Liotyphlops trefauti, Freire, Eliza Maria Xavier, Caramaschi, Ulisses & Argôlo, Antônio Jorge Suzart, 2007

Freire, Eliza Maria Xavier, Caramaschi, Ulisses & Argôlo, Antônio Jorge Suzart, 2007, A new species of Liotyphlops (Serpentes: Anomalepididae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 1393, pp. 19-26 : 20-23

Liotyphlops trefauti sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 A–E)

Holotype. MZUSP 12178, male, collected at Fazenda Bananeira, Municipality of Murici (9 14’S, 35 48’W, 640 m elevation), State of Alagoas, Brazil, on 0 4 November 1994 by E. M. X. Freire.

Paratype. MZUSP 12179, female, collected at Regional Center of the CEPLAC (Comissão Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira), Municipality of Ilhéus (14 46’S, 39 13’W; 50 m elevation), State of Bahia, Brazil, on 29 January 1992, by C. Jared, M. Antoniazzi, and L. Ferreira.

Referred specimen. CHBEZ 649, young, collected at Mata da Cachoeira (09o00’S, 36o03’W; 437 m elevation), Usina Serra Grande, Municipality of São José da Lage, State of Alagoas, Brazil, on 25 October 2003, by E. M. X. Freire.

Diagnosis. Liotyphlops trefauti sp. nov. is distinguished from all other species of the genus by the following combinations of characters: (1) four scales contacting the posterior edge of prefrontal; (2) one scale contacting the posterior edge of nasal, between the second supralabial and the prefrontal; (3) five scales in the first vertical row of lateral head scales; (4) 22­22­22 scales around body; (5) 520–543 dorsal scales; (6) 499– 532 ventral scales; (7) absence of eye spot; (8) dorsal and ventral color bright yellowish to reddish brown.

Comparisons with other species. The presence of four scales contacting the posterior border of prefrontal approximates L.trefauti sp. nov. to the Colombian species L. anops and L. argaleus ; however, L. trefauti sp. nov. presents one scale contacting the posterior border of nasal, between the second supralabial and the prefrontal (two scales in L. anops and L. argaleus ) and 22­22­22 scales around the body (27­24­23 to 28­24­ 24 in L. anops , 26­22­22 to 28­24­ 22 in L. argaleus ; Dixon and Kofron, 1984; Table 1 ). Additionally, L. trefauti sp. nov. has dorsal and ventral color bright yellowish to reddish brown, while L. anops has all body scales pigmented although the brown pigment of each scale is confined to the posterior one third to one fourth of each scale and the rostral, nasal, and prefrontal areas, and the anal and caudal tip areas are whitish ( Dixon and Kofron, 1984), and L. argaleus is uniform dark brown with the posterior one third of each scale with a transverse blackish brown spot, anterior two thirds of each scale dark gray, anal area and caudal spine whitish, and rostral and nasal areas pinkish white ( Dixon and Kofron, 1984). Liotyphlops trefauti sp. nov. differs from L. albirostris , L. beui , L. schubarti , L. ternetzii , and L. wilderi by having four scales contacting the posterior border of prefrontal (three scales in those species) and higher number of dorsals scales, 520–543 ( L. albirostris , 370–455; L. beui , 375–464; L. schubarti , 372–387; L. ternetzii , 463–510, and L. wilderi , 304–358; Dixon and Kofron, 1984; our data).

L. beui L. schubarti L. ternetzii L. wilderi

Scales number contacting posterior edge of 3 3 3 3 prefrontal

Scales number contacting posterior edge of 2 2 2 1 nasal between second supralabial and pre­

frontal

Eye spot little visible little visible evident evident Scales number in the first vertical row of dor­ 5 5 5 5 sals

