Cylindrophis mirzae, Amarasinghe & Campbell & Hallermann & Sidik & Supriatna & Abstract.-The, 2015

Amarasinghe, A. A. Thasun, Campbell, Patrick D., Hallermann, Jakob, Sidik, Irvan, Supriatna, Jatna & Abstract. - The, Ivan Ineich, 2015, Two new species of the genus Cylindrophis Wagler, 1828 (Squamata: Cylindrophiidae) from Southeast Asia, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 98) 9 (1), pp. 34-51 : 44-45

Cylindrophis mirzae sp. nov. Amarasinghe, Ineich, Campbell & Hallermann

( Figs. 6 , 7 , 8 ; Table 3 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D0BBDECC-22AE-4D9A-AEF4-2BA1F9C115A0

Proposed standard English name: Mirza’s Pipe-Snake Proposed standard Indonesian name: Ular Pipa Mirza

Holotype: MNHN-RA 3279 , ( SVL 419 mm), collected at Singapore, by Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux (1802–1841), certainly during the expedition on the vessel La Favorite (1829–1832).

Paratypes (3): BMNH 1847.2 .9.23, ( SVL 693 mm), collected from Singapore, by A.F. Gardiner, collection date unknown ; BMNH 1938.9 .8.1, ( SVL 580 mm), collected from Singapore, by Dr. A.G.H. Smart (Assistant Medical Advisor, Colonial Office S.W. 1.), presented by Dr. H.B. Newham ( London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), collection date unknown ; BMNH 1880.9 .10.23, ( SVL 298 mm), collected from Singapore, collector and the date unknown, presented by Dr. Dennis .

Diagnosis: Cylindrophis mirzae sp. nov. is distinguished from all congeners by having the following characters: 21 midbody scale rows (vs. 17 in C. engkariensis ; 19 in C. boulengeri , C. burmanus , C. melanotus , C. ruffus ; 23 in C. aruensis , C. opisthorhodus ), narrow and completed lighter rings encircling the dark body at anterior and posterior parts of the body (vs. no bands on the paler back in C. isolepis and C. yamdena ; lateral and middorsal stripes along the body in C. lineatus ; wide and interrupted bands on the back in C. jodiae sp. nov.; two series of large reddish-brown spots along the back, which are enclosed by a black network in C. maculatus ).

Description of holotype: An adult, SVL 419 mm, tail length 10.0 mm; body elongate (largest body diameter at midbody is 14.6 mm), rounded in cross section; head not distinct from neck, broadened and dorsoventrally flattened in the orbital and sagittal regions; snout blunt in dorsal and lateral view.

Rostral shield small, slightly visible from above with a conical apex; a single nasal, widely in contact behind the rostral, no internasals; nasals in contact with rostral anteriorly, with prefrontal posteriorly, and the first and second supralabials ventrally; nostrils large; canthus rostralis weakly defined; prefrontals larger than the frontal, and quadrangular; frontal large (length 2.7 mm and width 3.1 mm), triangular, and with the same length as width, equal or somewhat larger than supraocular; supraocular wide (length 2.6 mm and width 2.3 mm), triangular, posteriorly wider; parietals equal in size to frontal, subtriangular, their rear border rounded, bordered by supraocular, frontal shield, upper posterior temporal shield, occipital shield, and two dorso-nuchal shields posteriorly on each side, the occipital shield is of same size as other dorso-nuchal scales; loreal absent; no preocular; eye small (diameter 1.0 mm), pupil rounded; eye in broad contact with supraocular dorsally, prefrontal and third supralabial anteriorly, fourth supralabial ventrally, and postocular posteriorly; a single postocular, trapezoidal, posteriorly wider, in broad contact with supraocular, anterior temporal, and wide contact with fourth supralabial ventrally; temporals 1+2, subtriangular; anterior temporal much larger than posteriors; anterior temporal in contact with supraocular and upper posterior temporal dorsally, lower posterior temporal posteriorly, 4 th and 5 th supralabials ventrally; anterior temporal well separated from the parietal by the supraoculars and the upper posterior temporal.

Six supralabials, 3 rd and 4 th larger in size and touching the eye; first supralabial in contact with rostral anteriorly and nasal dorsally; second supralabial in contact with nasal and prefrontal dorsally, third supralabial in contact with prefrontal and eye postero-dorsally, fourth supralabial in contact with the eye, postocular, and anterior temporal dorsally; fifth supralabial in contact with anterior and lower posterior temporal dorsally; sixth supralabial in contact with posterior temporals dorsally and body scales posteriorly.

Mental large, triangular; first infralabial pair slightly smaller than mental plate and in narrow contact with each other, and with anterior chin shield posteriorly; six infralabials in total, 1 st –3 rd in contact with first chin shield, 4 th – 6 th in contact with gular scales but not touching the chin shields; anterior chin shields larger than posterior ones; a mental groove continues from the posterior tip of the mental until the posterior chin shields.

Body slender; transverse body scale rows 19–21–18, all smooth, subcycloid, and weakly imbricate; vertebrals and midventrals undifferentiated from adjacent scales; 213 ventrals; cloacal plate divided, precloacal undivided and triangular; tail extremely short, relative TL (TL/total length) 2.3%, with a conical robust and thick tip; five subcaudals, the first three entire, the following divided and the last one entire again.

Coloration: The holotype has a brown back with narrow and completed lighter rings encircling the body along dorsal surface from behind nape to tail, each band covering about one scale; head lighter, an incomplete, narrow ring encircling the nape; the venter is dark brown with regular, cream colored stripes, some divided at midline. See Fig. 6 for details of coloration in preservative.

Variation of paratypes: SVL range from 298–693 mm; ventrals 196–217; six subcaudals in all paratypes; relative TL 2.0–3.3%.

Etymology: The species epithet is an eponym latinized as a noun in the genitive singular, honouring Dr. Mirza Kusrini for her generous friendship and support, for her dedication and important contributions to herpetological conservation and ecology in Indonesia. Mirza Kusrini is an Indonesian herpetologist and currently she is a lecturer at Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia and a steering committee member of IUCN Species Survival Commission Amphibian Specialist Group.

Distribution: The new species is evidently recorded from Singapore ( Fig. 8 ).

Figures

Fig. 6. Coloration of Cylindrophis mirzae sp. nov. holotype, MNHN-RA 3279 (A) head in dorsal view, (B) head in ventral view, (C) head in lateral view, (D) midbody in dorsal view, (E) midbody in ventral view, and (F) tail in ventral view.

Fig. 7. Scalation of Cylindrophis mirzae sp. nov. holotype, MNHN-RA 3279 (A) head in dorsal view, (B) head in ventral view, (C) tail in ventral view, (D) head in lateral view, (E) tail in lateral view, (F) body in dorsal view, (G) body in ventral view.

Fig. 8. Current distribution pattern of the genus Cylindrophis.