Chilabothrus strigilatus ailurus – Photo by Dick Bartlett
The subspecies was described and named by Sheplan & Schwartz. Bruce R. Sheplan was a herpetologist at Miami-Dade Community College. Albert Schwartz (1923 – 1992) was a Professor of Biology at Miami-Dade Community College. Both co-authored the seminal work "Hispaniolan boas of the genus Epicrates (Serpentes, Boidae) and their Antillean relationships."
Holotype
AMNH no. 77015 (originally VV-AMNH 3809). Adult female from Alligator Cay, Cat Island, Bahamas. Collected by George B. Rabb on 24 March, 1953. Paratypes: MCZ 39481-82, Arthur’s Town in July-August, 1935 by W.J. Clench and MCZ 39483, Bennett’s Harbor in July and August, 1935; ASFS V11146 from Port Howe on 4 November, 1966 by a local collector; ASFS V11163, 0.8 km from North Port Howe on 3 November, 1966 by R. Thomas.
The sandy beach on Alligator Cay (called Rock Cay by Clench) at the entrance to the harbor is backed in places by large blocks of limestone. From a crevice in one of these blocks Rabb collected the largest snake taken by the expedition, a 5 1/2-foot boid (Epicrates striatus) which had apparently been feeding on mice .
Type Locality
Alligator Cay, Bennett’s Harbour, Cat Island, Bahama Islands.
The name ailurus is derived from the Greek for "cat" in allusion to the island where the boa is found .
Common Name
Cat Island Boa.
Description and taxonomic notes
Chilabothrus strigilatus ailurus is a subspecies of moderate size measuring 1560 mm SVL in males and 1640 mm SVL in females, 283-293 ventrals in males and 280-285 in females, one intersupraocular (modally) bordered anteriorly by 3 – 4 scales (modally), posteriorly by 3 -7 scales (no mode), supralabials 14 (modally) with 2 scales (7 – 8) entering the eye, 10 scales in the circumorbital series (modally) and one loreal (modally). Dorsal scale rows 40-47-25.
Lateral neck stripe long and obvious that extends over 33% of the body length. Complete fusing of dorsal blotching with pale remnant interspaces. Dorsum dark gray, about 97 pale oval, angulate or circular median spots or blotching to within the last third of the body, where they fuse to become a pale solid middorsal stripe that extends to the tail tip. The subspecies was named as a result of being consistently different from the other Bahamian boas and though it shared diluted features of some of the Epicrates s. strigilatus, the two taxa were very different .
Chilabothrus strigilatus ailurus – Picture by William Hayes
Evolution
Neither Fossil nor Subfossil remains of Chilabothrus strigilatus ailurus have been found to date. Reynolds et al. calculated based on molecular data that Chilabothrus strigilatus is on an isolated evolutionary trajectory since 2.6 MYA . The analysis did not differentiate between the subspecies and did not include genetic material from all subspecies.
Distribution
Alligator Cay, Cat Island. On the first voyage of Columbus, “one of the Lucaios islands, named Guanabani, or Cat Island, was the part of America first descried by the Europeans, on the 11th of October, 1492″ (Jefferys, 1762).
The five subspecies of Chilabothrusstrigilatus occur on different islands of the Bahamas. The flags on the map indicate a type locality of a Chilabothrus strigilatus subspecies. Click on each flag to see which subspecies occurs on that particular island.
Chilabothrus strigilatus ailurus – Photo by Dick Bartlett
Habitat
In the Bahamas the mean annual temperature is 24.73°C (76.51° F) and the mean annual precipitation is 1264.46 mm. The islands experience warm, humid conditions year-round, though with more seasonal variations than the Southern Caribbean islands. There are also variations between the islands of the Bahamas, with rainfall falling twice as much in the northwestern islands than in the southeastern islands, and the more northerly islands experiencing temperatures up to 5° cooler than the southern islands.
