Table Of ContentContributions
An addition to the snake fauna ofVictoria:
De Vis’Banded Snake Denisonia devisi
(Serpentes: Elapidae) Waite and Longman
Nick Clemann1 Peter Robertson2 Dale Gibbons2 Geoffrey Heard',
, , ,
David Steane2, A John Coventry' and Ryan Chick1
'ArthurRylahInstituteforEnvironmentalResearch,DepartmentofSustainabilityandEnvironment,
POBox 137Heidelberg,Vic.3084
^WildlifeProfilesPtyLtd,POBox500,Heidelberg,Vic.3084
J36EilesRd.MaidenGully,Vic.3551
4DepatmentofZoology,LaTrobeUniversity,Bundoora,Vic.3086
'MuseumVictoria,NicholsonSt,Carlton,Vic.3053
Abstract
In lateNovember2005 a surveywascarriedoutforCommon Death AdderAcanthophisantarcticus
onLindsayandWallpollaIslandsalongtheMurray River. Nosightingofthisspeciesweremadebut
a DeVis' Banded Snake Denisoniadevisiwascollected, representingthe firstrecordofthe species
in Victoria. Further specimens ofthe snake were recorded locally in othersurveys, pointing to the
valueofbaselinesurvey. Ongoingsurveysofherpetofaunaare essential anduntil more is known of
the conservation status of De Vis’ Banded Snake in Victoria; caution is recommended regarding
landusethatcouldpotentiallythreatenthespecies.(The VictorianNaturalist 124(1),2007,33-38)
Introduction
Knowledge ofthe distribution ofVictorian of logs and rubbish, deploying a sniffer
herpetofauna continues to be refined front dog (‘Gus’, a 10 month-old Beagle trained
data collected during fauna surveys and to detect Death Adders) on a lead, and
incidental records. Historical data suggest spotlighting after dark using vehicle head-
that the Victorian terrestrial snake fauna lights and hand-held spotlights. We
consists ofsome 25 species belonging to focused on Lignum and River Red Gum
three families - Boidae, Typhlopidae and habitats because the local Death Adder
Elapidae (Coventry and Robertson 1991). sightings had occurred in these vegetation
However, the often cryptic habits of communities.
snakes, the distributional proximity ofsev- Death Adders were not detected during
eral apparently ‘non-Victorian’ species to this survey, buton the final nightaDe Vis’
this state, and the presence of suitable Banded Snake (also known as a ‘Mud
habitat for these taxa, suggests that Adder’) Denisonia devisi was collected,
unrecorded species mayyet be foundwith- representing the first record ofthe species
in Victoria. Here the discovery ofa snake in Victoria. Subsequent trips to the same
species previously unknown from the state and nearby areas have resulted in further
isreported. recordsofDeVis’ BandedSnakes
The Common Death Adder Acanthophis
antarcticus isknownfromVictoria, having Observations
been recorded at Lake Boga by Gerard On November 25, at 11.10 pm (Eastern
Krefft in 1856 (Coventry and Robertson Daylight Saving time), whilst spotlighting
1991). However, no specimen has been beside a waterbody on Dedman’s Track in
collected within the state. In late River Red Gum forest in Wallpolla Island
November 2005 a survey for this species State Forest, approximately800 m south of
was undertaken on Lindsay and Wallpolla the Murray River, the first De Vis' Banded
Islands along the Murray River in far Snake was found. The area had been sub-
north-western Victoria, following recent, jectto recentearthworks involvingchannel
unsubstantiated sightings. Over five days and levee modification, and had received
and three nights, a range ofareas on these pumped water over previous months. The
islandswas surveyed usingfourtechniques weather was cool and overcast, with no
- raking oflitter and coarse debris, rolling moon, and a cool, moderate breeze. The
Vol. 124(1)2007
33
Contributions
day and evening had been hot and humid Banded Snakes from the western end of
with some showers and lightning, followed Florseshoe Lagoon on Wallpolla Island.
by a cool southerly change about 1.5 hours These snakes were all found on bare,
before the snake was found. The tempera- cracked clay within 3 m of the water’s
ture was not recorded at the time, but the edge. Two were found on the bank of a
maximum temperature at nearby Lake lagoon, and one on the bank ofa channel,
Victoria on November25 was 35.5°C, and and all were in habitat with sparse River
14.5°C at9.00am thenextday. Red Gums and Typha thickets nearby.
