Bothrops sazimai, Barbo, Fausto E., Gasparini, João Luiz, Almeida, Antonio P., Zaher, Hussam, Grazziotin, Felipe G., Gusmão, Rodrigo B., Ferrarini, José Mário G. & Sawaya, Ricardo J., 2016

Barbo, Fausto E., Gasparini, João Luiz, Almeida, Antonio P., Zaher, Hussam, Grazziotin, Felipe G., Gusmão, Rodrigo B., Ferrarini, José Mário G. & Sawaya, Ricardo J., 2016, Another new and threatened species of lancehead genus Bothrops (Serpentes, Viperidae) from Ilha dos Franceses, Southeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 4097 (4), pp. 511-529 : 516-524

Bothrops sazimai sp. nov.

Figs. 2–4

Bothrops jararaca — Campbell & Lamar, 2004. Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Vol. 1, 1–476:391. (in part).

Holotype. An adult male, MZUSP 22228, collected by our team on May 14, 2013, at Ilha dos Franceses (20°55'36"S, 40°45'15"W), municipality of Itapemirim, Itaoca beach, state of Espírito Santo, Brazil ( Figs. 2–3 ).

Paratypes. Fourteen specimens: IBSP 86673 (female), IBSP 86674–75 (males), MBML 3319 (male with hemipenis prepared), MBML 3320–21 (females), MBML 3322 (male), MBML 3323 (female), MZUSP 22229 (male), MZUSP 22230 (female), MZUSP 22231 (male), MZUSP 22232 (female), ZUEC 3383 (male), ZUEC 3384 (female).

Diagnosis. Bothrops sazimai is distinguished from other species of B. jararaca group by the following combination of characters: (1) larger eyes; (2) shorter and higher head; (3) slender body; (4) relative longer tail; (5) dorsum predominantly grayish and/or brownish; (6) venter creamish white, speckled in gray; (7) postorbital stripes with the same color of lateral saddles; (8) usually two postoculars; (9) 22–25 interictals; (10) 20–24 anterior dorsals; (11) 20–23 midbody dorsals; (12) 198–214 ventrals in females, 193–206 in males; (13) 54–65 subcaudals in females, 62–70 in males.

Bothrops sazimai differs from the mainland populations of B. jararaca by its smaller adult size (SVL), relative longer tail (RTL), slender body, and larger eyes ( Fig. 1 ; Table 1). The new species can be easily distinguished from the other three species of the B. jararaca group ( B. alcatraz , B. insularis , and B. otavioi ) by a higher number of ventrals and subcaudals (Table 1). It further differs from B. insularis by its grayish or brownish ground color pattern, smaller length of adults, relative smaller head, and relative smaller tail. The new species is also distinguished from B. alcatraz and B. otavioi , by its larger adult size, presence of conspicuous yellowish tail tip in juveniles, and additionally from the latter species by the presence of two postoculars and higher number of intersupraocular scales (Table 1).

Description of the holotype. Adult male; total length 738 mm; SVL 630 mm; TL 108 mm (17% of total length); TR 604.1 mm; head length 25.9 mm (0.49% of trunk); head width 14.9 mm; mass 52.3 g (after draining preservative). Rostral 2.9 mm wide, 4.2 mm high; nasal divided anterior and posterior to nostril; loreal trapezial and single; prefoveals 2/2; postfoveals 2/2; prelacunal fused with second supralabial forming lacunolabial on both sides; preoculars 2/2; postoculars 2/2; supralabials 8/8; interoculabials 3/2; circumorbitals 6/6; temporals 5/6; infralabials 10/10, first three pairs contacting chin shields; four gulars between chin shields and first ventral scales; six rows of gulars separating first ventral scales from 8th infralabial; canthals 2/2; five anterior intercanthals; four posterior intercanthals; rows of anterior, central and posterior intersupraoculars 7/7/12; interrictals 22; dorsals reducting posteriorly 21/21/17; ventrals 196; cloacal plate single; divided subcaudals 64. Posterior cephalic scales longer than wide and strongly keeled; intersupralabials scales weakly keeled; temporal scales keeled; internasals, canthals, and supraoculars smooth.

Coloration in life was grayish on dorsal surface with 15/14 lateral trapezoidal markings (saddles) irregularly defined, dark brown-gray with well-defined borders, weakly pale-grayish edged, opposite and alternate to each other in middle of dorsum; dorsum of head grayish, spotted with two small well-defined dark blotches between occipital–temporal portion and neck ( Figs. 2–3 ); postorbital stripe is dark brown, bordered below by a thin white line. Extends from behind eye, covering superior portion of 6th, 7th and 8th supralabials, up to three scales long behind rictual region and three scales downwards to ventral direction; gular region mostly whitish-creamish, with infralabials and symphysial speckled of gray; venter mostly whitish anteriorly, speckled in gray posteriorly and covering cloacal plate; tail grayish dorsally, covered with small dark gray lateral blotches, with subcaudals speckled in ventral plan.