Average temperatures are fairly high, with the mean daily temperatures fluctuating between 17°C and 32°C (62.6° F and 89.6° F). Mean annual rainfall for the Bahamas varies from about 865 mm to about 1470 mm. Inter-annual variability in climate is strongly influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). El Niño episodes bring warmer and drier conditions between June and August. Located in the heart of the Atlantic hurricane belt, the Bahamas is also subject to hurricanes and tropical cyclones especially during the August – November period.
Mean temperatures have increased by around 0.5°C since 1960, at an average rate of 0.11°C per decade. Bahamian data show that the mean daily maximum temperature for July has increased at a rate of 2°C per 100 years, and more recently at a rate of 2.6°C per 100 years. There have been statistically significant increases in the frequency of ‘hot’ days and nights, and decreases in ‘cold’ days and nights during the period 1973-2008.
There is seasonal variation in the rate of temperature increase, with the rate being most rapid in the warmest seasons, June-August and September-November, having rates of 0.13 and 0.15°C per decade respectively. There is also variation between islands, where the rate of warming is more rapid in the northeastern islands compared to the southwestern islands.
C. s. ailurus. Photo Graham Reynolds
Cat Island has a seasonally wet and dry sub-tropical climate. The island is composed of five major habitat types: whiteland, flatland, blackland, savanna and mangrove. On the leeward side are beach ridges that curve around as the result of currents in the lee of the dunes. Lagoonal plains lie between the dunes and between the dunes and beach ridges. There are four types of soil on the island: coral sand, Bahama black loam, Bahama red loam and Bahama marl. The island has an area of only 250 square kilometers and is home to probably a thousand species of vascular plants.
Youtube video of Cat Island Boa by Grant Johnson from 2012.
Longevity
Longevity records for this subspecies from wild or captivity are non existent. We assume that this subspecies is equally long lived as other C. strigilatus subspecies.
Behavior
Unknown
Diet
No information on the diet of C. s. ailurus has been published. We assume like other C. strigilatus subspecies the boas undergo a switch from reptilian prey towards endothermic prey during growth.
Reproductive biology
No information regarding the reproductive biology of C. s. ailurus has been published to date. We assume this subspecies doesn’t differ significantly in its reproductive biology from other C. strigilatus subspecies.
Captive management
Unfortunately to date, no information has been published on the keeping of C. s. ailurus and we assume this subspecies has never been kept in captivity to begin with. However, we assume the standardized protocol for keeping and breeding West Indian Boas would work with this subspecies as well. Maybe slightly adjusted protocols according to temperature, seasonality and humidity levels on Cat Island.
Conservation status, threats and population size in nature
At the time of this writing (Sept. 2019) IUCN lists the conservation status of this species as least concern, however, based on the observation that the number of mature individuals is decreasing they conclude that the population is decreasing as a whole. Unfortunately a lack of data makes it impossible to say with certainty how steep the decline is, if any, and how large the population total is. As for all Island fauna, the restricted range they inhabit is a constant threat for species survival.
Data provided by Buckner et al. was used to generate the table below:
Taxon
Number of islands
combined total surface area in km2
Chilabothrus s. strigilatus
9
1548.57
Chilabothrus s. ailurus
2
390
Chilabothrus s. fosteri
4
17.86
Chilabothrus s. fowleri
4
6211.75
Chilabothrus s. mccraniei
2
4.42
The total surface area of the islands as outlined here should not be falsely interpreted as suitable habitat. Detailed analyses about population size and suitable habitats are missing. We list this table to visualize potential threats as we consider it astonishing and worrying at the same time, that some subspecies formed on very small islands. It is worrying that the cane toad Rhinella marina has been recorded from New Providence as well as from Abaco Islands in the West Indies . Considering the devastating impact it had on the Australian herpetofauna, we hope that the West Indian species are less impacted by its occurrence.
The CIA World Factbook lists the following environmental threats for The Bahamas: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal
The maps below illustrate the extent of habitat destruction and alteration due to development and agriculture.
