Rhinophis tricoloratus Deraniyagala, 1975

Pyron, Robert Alexander, Ganesh, Sumaithangi Rajagopalan, Sayyed, Amit, Sharma, Vivek, Wallach, Van & Somaweera, Ruchira, 2016, A catalogue and systematic overview of the shield-tailed snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae), Zoosystema 38 (4), pp. 453-506 : 486

Rhinophis tricoloratus Deraniyagala, 1975

Rhinophis tricoloratus Deraniyagala, 1975: 535 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: NMSL 1978.5.1.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Miyanpalawa in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, southern Sabaragamuwa province, Sri Lanka.

DISTRIBUTION. — This species is known from a small area of lowland tropical rainforests, c. 455 m around Sinharaja World Heritage Site, Kanneliya Forest Reserve, and Beraliya Mukalana Proposed Forest Reserve in the Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces of Sri Lanka ( Somaweera 2006; Karunarathna & Amarasinghe 2012).

DESCRIPTION

The holotype has 163 ventral scales in 17 rows at midbody, contrary to earlier reports (see Wickramasinghe et al. 2009), and five subcaudals. Distinctive color-pattern, with a primarily black dorsal coloration, paired white ocellations, mostly anteriorly, occasionally very dark or faded, a yellowish-white wash on the sides and venter, and an incomplete whitish ring around the tail.

REMARK

While this species has been encountered and photographed since its original description, the range of morphological variation has not been well-characterized.

Rhinophis zigzag Gower & Maduwage, 2011 ( Fig. 8A )

Rhinophis zigzag Gower & Maduwage, 2011: 59 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: CAS 226306 . Thirteen paratypes: CAS 225690-225691 , CAS 225902-225903 , CAS 225967-225969 , CAS 226014-226016 , CAS 226307 , WHT 5246, and WHT 5284.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Biblegemma Rd., near Passara, Uva province, Sri Lanka. Distribution. — This species is known only from the vicinity of the type locality in the wet zone of the central hills of Sri Lanka, c. 1000 m (see Gower & Maduwage 2011; Wallach et al. 2014).

DESCRIPTION

Maximum total length c. 390 mm, ventrals 207-221, subcaudals 3-6, dorsal scales in 17 rows at midbody (see Gower & Maduwage 2011). Distinctive color-pattern, with a yellowishwhite dorsal coloration on the sides and a purplish-black middorsal stripe that variegates with the yellow to form a chain-like or zig-zag pattern.

REMARKS

This species has been collected multiple times over several years around the type locality ( Gower & Maduwage 2011). A photograph of a live specimen was mislabeled as Rhinophis dorsimaculatus by Somaweera (2006; see Gower & Maduwage 2011). This species was also referred to as Rhinophis sp. 2 by Cadle et al. (1990), known specimens having been collected first in the 1970s ( Gower & Maduwage 2011).

Figures

FIG. 8. — Some uropeltid species photographed in life: A, Rhinophis zigzag Gower & Maduwage, 2011; B, Teretrurus sanguineus (Beddome, 1867); C, Uropeltis bicatenata (Günther,1864); D, U. ceylanica Cuvier,1829; E, U.dindigalensis (Beddome,1877);F, U. ellioti (Gray,1858); G, U. liura (Günther,1875);H, U. macrolepis (Peters, 1861). Photos by RAP, RS, SRG, VS, S. Kehimkar, A. Mohan, and D. Raju.