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Target Species: De Schauensee’s anaconda, Eunectes deschauenseei
Location: Ilha Marajo, Ilha Caviana & Ilha Mexicana, Para, Brazil
Director: Hugo Smith


Location: Ilha Marajo in the Mouth of the Amazon is the size of Switzerland.

Mission Statement:

There are three species of anacondas, the wide-spread common green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), which occurs throughout the Amazonian and Orinoco river systems, the yellow anaconda (E.notaeus) from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina, and the rare and little known de Schauensee’s anaconda from the Ilha Marajo in the mouth of the Amazon. Mark O’Shea has always wanted to visit the huge island of Marajo, an island the size of Switzerland and the largest island in the Amazon river mouth where the opposite banks are 200 miles apart or the distance from London to Paris. It has been his long term aim to capture one of these poorly documented anacondas and compare it with a green anaconda from the same area. How and why do they differ? How can two species of anaconda co-exist in the same flooded savannas and watercourses? And how big can they grow?


A close view of a De Schauensee’s anaconda (Eunectes deschauenseei), the head is similar to that of the yellow anaconda (E.notaeus).

Species recorded during ‘Amazon Anaconda.’

Species Common Name
BUFONIDAE TRUE TOADS
Bufo marinus Marine toad
HYLIDAE TREEFROGS
Hyla sp. D (Para, Brazil) (unidentified treefrog)
Hyla sp. E (Para, Brazil) (unidentified treefrog)
Hyla sp. F (Para, Brazil) (unidentified treefrog)
Osteocephalus leprieurii Leprieur’s broad-headed treefrog
Osteocephalus sp. (Para, Brazil) (unidentified broad-headed treefrog)
Phyllomedusa sp. (Para, Brazil) (unidentified leaf frog)
Scinax garbei Eirupepe snouted treefrog
Scinax rubra Banana treefrog
LEPTODACTYLIDAE SOUTHERN FROGS
Adenomera Andreae Lowland tropical bullfrog
Leptodactylus mystaceus Amazon Basin bullfrog
Leptodactylus ocellatus Criolla bullfrog
Leptodactylus sp. C (Para, Brazil) (unidentified bullfrog)
Leptodactylus sp. D (Para, Brazil) (unidentified bullfrog)
KINOSTERNIDAE MUD & MUSK TURTLES
Kinosternon scorpioides Scorpion mud turtle
GEKKONIDAE GECKOES
Gonatodes humeralis Common bent-toed gecko
Hemidactylus mabouia Cosmopolitan house gecko
SCINCIDAE SKINKS
Mabuya bistriata Two-lined mbouya
TEIIDAE MACROTEIIDS
Ameiva ameiva ameiva Common ameiva
Tupinambis teguxin Black & white tegu
BOIDAE BOAS
Boa constrictor constrictor Common Boa
Epicrates cenchria barbouri Marajo rainbow boa
Eunectes deschauenseei De Schauesee’s anaconda
Eunectes murinus Common green anaconda
COLUBRIDAE TYPICAL SNAKES
Liophis lineatus lineatus Jararaca listrada
Liophis sp. (Para, Brazil) (unidentifed watersnake)
VIPERIDAE VIPERS & PITVIPERS
Bothrops atrox Common lancehead