Record of Coronella austriaca (LAURENTI, 1768) from the Island of Mljet, southern Croatia

Dušan Jelić; Državni zavod za zaštitu prirode, Trg Mažuranića 5, 10 000 Zagreb, Hrvatska, dusan.jelic@dzzp.hr

Puni tekst:
 (Engleski) Str. 85 - 87

Tip članka:
Short note

Sažetak
The European Smooth snake, Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768, presents a continuous distribution range across central and northern Europe, but becomes rare towards the Mediterranean zone in the south (Engelmann 1993; Kreiner 2007). It has been found to be very abundant in the continental part of Croatia, but in costal part of the country it is restricted to the more humid habitats in the Istria Peninsula and the Dinaric and Velebit Mountains (Engelmann 1993; Völkl & Käsewieter 2003, Hill 2008). Distributional data from Adriatic islands are very rare, and only refer to the three largest islands in the Adriatic Sea: Cres (Janev Hutinec 2005; Hill 2008), Krk and Brač (Bruno 1980; Werner 1891; Engelmann 1993; Janev Hutinec 2005).

During the herpetological research of Mljet National Park (west part of Mljet island) in May 2007. an adult individual of Coronella austriaca (Fig 2.) was observed on the northern slopes of the Montokuc hill (42°46´20,6´´ N, 17°23´20,4´´ E; 253 m a.s.l., at the vicinity of Soline). The snake was a middle sized (49cm head to tails) male, found hiding underneath a large stone surrounded by light forest (Quercus ilex). The vegetation of sorounding areas is clasified as Querco ilicis-Pinetum halepensis Loisel 1917. The weather was very sunny, without any wind and the air temperature was 31°C.

On the same locality two sympatric species were obserwed in great numbers: Dalmatolacerta oxycephala (Duméril & Bibron, 1839) and Podarcis melisellensis (Braun, 1877). This two species are on the top of C. austriaca diet list, so their abundantce makes a great food sorce.

 

Ključne riječi
Reptilia: Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae: Coronella austriaca, Mljet Island, Croatia, new island record