Hebius petersii ( Boulenger, 1893 )

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 177-178

Hebius petersii ( Boulenger, 1893) — Native; Indeterminate.

Tropidonotus petersii Boulenger, 1893: 225 , pl. 14, fig. 1 (replacement name for Tropidonotus maculatus Peters, 1871: 575 [non Tropidonotus maculatus Edeling, 1864 ]. Syntypes (4): ZMB 7008, 7105, and MSNG 30085 (2), according to Bauer (2016: 97). Type locality: “... Sarawak [and] Ostidien ohne genaueren Fundort ...” (= ... Sarawak [and] the East Indies without exact locality).

Peter’s Keelback

( Figure 20D . No photos of a live H. petersii exist.)

Singapore records.

Natrix trianguligera — De Haas, 1949: 84.

Natrix petersi —Tweedie, 1950: 196.—Tweedie, 1953: 67.—Tweedie, 1961: 69.— Harman, 1961: 183 (Nee Soon [NSSF]).—B.L. Lim, 1964: 62.

Amphiesma petersii —Tweedie, 1983: 92.—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1988d: 87.—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 54.—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.— David & Vogel, 1996: 121.—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 148.— David & Das, 2003: 419.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 169.— Das, 2010: 333.— David & Vogel, 2010: 127.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 169.—Wallach et al., 2014: 32.

Amphiesma petersi —K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 147.

Hebius petersii — Charlton, 2020: 203.

Remarks. Known only from 15 specimens from throughout its range (Tweedie 1983; David & Vogel 1996; Stuebing et al. 2014), there are only four specimens of H. petersii from Singapore (two newly identified here) and three (or possibly four) from Peninsular Malaysia. One of the Malaysian specimens is from Negeri Sembilan (Smedley 1931b), another which was misidentified as Xenochrophis maculatus in Smedley (1931b) is from Pahang (Tweedie 1950), and the third (ZRC 2.3954) is from Sungei Buloh, Subang Forest Reserve ( Lim 1964; David & Vogel 2010). A possible fourth specimen, BPBM 40779 collected by Hendrickson with the locality “Malaya”, has never been reported and is likely from Peninsular Malaysia. Unfortunately, we were unable to examine this specimen and verify its identity.

Three of the four Singapore records were also misidentified. The first reported record of H. petersii from Singapore comes from Tweedie (1950) who highlighted that specimen three of de Haas (1949), identified as X. trianguligerus , is H. petersii . This specimen contains no date or locality data (Tweedie 1950). As mentioned above, we reidentified two museum specimens as H. petersii . The first is USNM 5541 collected during the U.S. Exploring Expedition in 1842 ( Girard 1858b). Girard (1858b) identified the specimen as “ Tropidonotus junceus ”, a subjective synonym of Rhabdophis chrysargos (Wallach et al. 2014) , but the specimen was recatalogued as X. trianguligerus . As R. chrysargos does not occur in Singapore, the redesignation to X. trianguligerus made sense. However, Girard’s (1858b) description and illustrations more closely resemble H. petersii than either R. chrysargos or X. trianguligerus . Indeed, after examining photographs of USNM 5541 we conclude the specimen is H. petersii . The second is CAS 16753, which was first catalogued as X. trianguligerus , but then reidentified as Trimerodytes percarinata . This specimen was collected by Thompson at an unknown location and date. It is likely the specimen was collected in August 1908 since numerous specimens deposited at CAS by Thompson share that date. The fourth Singapore specimen is ZRC. 2.4041 taken on 6 August 1960 at the Royal Army Service Corps school at Sembawang (Nee Soon Camp), and was reported in Harman (1961).

Occurrence. Only known from four specimens predating 1961. Likely extirpated.

Singapore conservation status. Not Evaluated.

Conservation priority. Immediate priority, if rediscovered.

IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2016].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : ZRC.2.4041 (no date); Royal Army Service Corps School [Nee Soon Camp] : ZRC.2.4033 (06-Aug-1960) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): CAS, USNM.

Singapore localities. Sembawang Naval Base*.

Figures

FIGURE 20. A) Ptyas fusca, B) Ptyas korros, C) Xenelaphis hexagonotus, D) Hebius petersii E) Rhabdophis rhodomelas, F) Xenochrophis maculatus, G) Xenochrophis trianguligerus, and H) Xenochrophis trianguligerus. Photographs by:Alex Figueroa [A, E–F], Emmanuel Goh [B], Nick Baker [C], Kelvin K.P. Lim [D, G], and Evan S.H. Quah [H].