When first observed, the snake (Fig. 1) Frog species recorded nearby included
was stationary with its body in loose Barking Marsh Frog, Spotted Marsh Frog,
curves. It was lying on a flat log at the Peron’s Tree Frog and a Growling Grass
water’s edge, approximately 15 cm from FrogLitoriaraniformis.
water and 10 cm above the water level. Frog surveys led by Sharada
The immediate surrounding area had Ramamurthy (Mallee Catchment Manage-
sparse litter with no grass or shrubs, and ment Authority) in February and April
the nearest vegetation was regenerating 2006 resulted in observations ofanother
Red Gum approximately 1-2 metres from three De Vis' Banded Snakes (specimens
the snake. Because they are known to be 10-12 in Table 1) in the region, but these
the preferred prey ofthis snake, we noted were not captured and there is no morpho-
all frog species seen and/or heard nearby. metric data for them. The first of these
Two species, Peron’s Tree Frog Litoria snakeswas found incracks in the clay sub-
peronii and Barking Marsh Frog Limno- strate ofa drying lagoon, approximately
dynastesJletcheri were calling from the 200-300 m from water. The lagoon was
,
waterbodywherethe snakewasfound. fringed by River Red Gums, although the
In mid December 2005 a second survey immediate location of the sighting had
resulted in a further five sightings of De almost no leaflitter. Frogs detected at this
Vis' Banded Snakes, four ofwhich were site included Growling Grass Frog and
found very close to the location ofthe first Barking Marsh Frog. The second snake
specimen. One ofthese snakes was dead was found moving through sparse herba-
and partly decayed when discovered in ceous vegetation on a clay lagoon bank
sparse Red Gum litter on a raised bank with medium to dense leaf litter, approxi-
approximately45 m from the water’sedge. mately five metres from water. Nearby
All three live specimens were close to the habitat consisted of numerous River Red
water’s edge (0.02-3 m) and were found Gums with coarse, woody debris beneath.
lying on dry, cracked clay, thick litter, and Three Growling Grass Frogs and three
wet clay respectively. The second ofthese Barking Marsh Frogs were observed near-
individualswas collected and subsequently by. The third snake was found moving
lodged as a voucher specimen at Museum through leaflitteron the bank ofa wetland
Victoria (specimen numberNMV D74160; approximately seven metres from water.
Table 1). Frog species recorded at the sites The immediate area had a medium cover
where these snakes were found included ofleaflitter, sparse herbaceous vegetation
Peron’s Tree Frog, Barking Marsh Frog, and River Red Gums over a layer of
Plains Froglet Criniaparinsignifera and coarse, woodydebris. Several Peron’sTree
Spotted Marsh Frog Limnodynastes tas- Frogswereobservednearby.
maniensis. The last De Vis’ Banded Snake Available morphometries ofthese snakes
found on this survey was recorded on the are presented in Table 1. Apparent signs of
bank of Potterwalkagee Creek, more than sexual dimorphism permitted the tentative
40 kms west ofthe previous records. The assignment ofsex presented in the last col-
anterior halfofthis snake was hidden in umn. Snakes believed to be females had
thick, wet Red Gum litter approximately tails that tapered uniformly from the vent,
10 cm from the water’s edge under a Red with no signs ofhemipenebulges, andtheir
Gum tree. The only frog species recorded tails were usually noticeably shorter (with
at this sitewas Peron’sTree Frog. less subcaudal scales) than the snakes con-
A third survey trip in January 2006 sidered to be males. Similarly, two ofthe
resulted in anotherthree recordsofDe Vis’ three snakes considered to be females had
34 The Victorian Naturalist
—
. 5
Contributions
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Vol. 124 (1) 2007 35
Contributions
three to four bulges in the posterior halfof lowerreaches ofthe Murray Darling catch-
the body, suggesting that these specimens ment in Victoria and New South Wales
were gravid. These apparent differences (Robertson etal. 1989; Coventry 1996; Val
between the sexes coincided with a divided et al. 2001; Brown et al. 2003; Robertson
first subcaudal scale in those considered to and Silveira 2005, PR unpubl. data). The
be males, whereas this scale was single on discovery ofthis snake in Victoria suggests
those considered to be females. Lastly, that commonly used reptile survey tech-
these characters suggest that the specimen niques may easily miss this species. De
that was lodged at Museum Victoriawould Vis' Banded Snakes inhabit cracking, clay-
be a male. Subsequent examination ofthe based soils on alluvial flats (Wilson and
post-anal musculature andprobing ofprob- Swan 2003), a habitat that is frequently
able hemipenis pockets ofthis specimen avoided during pitfall trapping (the most
confirmed that it was a male (J Melville commonly applied technique in the studies
pers. comm.). listed above) because ofthe difficulty of
digging in these types of soils, and the
Discussion
problems associated with flooding of the
These are the first records of De Vis’ traps. De Vis’ Banded Snake isanocturnal,
Banded Snakes from Victoria, and repre- frog-eating species (Shine 1983), and is
sent a significant south-westerly range perhaps best surveyed by spotlighting wet-
extension for this snake. The species’ pre- land habitats close to the water’s edge dur-
viously known range was north-central ing the warm, humid and/or rainy condi-
New South Wales extending north into tionsfavouredbytheirprey.
south-central Queensland, closely associat- Despite the studies listed above, this part
ed with the riverine habitats ofthe upper offar north-western Victoria (as well as
Darling River system. The late Charles adjacent parts of New South Wales and
Tanner spoke of an observation he made South Australia) has not been surveyed
around 40 years ago ofa De Vis’ Banded thoroughly. The records presented here,
Snake some 100 km north of Wentworth, and the results ofother recent studies (e.g.
