Dr. Fűköh Levente szerk.: Malakológiai Tájékoztató 12. (Eger, 1993.)

SZABÓ, S.: A Szigetbecsei-holtág malakológiai állapotának alapvetése

A landsnail in a faecal pellet of the snake Eirenis rothi Jan, 1865 (Mollusca, Gaatropoda - Reptilia, Ophidia) H. K. Mienis Abstract: A juvenile shell of Xeropicta vestalis joppensis (Schmidt, 1855) is reported from a faecal pellet of Eirenis rothi Jan, 1865. It is the first case of prédation on a landsnail by snakes of the genus Eirenis. Key words: Gastropoda, Xeropicta vestalis joppensis, Ophidia, Eirenis rothi, prédation, Israel. Since 1970 we are surveying from time-to-time the reptile fauna of Kibbutz Nezter Sereni. The latter is an agricultural settlement covering some 360 ha, in a densily built up area some 16 km SW of Tel Aviv, Israel. Sofar we were able to record the presence of 26 autochthonous and 3 allochthonous species (Mienis, H. K. 1990 and additional umpublished data). On 14. March 1991 we caught for the first and sofar only time a specimen of Eirenis rothi Jan, 1865, Fam. Colubridae. The snake was found under a stone near the gate of a Citrus orchard opposite Giv'at Jashresh, an unofficial nature reserve partly covered by Acacia albida. Almost immediately the snake poduced a faecal pellet which contained to our surprise a juvenile shell of Xeropicta vestalis joppensis (Schmidt, 1855), Fam. Hygromiidae, with a shell diameter of 3 mm. Eirenis rothi is know to feed on a large variety of insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and other invertebrates (Arbel, A. 1984: 131; Esterbauer, H. 1992: 43). Since it does not seem to feed on prey wich swallow whole snails, we are most probably dealing here with a case of primary prédation on a snail by the snake. As far as we know this seems to be the first time that a snail is reported as a prey item of Eirenis rothi or of any other Eirenis species (Arbel, A. 1984; Dotsenko, I. B. 1987; Esterbauer, H. 1992). References ARBEL, A., 1984. Reptiles and Amphibians. Plants and Animals of the Land of Israel - An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 5:1-244. The Publishing House, Ministry of Defence/Society for Protection of Nature, Israel, (in Hebrew) DOTSENKO, I. B., 1987. Comparative study of the diet of three Transcaucasian snake species of the genus Eirenis (Colubridae). - U.S.S.R. Acad. Sei., Proc. Zool. Inst. Leningrad, 158:84-88. (in Russian) ESTERBAURER, H, 1992. Die Herpetofauna des östlichen Golan- und Hermongebietes - Funde und Bemerkungen zur Systematik und Ökologie. Zool. Middle East, 7:21-54. MIENIS, O., 1990. A survey of the reptiles of Kibbutz Netzer Sereni and their zoogeography. 86 pp. Regional Highschool „J. Ch. Brenner", Giv'at Brenner, (in Hebrew) Henk K. MIENIS Dept. Evolution, Systematics&Ecology Hebrew University, 91904 Jerusalem. Israel