Bothrops leucurus Wagler, 1824 (SERPENTES; VIPERIDAE): NATURAL HISTORY, VENOM AND ENVENOMATION

REJANE M. LIRA-DA-SILVA(1)

(1)Department of Zoology, Federal University of Bahia, Bahia, Brazil.

This work is to survey the natural history, venom and envenomation of the Bothrops leucurus. This snake is popular know as “white-tailed lancehead”, has a large distribution in the coast Brazilian, from Maranhão to Espírito Santo, where it occurs in the variety of forested and disturbed habitats including scrubs, and even cultivated fields. B. leucurus may be found in the ambient of the humid, sub-humid, dry and semi-arid clime, and at vertical range from sea level to 1200 m. Is terrestrial, medium-sized (250–1840mm) (females tend to be larger and heavier than males), mainly nocturnal and active most of the year. Preys are mostly rodents for adult snakes and frogs/lizards for juveniles, indicating an ontogenetic shift in diet. Caudal luring behavior occurs in juveniles that usually have conspicuous, pale tail tips. Date about the reproductive biology demonstrated that B. leucurus is viviparous specie, pregnancy (four months) and birth occurs of the winter and summer season, respectively and litter medium size is 19 young. It’s venom is characterized a high number of metals, a high activity of fibrinolytic, proteolytic, hemorragic and edematogenic and a low coagulant activity and it has an important capacity of grabbing myonecrosis. The myotoxicity of venom caused muscle damage and release of CK into blood plasma. The peak of liberation of CK was detected at 6, 3-6 and 3 hours for 25, 50 and 100 mg/ml, respectively and morphological analysis revealed that the venom affected a large number of muscle fibers as show by widespread and varying degrees of necrosis. The B. leucurus poison features an electrophoretic profile joined with 4 parts and a chromatographic with 7 peaks; it has a capacity of inhibiting the neuromuscular transmission in an irreversible way and dependent-dosis, because of its post-junccionals actions, and in low concentrations it has a pre-synaptic action. This snake is responsible for the majority of the ophidic accidents at Bahia, Brazil. The envenomation is characterized by local manifestations (pain, edema, heat, numbness, erythema, ecchymosis, phlyctena), coagulations disturbances (delayed coagulation, ingoagulability blood), general manifestations (headache, dizziness), digestive symptoms (vomit, nausea), urinary symptoms (oliguria, anuria, haematuria), disturbances haemorrhagic (haemorrhage, hematemesis, hemoptysis), cardiovascular disturbances (hypotension, bradicardia) and neurologic  symptoms (cloude vision, tremors).

KEY WORDS: venom, envenomation, Bothrops leucurus.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: CAPES.

CORRESPONDENCE TO: REJÂNE MARIA LIRA-DA-SILVA, Department of Zoology, Federal University of Bahia, Campus Universitário de Ondina, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, 40170-210. Phone: + 55 71 3263-6564. Fax: + 55 71 3263-6511. Email: rejane@ufba.br