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Caraiba andreae (REINHARDT & LÜTKEN, 1862)

IUCN Red List - Caraiba andreae - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Alsophiini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesCaraiba andreae andreae (REINHARDT & LÜTKEN 1862)
Caraiba andreae melopyrrha (THOMAS & GARRIDO 1967)
Caraiba andreae morenoi (GARRIDO 1973)
Caraiba andreae nebulatus (BARBOUR 1916)
Caraiba andreae orientalis (BARBOUR & RAMSDEN 1919)
Caraiba andreae peninsulae (SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960) 
Common NamesE: Cuban Lesser Racer, Black and white Racer 
SynonymLiophis andreae REINHARDT & LÜTKEN 1862: 214
Dromicus cubensis GARMAN 1887: 281
Leimadophis andreae andreae — SCHWARTZ & OGREN 1956
Dromicus andreae — THOMAS and GARRIDO 1967
Antillophis andreai — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Antillophis andreae — KUNZ 2005
Caraiba andreae — ZAHER et al. 2009
Caraiba andreae — HEDGES et al. 2009
Antillophis andreae — GRAZZIOTIN et al. 2012 (by implication)
Caraiba andreai — RODRIGUEZ-SCHETTINO et al. 2013
Caraiba andreae — WALLACH et al. 2014: 148

Caraiba andreae andreae (REINHARDT and LÜTKEN 1862)
Liophis andreae REINHARDT & LÜTKEN 1862
Antillophis andreai andreai — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1988
Antillophis andreai andreai — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Caraiba andreae andreae — HEDGES et al. 2009

Caraiba andreae melopyrrha (THOMAS & GARRIDO 1967)
Dromicus andreae melopyrrha THOMAS & GARRIDO 1967: 219
Antillophis andreai melopyrrha — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Caraiba andreae melopyrrha — HEDGES et al. 2009

Caraiba andreae morenoi (GARRIDO 1973)
Antillophis andreae morenoi GARRIDO 1973: 18
Antillophis andreai morenoi — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Caraiba andreae morenoi — HEDGES et al. 2009
Caraiba andreae morenoi — CABALLERO et al. 2022

Caraiba andreae nebulatus (BARBOUR 1916)
Leimadophis nebulatus BARBOUR 1916: 159
Antillophis andreai nebulatus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Caraiba andreae nebulatus — HEDGES et al. 2009

Caraiba andreae orientalis (BARBOUR & RAMSDEN 1919)
Leimadophis andreae orientalis BARBOUR & RAMSDEN 1919: 196
Antillophis andreai orientalis — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Caraiba andreae orientalis — HEDGES et al. 2009

Caraiba andreae peninsulae (SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960)
Dromicus andreae peninsulae SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1960: 81
Antillophis andreai peninsulae — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 579
Caraiba andreae peninsulae — HEDGES et al. 2009 
DistributionCuba, Isla de la Juventud

andreai: western and central Cuba to extreme northwestern Camagüey Prov.; intergrades with A. a. orientalis. Type locality: Cuba.

melopyrrha: Cayo Cantiles. Type locality: Punta del Negrito, Cayo Cantiles, Archipielago de los Canarreos, Matanzas Province, Cuba.

morenoi: Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo Guajaba. Type locality: Cayo Santa Maria, Archipielago de Sabana-Camaguey, Villa Clara Province, Cuba.

nebulatus: Isla de la Juventud. Type locality: Sierra de Caballos, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba.

orientalis: western Cuba. Type locality: Guantanamo, Guantanamo Province, Cuba.

peninsulae: Peninsula de Guanahacabibes, Pinar del Rio Province. Type locality: 3 km W Bartoli sawmill village, 10 km SW Cayuco, Pinar del Rio Province, Cuba.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: ZMUC = UZM R.60766-R.60767
Holotype: CZACC = IZ 1080 [melopyrrha]
Holotype: CZACC = IZ 2737 [morenoi]
Holotype: MCZ 11092 [nebulatus]
Holotype: MCZ 11726 [orientalis]
Holotype: AMNH 83235 [peninsulae] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): The species in this genus has 17 midbody scale rows, 131–157 ventrals, 90–120 subcaudals, 1 apical scale pit, 8 upper labials, 9 lower labials, 20–23 total maxillary teeth, and 25–28 dentary teeth (Table 2). Caraiba differs in at least one of these characters from all other alsophiine genera except Hypsirhynchus. From that genus it differs in having a hemipene with enlarged papillate body calyces in the basal region and medial surface of the lobes (Zaher 1999). 
CommentFor illustrations see Barbour, 1916; Barbour and Ramsden, 1919; Schwartz and Thomas, 1960; Vogel, 1965; Thomas and Garrido, 1967; Petzold, 1969 b; Schwartz and Henderson, 1985.

