Romano The site 1 (UTM 33T 0349800, 4610000 WGS84) and 2 (UTM 33T 0328700, 4600000 WGS84) here reported are the present northern and western limits of Z. lineatus. On the basis of the present data, the species range appears wider than that known up to now (Cap- ula et al., 2006; Capula et al., 2008). Indeed the northern limit extends 68 km further from the previous accurate record (Pannarano, Campania region; see Lenk and Wüster, 1999), while the new western limit extends 130 km further from the previous limit (Roccarainola, Campania region; Lenk and Wüster, 1999). Actually, available information on the findings of Italian Aesculapian snakes in Corsetti (2006b) and in Capula et al. (2008) is too vague both for a calculation of their distance from the sites of Pannarano and Roccarainola reported in Lenk and Wüster (1999), and for an accurate knowledge of the species distribution. The Italian Aesculapian snake was recorded in two of the three administrative prov- inces in which the Volsci Chain falls, namely the province of Latina (LT) and Frosinone (FR), while no data are available for the portion of Lepini mountains which falls in the province of Rome. However, the administrative boundary of the province of Rome is only 3.4 km far from the site 1. Consequently the occurrence of Z. lineatus in the province of Rome is very likely. As a consequence of these new findings in Latium, the parapatric area between Z. longissimus and Z. lineatus is wider than the previously known one and the two species are therefore largely overlapped. The recordings of the snakes found in the past in the province of Caserta (northern Campania) and in the Molise region are not attributable to neither of the two species (see Razzetti and Zanghellini, 2006). Furthermore, although Z. lineatus (as Elaphe longissima romana) was reported for Saepinum, in the Molise region, by Bruno (1973) and by Bruno and Guacci (1993), the presence of this species in such region has not been reconfirmed by the recent work of Capula et al. (2008). However, if we take into consideration Capula et al. (2006), that established the new southern limit in Apulia, and the data we reported here, we think it is probable that both Zamenis linea- tus and Z. longissimus occur in the province of Caserta (northern Campania) and in the Molise region. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to Carmine Esposito and Paolo Mazzei who provided respectively the data of Zamenis lineatus of the sites 6 and 7. 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