New South Wales (pers. comm, to AJC), Clemann et al. 2005), demonstrate that
and more recently PR received a report of baseline surveys frequently provide valu-
ajuvenile from the vicinity ofWentworth. able information and significant new data
These two observations have been treated on notable species. Consequently, we rec-
with some reservation, but the records pre- ommend that government agencies and
sented here apparently validate these earli- management organisations continually
er reports. A recent sighting ofa Common strive to refine their understanding of
Death Adder on Wallpolla Island now
species’ distributions. Furthermore, recog-
seems erroneous and, after checking with nising that landscapes and habitats are
our photographs ofDe Vis Banded Snakes dynamic and continually changing, repeat
from Wallpolla Island, is more likely to surveys over time will be necessary ifwe
have been this species (J Dzuris pers. areto understandchanges in species’ occu-
comm, to NC). Consequently, it is con- pancy and distribution, and the reasons for
ceivable that De Vis’ Banded Snake not thesechanges.
only occurs in the floodplain environs of The observations on the morphology and
far north-western Victoria, but also those habitat use of these Victorian De Vis’
within the Darling Rivercatchment in cen- Banded Snakes conform to those previous-
tral and southernNew SouthWales. ly recorded for the species in Queensland
The closest official records of De Vis’ and New South Wales, with snakes occur-
Banded Snake are more than 500 km dis- ring in floodplain habitat with deep allu-
tant (in the vicinity ofBourke, New South vial clays and riverine woodland vegeta-
Wales; Swan etal. 2004), with only a cou- tion (see Cogger 2000, Wilson and Swan
ple ofunsubstantiated sightings (above) of 2003, Swan et al. 2004). Similarly, these
the species in the south-west ofthat state. Victorian specimens were found at night
Interestingly, the species has not been close to the edge ofwetlands with abun-
detected during several recent fauna sur- dant frogs. This is in accord with the noc-
veys that sampled riverine habitats in the turnal, frog-eating habits ofthe snake pre-
36 The Victorian Naturalist
Contributions
viously reported in the literature (Shine SutasutaandInlandCarpet Python Morelia
1983). The apparently gravid condition of spilotametcalfei. Thesespeciesoccur inthe
some of these snakes suggests an early area in which the De Vis’ Banded Snakes
spring mating period, in accordance with were recorded (Coventry and Robertson
specimens from New South Wales and 1991; Atlas ofVictorian Wildlife database),
Queensland(Shine 1983). and in similar broad habitats, suggesting
The morphometric and scale count data that riverine habitats in north-western
that we recorded are within the ranges pre- Victoria are important for snake conserva-
sented forthis species byGreer(1997) and tioninthisstate.
Shine (1983). However, the observation of Surveys of herpetofauna should be an
divided first subcaudal scales in specimens essential ongoingcomponentofbiodiversi-
that were apparently males has not been ty conservation programs in Victoria.
noted previously. The consistency ofthis There are other snake species not recorded
trait amongst Victorian specimens, and in Victoria that occur tantalisingly close to
whether this feature has been overlooked this state, and, as suggested by Coventry
in specimens from other states, remains to and Robertson (1991), some ofthese yet
beconfirmed. maybedetected duringtargeted surveys.
Reed and Shine (2002) identified ecologi-
Acknowledgements
cal correlates ofthreatened status amongst Theauthorsthankthosewhoassistedwith field-
Australian elapid snakes, and suggested work - Leigh Ahern, Craig Billows, Adam
that De Vis’ Banded Snake, although not Atkinson and Pam Coventry. Shar Ramamurthy
listed as threatened, exhibited traits typical provideddetailsofDeVisBanded Snakeobser-
ofother, threatened species. Considering vations from north-western Victoria. We thank
the then known distribution and status of Shar, Clare Mason, Faith Deans, Heidi Kattou
and Shaun Meredith for sharing their observa-
the species, Reed and Shine (2002) inter- tions. We also thank Peter Mirtschin, Jonathon
pretedthe inclusion in theiranalyses ofthis Webb, John Weigel, Mark Hutchinson, Peter
species with officially threatened taxa as Brown and Ross Sadlier for providing advice
perhaps being pre-emptive (i.e. they sug- prior to this survey. Jason Dzuris and Peter
gestedthat DeVis’ Banded Snake, andsev- Sandell advised on previous snake sightings in
eral other species, may be sensitive to tashseisstuerdvewyitharepar.ocDeissBirngaymuansdeuJmansepeMceilmveinlsl.e
threatening processes, but were yet to Lindy Lumsden provided enthusiastic support
manifest such sensitivity). Ourdiscoveryof for the project. Am Tolsma provided a critique
what may be a small and isolated popula- ofa draft manuscript, and comments from an
tion ofthis species suggests that this inter- anonymous reviewer improved this paper. The
pretation ofReed and Shine (2002) may be Department ofSustainability and Environment
and WildlifeProfiles Pty Ltdfundedthesurvey.
