Oligodon deuvei

Pauwels, Olivier S. G., Larsen, Henning, Suthanthangjai, Winai, David, Patrick & Sumontha, Montri, 2017, A new kukri snake (Colubridae: Oligodon) from Hua Hin District, and the first record of O. deuvei from Thailand, Zootaxa 4291 (3), pp. 531-548 : 543

Addition of Oligodon deuvei to the herpetofauna of Thailand

We report here on an adult female, QSMI 1503 (MS 609), collected by one of us (WS) on 18 December 2016 in Ban Na Muang (17.613402 N, 101.688626 E, approximately 270 m asl; Fig. 10 ), Si Song Rak, Muang District , Loei Province . It shows a SVL of 267.0 mm, TaL of 42.1 mm, HL 9.9 mm (right), HW 5.9 mm (right), HD 4.1 mm, ED 1.7 mm (right), SnL 2.5 mm (right), 17-17-15 DSR, all smooth, a round pupil, 7 (3-4) / 7 (3-4) SL, on both sides 2nd and 3rd SL in contact with LOR, 1/1 LOR, 1/1 PreOc, 0/0 PreSubOc, 2/2 PosOc, Tem 1+2 / 1+2, 8 (4) / 8 (4) IL, 1 PV + 149 VEN, a single anal scale and 35 divided SC. The DSR reductions from 17 to 15 both occur above the 97th VEN by fusion of rows 4 and 5 (left) and 3 and 4 (right). On each side the two posteriormost maxillary teeth are strongly enlarged. In life it showed a broad, light brown vertebral stripe, edged with two dark brown paravertebral stripes; light grayish brown flanks with a dorsolateral stripe on each side, less contrasted and marked than the paravertebral stripes; five well defined large marks on dorsal surface of head: a transverse bar across the snout, a sagittal blotch, two oblique streaks directed posteriorly downwards, and one broad nuchal, arrow-shaped mark (not reaching the ventrals) ( Figs. 12–13 ). The ventral surfaces of the body and tail are bright red in their middle, white on the sides, and show irregularly distributed black rectangular blotches. The undersurface of tail is mostly bright red. There are no black blotches on the upper surface of the tail. The tongue is uniformly bright red and the pupil is black. Using the key provided in the work of David et al. (2008) in which this species was described, it is unambiguously identifiable as O. deuvei . Its morphological and chromatical characters agree in all respects with the definition of the species provided by David et al. (2008b) and exclude an identification as any other member of the informal ‘‘ Oligodon taeniatus group’’. Two other conspecific individuals had been earlier caught, photographed and released by WS (on 29 May and 24 July 2016, respectively) in the same locality; they were found in bamboo thickets along a paddy field. Oligodon deuvei , currently recorded from southern Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, was expected by David et al. (2008b) to also occur in northeastern Thailand , a zoogeographical hypothesis confirmed by our present record.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Geographical location of the type-locality of Oligodon huahin sp. nov. in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, peninsular Thailand (red star), and of the first Thai record of O. deuvei in Loei Province, northeastern Thailand (blue dot). Map by W. Sodoab.

FIGURE 12. Adult female Oligodon deuvei (QSMI 1503) from Loei Province, northeastern Thailand, in laterodorsal view. Photograph by M. Sumontha.

FIGURE 13. Adult female Oligodon deuvei (QSMI 1503) from Loei Province, northeastern Thailand, in ventral view. Photograph by M. Sumontha.