Proctoporus iridescens, Goicoechea & Padial & Chaparro & Castroviejo-Fisher & Riva, 2013

Goicoechea, NoemÍ, Padial, José M., Chaparro, Juan Carlos, Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago & Riva, Ignacio De La, 2013, A taxonomic revision of Proctoporus bolivianus Werner (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) with the description of three new species and resurrection of Proctoporus lacertus Stejneger, American Museum Novitates 2013 (3786), pp. 1-32 : 17-21

Proctoporus iridescens , new species

Figures 3B , 6

Proctoporus bolivianus [Ca3 MNCN21323]: Goicoechea et al., 2012: 953.

HOLOTYPE: MHNC 5359 (field number MNCN 4590 ) (fig. 6), adult male, from the road between Huancasarani and Limbani (14°10′29.4″S / 69°41′36.1″W), Province Sandia , Department of Puno, Peru, 3643 m, collected by Ignacio De la Riva, José Manuel Padial, Jaime Bosch, Santiago Castroviejo-Fisher, and Juan Carlos Chaparro on 16 February 2006.

PARATYPES: MNCN 43666 (field number MNCN 4589 ), adult male, and MNCN 43667 (field number MNCN 4593 ), MHNC 5361 (field number MNCN 4592 ), adult females, same data as holotype; MNCN 43668–69 (field numbers MNCN 4607 , 4699 ), MHNC 5421 (field number MNCN 4698 ), adult females, from road between Ollachea and Corani (13°50′31.2″S / 70°29′51.7″W), Province Carabaya, Department of Puno, Peru, 3213 m, collected by Ignacio De la Riva, José Manuel Padial, Jaime Bosch, Santiago Castroviejo-Fisher, and Juan Carlos Chaparro on 24 February 2006; MHNC 5699 (field number MNCN 4793 ), MHNC 5701 (field number MNCN 4795 ), MNCN 44222 (field number MNCN 4798 ), MNCN 44224 (field number MNCN 4790 ), adult females, and MNCN 44223 (field number MNCN 4789 ), MNCN 44225 (field number MNCN 4791 ), juveniles, from road between Usicayos and Quetapalo (14°07′21.1″S / 70°57′06.7″W), Province Carabaya, Department of Puno, Peru, 3773 m, collected by Ignacio De la Riva, José Manuel Padial, Santiago Castroviejo-Fisher, and Juan Carlos Chaparro on 5 February 2007 .

DIAGNOSIS: (1) Frontonasal length equal to frontal length; (2) nasoloreal suture absent; (3) three supraoculars; (4) 3–4 superciliaries, first not expanded onto dorsal surface of head; (5) postoculars two; (6) palpebral disc made up of a single, undivided scale; (7) three supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular; (8) three pairs of genials in contact; (9) dorsal body scales quadrangular, slightly keeled; (10) transverse rows of dorsals 34–37 in males and 34–40 in females; (11) transverse ventral rows 22–24 in both sexes; (12) a continuous series of small lateral scales separating dorsals from ventrals; (13) posterior cloacal plate made up of six scales in both sexes; (14) anterior preanal plate scales paired; (15) femoral pores per hind limb in males 5–6 in males, absent in females; (16) preanal pores absent; (17) subdigital lamellae on toe IV 14–20; subdigital lamellae on toe V 6–13; (18) limbs not overlapping when adpressed against body in adults; (19) pentadactyl; digits clawed; (20) dorsum dark gray; lateral surface of head like dorsal surface, lip irregularly barred with cream coloring; ventral surface of head cream with clumps of black stippling on each scale; pregular region like head but with fainter stippling.

Specimens of Proctoporus iridescens show the presence of an undivided palpebral disc, which identifies them as members of the genus Proctoporus , as opposed to Riama and Petracola (Doan and Castoe, 2005; Uzzell, 1970). Proctoporus iridescens can be distinguished from its congeners by having three supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular (four in all other species of Proctoporus ) and three pairs of genials in contact (two in all other species of Proctoporus ). It can also be distinguished from P.pachyurus by having three supraoculars not fused with superciliaries (four supraoculars in P. pachyurus , first fused with first superciliary), and 34–40 transverse dorsal scale rows (47–60 in P.pachyurus ); from P. sucullucu by having limbs not overlapping when adpressed against body, first supraocular not fused with first superciliary (fused in P. sucullucu ), and by the lack of loreal scale (present in P. sucullucu ); from P. bolivianus by having frontonasal subequal to frontals and first supraocular not fused with first superciliary; from P. unsaacae and P. guentheri by the absence of a series of lateral ocelli; from P. carabaya by having first supraocular not fused with first superciliary and the lack of loreal scale; from P. kiziriani by the lack of loreal scale (present in P. kiziriani ) and by the absence of dorsal stripes; from P. lacertus by having three supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular (four in P.lacertus ); from P.xestus by the lack of prefrontal scales (present in P.xestus ) and having keeled dorsal scales (smooth in P. xestus ); and from P. chasqui by the lack of prefrontal scales.