prophetic, and should heighten concern for This work was conducted undera research per-
the conservation ofDe Vis’ Banded Snake mit (10003522) issued by the Department of
in Victoria. Consequently, we suggest that Sustainabilityand Environment.
a thorough appraisal ofthe species’ status
References
in the area is needed, and a precautionary Brown G, Cherry K,Nelson J and Grgat, L (2003) A
approach to protecting its habitat and that survey ofthe terrestrial vertebrate fauna ofthe
ofitsamphibianpreybeadopted. Menindee Lakes, western New South Wales.
Until such time as adequate research is ClAeumstarnanliNa,nLZooonlgogKi,stSk3u2r,r3i8e1D-4a0n0.dDzuris.J(2005)A
conducted to determine the ecological and trapping survey ofsmall, ground-dwelling verte-
conservation requirements of De Vis’ brates in the Little Desert National Park, Victoria.
Banded Snake in Victoria, itis recommend- CoAgugsetrraliHaGnZo(o2l0o0g0is)tR33e,pt1i1l9e-s126a.ndAmphibians of
ed that potentially threatening activities, Australia.6ed.(ReedBooks:PortMelbourne)
particularly cattle grazing, logging and fire- CoventryAJ (1996)Resultsofsurveysoftheherpeto-
wood removal, be controlled, and their fVaiucntoarioafnsNeavteurraalliasrtea\s1i3n,n2o8r9t-h2-9w9e.sternVictoria. The
effects monitored, in riverine habitats in the Coventry AJ and Robertson P (1991) The Snakes of
north-west ofthe state. Removal ofthese Victoria-aGuidetotheirIdentification. Department
ofConservationandEnvironment,EastMelbourne.
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benefit the conservation ofother threatened AustralianSnakes. (SurreyBeatty& Sons: Chipping
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naped Snake Furina diadema. Curl Snake tion: ecological correlates ofconservation status
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BookReviews
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bratefaunaofthe MurrayScroll Belt. Interimreport Reptiles ofNewSouth Wales. (Reed New Holland:
fromyearoneofa fieldsurveyconductedduringthe Sydney)
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comparable historic data. Unpublished report to survey ofthe Lower Murray Darling. Unpublished
Parks Victoria and the Mallee Catchment report lor the Natural Heritage Trust. Environment
ManagementAuthoritybyWildlifeProfilesPtyLtd. Australia,Canberra.
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Shine R (1983) Food habits and reproductive biology Received1June2006;accepted18December2006
WOODLANDS
Woodlands: a disappearing
landscape A DISAPPEARING LANDSCAPE
by David Lindenmayer, Mason Crane
and Damian Michael
Photographs by Esther Beaton
With contributions from Christopher
MacGregor and Ross Cunningham
Publisher: CSIROPublishing, 2005.
150pages, hardcover; colourphotos.
ISBN0643090266. RRP$39.95
The wonderful woodlands ofsouth-eastern structural components of the woodlands,
Australia are not at the forefront of peo- paying attention to many different aspects
ple’s minds when conjuring up images of ofthe woodlands, both biotic and abiotic.
Australia’s world-renowned natural envi- This book takes you from the canopy to
ronment. the ground layer, exploring the world
For a long time, woodlands have been beneath the bark ofancient gums, the cool
relegated down the list ofpreferred vegeta- mud of swampy wetlands, and the fine
tion communities. The very zen-like struc- construction ofa Willie Wagtail’s nest. As
ture ofwoodlands, and the gentle land- soon as you read this beautifully presented
scapes in which they occur have, sadly, special interest book you’ll be planning
contributed to their downfall. Their park- yournextpicnic orbushwalk.
like appearance drew anglophiles of the This book targets a wider audience than
1 th and 1 ,h centuries, and the ease with the scientific community- it has its roots in
which they could be cleared made them science, but appeals to the general commu-
susceptibleto furtherdegradation. nity through the use of stunning pho-
This is where Woodlands: a disappear- tographs,diagramsandeasyto followchap-
ing landscape comes in. The book takes ters and subheadings. My favourite photo is
you on a journey through Australia’s ofaCunningham’s Skinkbaskingon arock
woodland heritage, and the seasonal and beneath a brooding stormy sky (page 81).
38 The Victorian Naturalist
