A survey of herpetofauna on Long Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Abstract

In the last 150 years, herpetological studies in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have uncovered forty species of terrestrial reptiles and eight species of frogs from the Andaman Islands. However, fine scale information on the distribution and status of the herpetofauna of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is still lacking. In an attempt to fill the gaps in information, as the first in a series, we conducted a short survey of the herpetofauna of Long Island, Middle Andaman. Twenty-nine species were recorded from this small island, including six species of frogs and twenty-three species of squamate reptiles. The efficiency of various sampling techniques used is discussed in the context of the diversity and density of herpetofauna from the Andaman Islands.