Some Reproductive Facts in Female Snakes of Lapemis Curtus (Shaw, 1802) Occurring Along the Jaffna Coastal Waters

Proceedings of ‏The 3rd International Conference on Applied Research in Engineering Science and Technology

Year: 2021

DOI:

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Some Reproductive Facts in Female Snakes of Lapemis Curtus (Shaw, 1802) Occurring Along the Jaffna Coastal Waters

Pushpalingam Surenthar,and Abyerami Sivaruban

ABSTRACT: 

The objectives of the study are to find out reproductive pattern of Lapemis curtus such as gestation period, spawning season and clutch size in Jaffna coastal waters. The study was under taken along the coast of Vadamaratchchy, Northern part of Sri Lanka. Dead Sea snakes were collected from December 2018 to November 2019. 58 female snakes were used in which 15 snakes were gravid females. Snout to vent length (SVL) and total length (TL) were taken to the nearest 0.1cm with a measuring tape. Weight (Wt) of all snakes was measured to the nearest 0.002kg using digital balance. Sex probe was used to find out the sex of snake. Females which having eggs and embryos were dissected, measurements of eggs and clutch size were recorded Follicles were found in female snakes from November to June. Fully developed embryos were observed in June, but any follicles were not found from July to October. Follicle number ranged from 3 to 10. Average follicle number was 5.2. Arrangement of eggs was regular in all except one.

Keywords: Lapemis curtus, Gestation period, spawning season, Follicles.