Calamophis ruuddelangi, Murphy, 2012

Murphy, John C., 2012, Synonymised And Forgotten, The Bird’S Head Stout-Tailed Snakes, Calamophis Meyer (Squamata: Serpentes: Homalopsidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60 (2), pp. 515-523 : 520-521

Calamophis ruuddelangi , new species

( Fig. 3b )

Brachyorrhos jobiensis: Peters & Doria, 1878: 371

Calamophis jobiensis: Sauvage, 1878: 60

Brachyorrhos albus: Boulenger, 1893: 305

the mental; first four contact the chin shields; two pair of chin shields, the second pair barely distinguishable from the gulars. Dorsal scales on the body are smooth and in 19 rows on the neck and at mid body, posterior reduction to 17 rows in front of the vent; dorsal scales in the first four rows above the vent have tubercles, these extend anteriorly five or six ventrals and posteriorly for 2–3 subcaudals. Ventrals 143, rounded, subcaudals divided, 21/21.

In alcohol: overall appearance is a small, gracile, uniform brown snake from above; each dorsal scale has a dark center and a lighter outer edge. Crown brown, rostral, lower edge of upper labials cream, lower labials cream, scales posterior to jaw cream and narrow into an anterior stripe on the first dorsal row of scales for about the first 10 ventrals; each ventral scale is dark brown with a lighter lateral edge, which forms an indistinct stripe.

Paratype. — BPBM 3850 is 219 mm SVL, 27 mm tail, tail/ SVL = 12.3%; ventrals 143, subcaudals 23/23. The skull Material examined . — Holotype. – MNHN 5175. A 261 mm (total length) male. Collected by Achille Raffray, about 1877, at Ambuaki in the Tamrau Mountains (~ 0°46'S, 132°57'E) West Papua. This species is based on two, presumably adult specimens, collected at two localities about 96 years apart .

Paratype. — BPBM 3850. A 246 mm (total length) male; collected in West Papua, Manokwari Division, Kebar Valley , about 550 m by L. & S. Quate in Jan.1962 (appears to be a road kill) .

Diagnosis. — A gracile Calamophis with a cylindrical body and relatively short tail (12% of SVL); six upper labials, fifth tallest, three and four are distinctly shorter, 143–145 ventrals, 21–23 subcaudals. B. jobiensis has more ventrals (164) and fewer subcaudals (10), hexagonal frontal, and a dorsal pattern of fine white lines that run the length of the body. The rostral to frontal distance is less than the length of the parietal seam. The species lacks the distinct ventro-lateral stripe found in C. katesandersae and has a longer tail. Note: Sauvage (1878) discusses this specimen (MNHN 5175) as C. jobiensis and reports it having 15 dorsal scale rows, 142 ventrals and 21 subcaudals. Only his subcaudal counts agree with the data collected for this study.

Description of holotype. — A 232 mm SVL male with a 29 mm tail; tail/SVL = 12.5%. Body cylindrical with slight constriction at base of tail. The rostral is barely visible from above and separates the single, undivided nasals; nares are visible from above, centered in the scale; the internasal is small, and shorter than the supraocular; prefrontal, loreal, and preocular are fused to form a PLP shield that makes contact with upper labials and the orbit; upper labials six; upper labials 2–3 make contact with the PLP shield, the 3+4 enter the orbit, the fifth is the tallest. The primary temporal scale is larger than the nearby dorsal scales, secondary temporal not differentiated. Lower labials seven; the first pair of lower labials make contact on the midline of the chin posterior to has been removed and the head scales are slightly distorted, but the scale counts and arrangements are almost identical to the holotype. However, this specimen lacks the second pair of small chin shields present in the holotype. Tubercles are also present on the first two or three scale rows just anterior and posterior to the vent. Colour and pattern same as holotype.

Etymology. — Named in honour of Ruud de Lang for his work on the herpetofauna of Indonesia.

Figures

Fig. 3. A comparison of the three new species of Calamophis: A, Calamophis katesandersae; B, Calamophis ruuddelangi; C, Calamophis sharonbrooksae.