Type species: Liophis andreae REINHARDT and LÜTKEN 1862 is the type species of the genus Caraiba ZAHER et al. 2009. 
EtymologyNamed after Captain Andrea, Danish ship master who collected several examples of this snake in Isla de la Juventud, Cuba.

The genus Caraiba was named in allusion to the “mar das Caraibas,” a Portuguese designation of the Caribbean region, gender feminine. 
References
  • Alfonso, Yasel U.; Katherine Pellicier Lopez and Diego Armijos-Ojeda 2013. Endemic frog predation by the Cuban lesser racer, Caraiba andreae (Squamata: Dipsadidae), on La Melba, Alexander Von Humboldt National Park, eastern Cuba. Herpetology Notes 6: 91-93
  • Barbour, T. 1916. The reptiles and amphibians of the Isle of Pines. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 10 (1-2): 297-308. - get paper here
  • Barbour, T. and C. T. Ramsden. 1919. The herpetology of Cuba. Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard Coll. 47: 69-213. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • CABALLERO, DAYLON FUNDORA; FÉLIX BRAVO CABRERA, AILÍN ABREU PORTALES & ODEY MARTÍNEZ LLÁNES. 2022. Herpetofauna of the Elemento Natural Destacado Dunas de Playa Pilar, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba. Reptiles & Amphibians 29(1): 191–194. - get paper here
  • Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24: 278-286. - get paper here
  • Garrido, O.H. 1973. Nuevas subespecies de reptiles para Cuba. Torreia, n.s. 30:1-31.
  • Grazziotin, Felipe G.; Hussam Zaher, Robert W. Murphy, Gustavo Scrocchi, Marco A. Benavides, Ya-Ping Zhang and Sandro L. Bonatto 2012. Molecular phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal. Cladistics DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00393.x - get paper here
  • Hedges, S. Blair; Arnaud Couloux; Vidal, Nicolas 2009. Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of West Indian racer snakes of the Tribe Alsophiini (Squamata, Dipsadidae, Xenodontinae). Zootaxa 2067: 1-28 - get paper here
  • Kunz, K. 2005. Photogenic herpetofauna. Notes on Cuban Synanthropic species. Reptilia (GB) (43): 47-53 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Petzold, H.G. 1969. Zur Haltung and Fortpflanzungsbiologieeiniger kubanischer Schlangen im Tierpark Berlin. Salamandra 5:124-40 - get paper here
  • Reinhardt, JOHANNES & CHRISTIAN FREDERIK LÜTKEN 1862. Bidrag tii det vestindiske Öriges og navnligen tii de dansk-vestindiske Oers Herpetologie. Vidensk. Meddel. Naturhist. For. Kjöbenhavn (10-18): 153-291 [1862] - get paper here
  • Rodríguez-Cabrera, Tomás M.; Alejandro M. Rodríguez González, and Javier Torres 2017. Notes on reproduction of Caraiba andreae peninsulae: A poorly-known subspecies of the Cuban Lesser Racer (Squamata: Dipsadidae). IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 24 (2): 95–102 - get paper here
  • Rodríguez-Cabrera, Tomás M.; Alejandro M. Rodríguez González, and Javier Torres 2018. Herpetofauna of Cayo Carenas, Cienfuegos Bay, south-central Cuba. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 25 (1): 13–19 - get paper here
  • Rodríguez Schettino, Lourdes, Carlos A. Mancina & Vilma Rivalta González 2013. REPTILES OF CUBA: CHECKLIST AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (144): 1-96 - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1988. West Indian Amphibian and Reptiles: A Checklist. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Contr. Biol. Geol. No. 74: 264 pp. - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Schwartz, A. and Henderson, R.W. 1985. A guide to the identification of the amphibians and reptiles of the West Indies exclusive of Hispaniola. Milwaukee Public Mus., 165 pp.
  • Schwartz, A. and Thomas, R. 1960. Four new snakes (Tropidophis, Dromicus, Alsophis) from the Isla de Pinos and Cuba. Herpetologica 16 (2): 73-90. - get paper here
  • Thomas, R. and Garrido, O.H. 1967. A new subspecies of Dromicus andreae (Serpentes, Colubridae). Annals of the Carnegie Museum 39 (16): 219-26. - get paper here
  • Vogel, Z. 1965. Herpetologische Beobachtungen auf Kuba (III). Aquar. und Terrar. 12 (10): 340-43.
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Zaher, Hussam; Grazziotin, Felipe Gobbi; Cadle, John E.; Murphy, Robert W.; Moura-Leite, Julio Cesar de; Bonatto, Sandro L 2009. Molecular phylogeny of advanced snakes (Serpentes, Caenophidia) with an emphasis on South American Xenodontines: a revised classification and descriptions of new taxa. Pap. Avulsos Zool. (São Paulo) 49 (11): 115-153 - get paper here
 
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