Description of the holotype. Rostral large, higher than wide, contacting anterolaterally nasals, laterally prefrontals, and posteriorly the single frontal, which prevents the prefrontals from contacting each other. Prefrontals pairs triangulars, bordered anteriorly and laterally by the rostral, ventrally by the large divided nasal, and dorsoposteriorly partially by the single frontal. Posterior edge of prefrontal passing in front of frontal. In lateral view, four scales contact posterior edge of prefrontal, including the frontal and three scales that lie between the frontal and the second supralabial. One scale bordering the posterior edge of nasal between second supralabial and prefrontal. Divided nasal scale bordered anteriorly by the rostral, dorsally by the prefrontal, ventrally by the first and second supralabials, and posteriorly by a scale that lie between the second supralabial and prefrontal. Five scales in the first vertical row of lateral head scales, consisting of the second supralabial, the frontal, and three scales one above the other in between, namely one supraocular, one ocular, and one subocular, respectively. Eye spot absent. Supralabials 4–4; infralabials 4–4. Dorsals, laterals, and ventrals scales of body and tail smooth; no enlarged ventral plates. Scales around body 22­22­22; dorsals 543; ventrals 531; subcaudals 8. In life, dorsal and ventral color uniform bright yellowish brown; in preservative, the color faded to uniform yellowish brown. Total length 362 mm; tail length 4 mm.

Variation. The female paratype, in life, had dorsum and venter bright reddish brown ( Fig. 2 ); dorsals 520; ventrals 499; total length 385 mm.

Habitat and habits. The holotype of L. trefauti sp. nov. was collected at Fazenda Bananeira, in Murici, Alagoas, where is located one of the biggest and currently the more significative remaining spot of the Atlantic Rain Forest in Northern and Northeastern Brazil. With about 1,200 hectares and 640 meters in elevation, it is covered by a dense forest with a canopy up to 40 meters high. The closed canopy maintains the shadow and humidity inside the forest. The low­growing layer is composed by plantules of the arboreal regeneration, some palms, and large number of lianes and epiphyte plants. The litter is thick and moist. Surrounding the Murici Forest are extensive sugar cane plantations and these isolate completely the forest island from all other similar forest spots. The specimen was collected at 12:30h. through active search inside the thick and moist litter around the trunk of a large tree in the forest.

The paratype was collected at the CEPLAC Regional Center in Ilhéus, Bahia, in a cocoa plantation shadowed by the former high Atlantic Rain Forest. The specimen was obtained also by active search in the thick and moist litter, at 10:00h. Another specimen was seen on the same day and in the same area, inside the nest of ants of the genus Acromyrmex ( Hymenoptera , Formicidae ), but the efforts to collect it failed.

The very young and poorly preserved referred specimen was collected in the thick and moist litter of the Mata da Cachoeira, a secondary forest island of about 100 hectares and 437 meters in elevation inside a large matrix of sugar cane plantation.

Geographical distribution. The species is known from three localities in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Northeastern Brazil, in the states of Alagoas (Murici and São José da Lage) and Bahia (Ilhéus), 50 –640 m elevation.

Etymology. The specific name, a noun in the genitive case, honors Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, by his extensive contribution to the knowledge of the Brazilian herpetology. We are very glad in to prive his pleasant and profitable friendship.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Liotyphlops trefauti sp. nov. (MZUSP 12178, holotype). (A) Dorsal view of head. (B) Lateral view of head. (C) Ventral view of head. (D) Ventral view of tail. (E) Lateral view of tail. Bar = 2 mm.

FIGURE 2. Liotyphlops trefauti sp. nov. (MZUSP 12179, paratype), in life.

Tables

TABLE 1. Comparative diagnostic characters for the species of Liotyphlops (Dixon and Kofron 1984; our data).

	L. argaleus	L. anops	L. trefauti sp. nov.	L. albirostris
Scales number contacting posterior edge of prefrontal	4	4	4	3
Scales number contacting posterior edge of nasal between second supralabial and pre­ frontal	2	2	1	1
Eye spot	little visible or ausent	absent	absent	little visible
Scales number in the first vertical row of dor­ sals	5	6	5	5
Scales rows around body	26–28/22–24/ 22	27–28/22–24/23– 24	22/22/22	24–26/22/22
Scales rows dorsals	351–533	548 or more	520–543	370–455
Total length (mm)	101–261	125–395	366–389	70–233
continued.