Mona Island boa

Chilabothrus monensis, which is been called the Virgin Islands tree boa in the Virgin Islands,[3] and possibly sometimes as the Mona Island boa elsewhere, is a species of snake in the family Boidae.[4] It is native to the West Indies.

Mona Island boa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Genus: Chilabothrus
Species:
C. monensis
Binomial name
Chilabothrus monensis
(Zenneck, 1898)
Synonyms
  • Epicrates monensis
    Zenneck, 1898
  • Epicrates gracilis monensis
    — Stimson, 1969
  • Epicrates monensis
    — Schwartz & Henderson, 1991
  • Chilabothrus monensis
    — Reynolds et al., 2013
  • Epicrates monensis
    — Wallach et al., 2014 [2]

Distribution and habitat

Chilabothrus monensis is found in the West Indies, around Mona Island and Cayo Diablo near Puerto Rico, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in the British Virgin Islands: Tortola, Great Camanoe, Necker and Virgin Gorda.[5]

It has also relatively recently been recorded on the island of Great Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where its presence influenced the permitting process for the construction plans of the islands owner, Jeffrey Epstein.[3]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.

  • Chilabothrus monensis monensis Zenneck, 1898[5][6]
  • Chilabothrus monensis granti Stull, 1933

References
  1. Tolson P (1996). "Chilabothrus granti ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T7829A12853577. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T7829A12853577.en.
  2. "Chilabothrus monensis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Carlson, Suzanne (May 7, 2019). "Epstein building compound on Great St. James". The Virgin Islands Daily News. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  4. "Epicrates". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  5. Schwartz, Albert, Thomas, Richard (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Epicrates monensis, p. 185).
  6. Zenneck J (1898). "Die Zeichnung der Boiden ". Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftliche Zoologie 64: 1-384. (Epicrates monensis, new species, pp. 64–66). (in German)


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