Dendrelaphis underwoodi, Rooijen & Vogel, 2008

Rooijen, Johan Van & Vogel, Gernot, 2008, A New Species Of Dendrelaphis (Serpentes: Colubridae) From Java, Indonesia, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 56 (1), pp. 189-197 : 191-193

Dendrelaphis underwoodi , new species

( Figs. 1–4 )

Material examined. – Holotype. RMNH 7447 (82), adult female, “Radjamandala, West Java, 335 meters”, now Rajamandala, Province of Jawa Barat, Java, Indonesia, coll. J. Semmelink.

Paratypes. RMNH 6880 , female, “Goenoeng Simpai, 2,100 feet, West Java ”, now Gunung Simpai, coll. C. P. J. De Haas. ; RMNH 40100 , male, “Tjiladjang, 900 meters, West Java ”, now Cilayang, Province of Jawa Barat, Java, Indonesia, coll. C. P. J. De Haas.

Diagnosis. – A species of Dendrelaphis characterized by the combination of the following characters: 1) 15 dorsal scale rows at midbody; 2) one loreal scale; 3) 6–7 temporal scales; 4) supralabials 4, 5, and 6 touch the eye (4th with posterior corner); 5) a short first sublabial that touches infralabials 6 and 7; 6) vertebral scales strongly enlarged, larger than the scales of the first dorsal row; 7) 183–189 ventrals; 8) 126–133 subcaudals; 9) a divided anal shield; 10) a relatively compact build, SVL/head-length 23.5–28.5; 11) a black postocular stripe that starts on the loreal, covers the whole temporal region and extends onto the neck where it is broken up into more or less pronounced oblique black bars; 12) the presence of a narrow black stripe in the posterior half of the body, covering the lower half of the third dorsal row; and 13) the absence of a light ventrolateral stripe.

Etymology. – This species is named after Prof. Garth Underwood (British Museum of Natural History), who investigated this group but did not publish his results (Tiwari All statistical analyses were carried out with the software SPSS (2003; SPSS for Windows. Release 11.5.2.1. Standard Version. SPSS Inc., Chicago).

Museum abbreviations: BMNH: Natural History Museum, London, Great Britain. LSUHC: La Sierra University Herpetological Collection, La Sierra University, Riverside, California, United States. MNHN: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. NMW: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria. PSGV: Gernot Vogel’s private collection, Heidelberg, Germany. QSMI: Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand. RMNH: National Museum of Natural History, & Biswas, 1973). He helped us in several ways, as he was so kind as to write down his observations and left them with the specimens in the Natural History Museum of London. In addition, one of the authors (GV) had the opportunity to meet Prof. Underwood once in the Natural History Museum and wishes to express the deep impression this great herpetologist made on him. Suggested English name: Underwood’s Bronzeback snake .

Description of the holotype. – Adult female; SVL 60.0 cm; TAIL 30.0 cm; Head-length: 22.9 mm; 189 ventrals (2 preventrals); 131 divided subcaudals; anal plate divided; dorsals 15-15-11; vertebrals larger than first row of dorsals, hexagonal in shape and with straight posterior margin; one loreal (L+R); one preocular (L+R); two postoculars (L+R); one supraocular (L+R); nine supralabials (L+R); supralabials 4,5 and 6 touch the eye (4 th with posterior corner) (L+R); 10 infralabials (L), 11 infralabials (R); first infralabials touch at the mental groove; first chinshield touches infralabials 1– 5 (L+R); second chinshield touches infralabials 5 and 6 (L+R); first sublabial short, touches infralabials 6 and 7 (L+R); temporals 2+2+2 (L+R); eye small, 4.9 mm in diameter (L and R averaged); pupil round; distance from anterior border eye to posterior border nostril 4.5 mm (L+R averaged).

Background colour of the preserved specimen olive-brown, based on unshed skin; head in background colour dorsally; supralabials and underside of chin light yellow; venter lightgreen; a black temporal stripe starts on the loreal, covers the whole temporal region and extends onto the neck where it is broken up into black oblique bars which fade posteriorly; some dorsals in the anterior part of the body have blueish spots which are not covered by neighbouring dorals; a narrow black stripe covers the lower half of the third dorsal row in the posterior half of the body. A light ventrolateral stripe is absent. The specimen was gravid at the time of collection as eggs are clearly noticeable.

Description and variation. – The smallest specimen has a total length of 55 cm. The largest specimen, a gravid female, has a total length of 90 cm. TAIL/TL 0.31 to 0.33; ventrals 183–189; two preventrals; subcaudals 126–133, all divided; anal shield divided; dorsal formula 15-15-11; one loreal; vertebrals strongly enlarged, larger than the scales of the first dorsal row; first chinshield touches infralabials 1–5; second chinshield touches infralabials 5 and 6; first sublabial touches infralabials 6 and 7; nine supralabials, supralabials 4,5 and 6 touch the eye (4th with posterior corner); infralabials 10– 11; postoculars 2–3; temporal formula 2+2+2/2+2+ 2 in two specimens, 3+2+2/3+2+ 1 in one specimen; eye small, 3.5– 4.9 mm when unadjusted, 4.7–5.2 mm when adjusted to a SVL of 66.0 cm; diameter eye / distance (anterior border of) eye to (posterior border of) nostril 1.1-1.2.

Background colour of preserved specimens olive or olivebrown, based on unshed skin; head in background colour dorsally; underside of chin and supralabials light yellow; venter light green; a black temporal stripe starts on the loreal, covers the whole temporal region and extends onto the neck where it is broken up into black oblique bars which fade posteriorly; The black oblique bars are pronounced in the holotype but less pronounced in the paratypes; some dorsals in the anterior part of the body have blueish spots which are not covered by neighbouring dorals; a narrow black stripe covers the lower half of the third dorsal row in the posterior half of the body. A light ventrolateral stripe is absent. A summary of the morphological and colouration characters of the types is given in Table 2.

Sexual dimorphism. – The three known specimens represent too little variation to allow for statistical generalization of differences between the sexes.

Range. – Dendrelaphis underwoodi is endemic to Java, Indonesia. The three known specimens have all been

THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2008

collected in West Java (Cilayang and Rajamandala, both locations in Province of Jawa Barat; Gunung Simpai).

Biology. – Dendrelaphis underwoodi appears to be a rare species as only three specimens were found in the extensive material of the examined museum collections. It may be an inhabitant of mountainous areas as the types were collected at altitudes of 900, 640 and 335 metres respectively. Nothing else is known about its biology.

Figures

Fig. 1. Dendrelaphis underwoodi, new species, RMNH 7447 (82), holotype.

Fig. 2. Dendrelaphis underwoodi, new species, RMNH 7447 (82), holotype, right side of the head.

Fig. 3. Dendrelaphis underwoodi, new species, RMNH 6880, paratype.

Fig. 4. Dendrelaphis underwoodi, new species, RMNH 40100, paratype.