New records and range expansion of Chironius carinatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes, Colubridae) from the state of Paraiba, northeast Brazil

Abstract

The current work provides a new state record of the snake Chironius carinatus (Linnaeus, 1758) based on two specimens collected in the Atlantic Forest of Paraíba state, northeastern Brazil. This species occurs in the Amazon and Atlantic Forests. The new records fills in a gap in the species’ distribution on the Brazilian coast. In Paraíba, C. carinatus occurs in sympatry with two other Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 species, C. flavolineatus Jan, 1863 and C. exoletus (Linnaeus, 1758).