Cat Island, the natural distributional range of C.s. ailurusEarly map of the Bahamas, 1737.
To add an historic note to the map from 1737 is a passage from Catesby (1743) regarding the Bahamas iguana population and its role in the trade and food chain. He writes, “These Guana’s are a great Part of the Subsistance of the Inhabitants of the Bahama Islands, for which Purpose they visit many of the remote Kays and Islands in their Sloops to catch them, which they do by Dogs trained up for that Purpose, which are so dexterous as not often to kill them, which if they do, they serve only for present spending; if otherwise they sew up their Mouths to prevent their biting, and put them into the Hold of their Sloop till they have catched a sufficient Number, which they either carry alive for Sale to Carolina, or Salt and barrel up for the Use of their Families at Home. These Guana’s feed wholly on Vegetables and Fruit, particularly on a Kind of Fungus, growing at the Roots of Trees, and of this and others of the Anoma Kind.”
Population in captivity
We are unaware any C.s. ailurus is kept anywhere in the world outside of Cat Island
On display in these Zoos
We are unaware any C.s. ailurus in any zoological institution worldwide.
Several Pictures of different Chilabothrus strigilatus ailurus from various sources (link outs)
Buckner, S. D., Franz, R., & Reynolds, R. G. (2012). BAHAMA ISLANDS AND TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS. In Island lists of West Indian amphibians and reptiles (Vol. 2, pp. 93–110).
Currie, D., Wunderle, J. M., Freid, E., Ewert, D. N., & Lodge, D. J. (2019). The natural history of the Bahamas: a field guide. Comstock Publishing Associates, an imprint of Cornell University Press.
Hedges, S. B., Powell, R., Henderson, R. W., Hanson, S., & Murphy, J. C. (2019). Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology, 1–53. https://doi.org/10.31611/ch.67
Huff, T. A. (1980). Captive Propagation of the Subfamily Boinae with Emphasis on the Genus Epicrates. In J. B. Murphy & J. T. Collins (Eds.), Reproductive biology and diseases of captive reptiles (pp. 125–134). Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Maclean, W. P., Kellner, R., & Dennis, H. (1977). Island lists of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service, 40, 1–47. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.23317515.40.1
Rabb, G. B., & Hayden, E. B. (1957). The Van Voast-Amnerican Museum of Natural History Bahama Islands Expedition Record of the Expedition and General Features of the Islands. AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES, 1836, 54.
Reynolds, R. G., & Henderson, R. W. (2018). Boas of the World (Superfamily Booidae): A Checklist With Systematic, Taxonomic, and Conservation Assessments. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 162(1), 1–58. https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ48.1
Reynolds, R. G., Niemiller, M. L., Hedges, S. B., Dornburg, A., Puente-Rolón, A. R., & Revell, L. J. (2013). Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of West Indian boid snakes (Chilabothrus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 68(3), 461–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2013.04.029
Reynolds, R. G., Puente-Rolón, A. R., Burgess, J. P., & Baker, B. O. (2018). Rediscovery and a Redescription of the Crooked-Acklins Boa, Chilabothrus schwartzi (Buden, 1975), Comb. Nov. Breviora, 558(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ46.1
Schwartz, A., & Henderson, R. W. (1985). A guide to the identification of the amphibians and reptiles of the West Indies exclusive of Hispaniola. Milwaukee Public Museum.
Sheplan, B. R., & Schwartz, A. (1974). Hispaniolan boas of the genus Epicrates (Serpentes, Boidae) and their Antillean relationships. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 45, 57–143.
Tolson, P. J. (1992). The Reproductive Biology of the Neotropical Boid Genus Epicrates (Serpentes: Boidae). In Reproductive biology of South American vertebrates (pp. 165–178). Springer.
Welch, K. R. G. (1994). Snakes of the world: a checklist. R & A Research and Information ; KCM Books [distributor].