DESCRIPTION OF HOLOTYPE: Adult male, snout-vent length (SVL) 56.0 mm, regenerated tail length 62.8 mm; head scales smooth, without striations or rugosities; rostral scale wider (1.9 mm) than tall (0.9 mm), meeting supralabials on either side at above the height of supralabials, and becoming higher medially, in contact with frontonasal, nasals, and first supralabi- als; frontonasal longer than wide, widest posteriorly, in contact with rostral, nasals, anteriormost supraocular, and frontal; prefrontals absent; frontal longer than wide, pentagonal, not in contact with anteriormost superciliary, in contact with frontonasal, first two supraoculars and with frontoparietals; frontoparietals pentagonal, in contact with frontal, second and third supraoculars, parietals, and interparietal; supraoculars three, all in contact with superciliaries, third in contact with frontoparietal, parietal, and postocular; interparietal longer than wide, roughly heptagonal, in contact with frontoparietals anteriorly, parietals laterally, and occipitals posteriorly; parietals polygonal, with posterior sutures in contact with occipital, lateral sutures diagonally in contact with temporal; occipitals three, smaller than parietals, medial pentagonal smaller than laterals. Nasal entire with no separate loreal scale, longer than high, in contact with first supralabials, first superciliary, and frenocular; nostril situated in anterior third of nasal scale; three superciliaries, first not fused with first supraocular; palpebral disc made up of a single transparent scale; suboculars two; postoculars two; temporals smooth, glossy, polygonal; supratympanic temporals two; supralabials anterior to the posteroventral angle of the subocular three. Mental wider (2.2 mm) than long (1.8 mm), in contact with first infralabial and postmental posteriorly; postmental single, pentagonal, in contact with mental, first infralabials, and first pair of genials; three pairs of genials in contact, anterior pair in contact with first and second infralabials; second pair of genials in contact with second and third infralabi- als; third pair of genials in contact with third and fourth infralabials laterally; one pair of chin shields, separated by two smaller median pregulars; gular scale rows eight; lateral neck scales round, smooth. Dorsals rectangular, longer than wide, juxtaposed, slightly keeled, in 33 transverse rows; longitudinal dorsal scale rows 23 at midbody; continuous lateral scale series, smaller than dorsals, partially hidden in lateral fold, reduced scales at limb-insertion regions present; transverse ventral scale rows 22; longitudinal ventral scale rows at midbody 12; anterior preanal plate scales paired; posterior preanal plate scales six, lateralmost scales small; scales on tail rectangular, juxtaposed; all caudal scales smooth. Limbs pentadactyl; digits clawed; dorsal brachial scales polygonal, subequal in size, subimbricate, smooth; ventral brachial scales roundish, subimbricate, smooth; antebrachial scales polygonal, subequal in size, smooth, ventral antebrachial scales smallest; dorsal manus scales polygonal, smooth, subimbricate; palmar scales small, rounded, subimbricate, domelike; dorsal scales on fingers smooth, quadrangular, covering dorsal half of digit, overhanging subdigital scales, three on finger I, five on II, eight on III, 10 on IV, five on V; scales on anterodorsal surface of thigh large, polygonal, smooth, subimbricate; scales on posterior surface of thigh small, rounded, juxtaposed; scales on ventral surface of thigh large, rounded, flat, smooth; femoral pores five; preanal pores absent; scales on anterior surface of crus polygonal, smooth, juxtaposed, decreasing in size distally; scales on anterodorsal surface of crus rounded, juxtaposed; scales on ventral surface of crus large, smooth, flat, subimbricate; scales on dorsal surface of toes quadrangular, smooth, overhanging supradigital lamellae, three on toe I, six on II, seven on III, seven on IV, five on V; subdigital lamellae single distally, double proximally, three on toe I, four on II, 11 on III, 14 on IV, nine on V; limbs not overlapping when adpressed against the body, separated by eight to nine dorsal scale lengths.

COLORATION IN PRESERVATIVE: Dorsal and lateral surfaces of head dark gray (fig. 6); lip irregularly barred with cream color; ventral surface of head creamy gray with clumps of black stippling on each scale; pregular region like head but with fainter stippling; gular region like head. Dorsal and lateral surface of body nearly same color as head; ventral surface of body with dark gray ground color, with cream spots on posterior margin of some scales. Limbs similar to body. Dorsal tail coloration like that of body, ventral surface of tail like ventral surface of the body but without mottling.

COLORATION IN LIFE: Dorsal, lateral, and ventral surfaces are similar to coloration in preservative but with bluish-green iridescences (fig. 3).

VARIATION: Coloration is similar among all the specimens with some of them having a lighter dorsum. Stippling on the venter is more distinct in some specimens and nearly absent in others; throat coloration is also variable, with some specimens having lighter coloration in this region. Sexual dimorphism includes males having wider heads (relative to head length; see table 3); femoral pores number is also sexually dimorphic, with males possessing 5–6 femoral pores per leg and females lacking them. Variation of morphometric and meristic characters is shown in table 3.

DISTRIBUTION: This Peruvian species has a relatively broad distribution, from the Limbani valley and Corani in northern department of Puno to the Kosñipata Valley, in the department of Cusco, covering an air distance of 160 km approximately, with an altitudinal range of 2700–3850 m (fig. 9).

HABITAT AND ECOLOGY: Individuals were found during day time under rocks and logs in cloud forests and humid cleared areas.

ETYMOLOGY: The specific epithet comes from Greek iris (“rainbow”), in allusion to the pretty iridescent reflections of the scales of this species.

Figures

FIG. 3. Dorsal and ventral views of living specimens of A, Proctoporus bolivianus from Millipaya (La Paz, Bolivia); B, Proctoporus iridescens from the road between Huancasarani and Limbani (Puno, Peru); and C, Proctoporus kiziriani from road between Marcapata and Tambopampa (Cusco, Peru).

FIG. 6. Holotype of Proctoporus iridescens (MHNC 5359; snout-vent length, 56.0 mm).