Leopard Keelback,

Helicops leopardinus (Schlegel, 1837)

A deceased juvenile individual (Fig. 14) was photographed at Villarrica (25°44’56’’S 56°26’05’’W), Guairá department on 25 November 2022 by Victor Duarte, representing the first departmental record. It is easily recognizable based on the distinctive head shape and eyecatching ventral colouration (Cacciali 2024). This is an abundant snake in wetlands of the Paraguay River Basin and this latest record approximately corresponds to the eastern limits of its known distribution in Paraguay. The species has been previously reported from Alto Paraguay, Amambay, Caaguazú, Central, Concepción, Cordillera, Itapúa, Misiones, Ñeembucú, Paraguarí, Presidente Hayes and San Pedro departments in Paraguay (Cabral and Weiler, 2014; Cacciali et al., 2016b; Smith et al., 2024). It is considered to be “Least Concern” in Paraguay (Martínez et al., 2020c).