蘭嶼三種闊尾海蛇在不同底質的爬行速度

Abstract

在蘭嶼的礫石、珊瑚礁與沙岸棲地中，三種闊尾海蛇夜間常出現於珊瑚礁區。由於底質特性會影響蛇類的爬行，我們預期三種海蛇在不同底質上的爬行速度應有差異；而基於動物在頻繁利用的棲息環境應該會有較佳的運動表現，我們猜測三種海蛇應該會在珊瑚底質上有著較好的運動能力。然而，海蛇的爬行結果顯示，三種海蛇在細沙表面的運動表現較佳。

Three sympatric laticaudine sea kraits are abundant at Orchid Island during the night time. Among habitats of three kinds of substrates (shingle, coral, fine gravel), they are especially abundant at the coral reef areas. An investigation on the crawling speeds of the sea kraits on the three substrates was conducted in our study. On the basis of crawling speed may be affected by the substrates, we predicted that sea kraits may have different crawling speeds on the various substrates. Based on the assumptions that a better locomotor performance at the most frequently utilized habitat should be favored by animals, a better crawling ability of sea kraits should be found on the coral surface. Although our results showed a different sprint speeds on the three substrates, the excellent crawling ability on the fine gravel surface was beyond our prediction.