Amphiesma

Ziegler, Thomas, Hendrix, Ralf, Thanh, Vu Ngoc, Vogt, Martina, Forster, Bernhard & Kien, Dang Ngoc, 2007, The diversity of a snake community in a karst forest ecosystem in the central Truong Son, Vietnam, with an identification key, Zootaxa 1493, pp. 1-40 : 5

Amphiesma sp.

On 30 July 2006, at the end of the dry season, we found an adult male specimen (ZFMK 86457, SVL 465, TaL 215, TL 680 mm) in the U Bo region at an altitude of about 510 m above sea level. The snake was captured at night (20:00h–21:00h) in the leaf litter of a forest stream, only the snout tip was protruding from the water surface. Scalation features are as follows: internasals narrowed anteriorly; dorsolateral nostrils; nine supralabials (4–6 in contact with eye); ten infralabials; one elongated loreal; two preoculars, the uppermost being the larger; two postoculars, the uppermost being the larger; one anterior temporal, followed by one posterior temporal; 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody (keeled, except four outermost rows that bear only keel rudiments, if at all); three preventrals and 171 ventrals; anal divided; 146 divided subcaudals; dorsal tail scales very strongly keeled; TaL / TL ratio 0.32; the coloration and pattern is discernible from Figures 4–5 . This Amphiesma obviously represents a species not yet recorded from Vietnam and detailed comparisons as well as a comprehensive discussion concerning the specific assignment will be provided elsewhere (David et al. submitted).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Amphiesma sp. from Phong Nha - Ke Bang in dorsal view (ZFMK 86457). Photo: Ralf Hendrix

FIGURE 5. Amphiesma sp. from Phong Nha - Ke Bang in ventral view (ZFMK 86457). Photo: Ralf Hendrix