Variation (Table 1). Dorsum of head can vary from entirely brownish or grayish, with or without brownish stripes and blotches between supraoculars and the neck. Second supralabial fused with prelacunal forming the lacunolabial (n = 23), partially fused (n = 6), or separated (n = 6). Besides differences in pholidosis, adult males have longer tail than females (Table 1; H = 15.55, p <0.001).

Hemipenis (n = 8). There is no evident variation in hemipenial morphology regarding shape and ornamentation. Fully everted and maximally expanded organ moderately bilobed, subcylindrical, and bicapitate; small and medium ossified spines covering proximal region of hemipenis; hemipenial body and intralobular region asymmetrically covered by spinules on proximal portion, and medium and large spines on median and distal portions on both sulcate and asulcate sides of organ; ossified spinules bordering sulcus spermaticus up to capitulum, excepting croach; border of proximal calyces forming capitulum spinulate; sulcus spermaticus bifurcating at level of croach and extending to tips of lobes ( Fig. 5 ).

Distribution. The new species is known only from the type-locality, Ilha dos Franceses, ( Fig. 6 ). This island has about 15 ha with maximum elevation of 36 m asl covered by secondary Atlantic forest remnants ( Ferreira et al. 2007), and located 3.6 Km eastwards from Itaoca beach ( Fig. 7 ).

Natural History. Bothrops sazimai is abundant in Ilha dos Franceses as we have found approximately two snakes per hour-person by visual search. The beginning of daily activity was observed in late afternoon. Specimens were observed coiled (n = 13), moving (n = 8) or stationary (n = 4), on the ground (n = 15), as well as in lower portions of shrubs and trees (n = 9) ( Fig. 4 ). Except for the five collected individuals (holotype and four paratypes), all snakes were observed and/or photographed and released in the field. Juveniles and adults of the new species feed on ectothermic prey. Twenty-six out of 58 individuals examined in scientific collections had prey remnants in their stomach and gut contents, including lizards ( Gymnodactylus darwinii and Hemidactylus mabouia , n = 14), centipedes Scolopendromorpha (n = 6), and a conspecific snake (n = 1). Youngs have yellowish tail-tip (n = 13), suggesting caudal-luring behavior (see Andrade et al. 2010; Sazima 1991). The smallest mature male with enlarged testes and opaque efferent ducts had 451 mm SVL, whereas the smallest mature females with follicles or embryos in the oviduct measured 551 mm SVL (K. Kasperoviczus, pers. com.).

Etymology. The specific epithet sazimai represents a patronymic name dedicated to the friend and professor Ivan Sazima, for his invaluable contribution to the study of natural history and conservation of Brazilian fauna, and for his inspiring and pioneering field studies on Bothrops jararaca . Professor Ivan advised and mentored various generations of students and researchers that presently work with diverse systems and organisms, including snakes, amphibians, fishes, mammals, birds, and plants. He published hundreds of scientific contributions, among articles, book chapters, and educational texts. We suggest the standard English name “Franceses island-Lancehead” for the new species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Canonical analysis of females (A) and males (B) of Bothrops jararaca species group. Limits of variation in head shape were defined by 95 % confidence ellipses and computed by parametric bootstrap. Blue = population from Ilha dos Franceses; Red = population of B. jararaca from mainland portions of the state of Espírito Santo; Green = other mainland populations of B. jararaca, from the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.

FIGURE 2. Dorsal (A), lateral (B), and ventral (C) views of head of the holotype of Bothrops sazimai (MZUSP 22228). Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 3. Dorsal (above) and ventral (below) views of the holotype of Bothrops sazimai (MZUSP 22228). Scale bar = 20 mm.

FIGURE 4. Active specimens of Bothrops sazimai at night in different macrohabitats on the island. Over fallen trunks and twigs (A); coiled over trees (B) (MZUSP 22230); two individuals close to one another and moving on the ground (C); on the rocks near the sea (D); coiled on the ground (MZUSP 22232) (E). Photographs by R. Sawaya (A, E), R. Zorzal (B), F. Barbo (C), and T. Portillo (D).

FIGURE 5. Sulcate (left) and asulcate (right) views of the hemipenis of B. sazimai (MBML 3319 paratype). Scale bar = 5 mm.

FIGURE 6. Coastal region of the state of Espírito Santo (above), with the Ilha dos Franceses (below), the type locality of Bothrops sazimai. Legend of states: Bahia (BA); Espírito Santo (ES), Minas Gerais (MG), and Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

FIGURE 7. Aerial view of Ilha dos Franceses (A); forest remnants in the light-house area (B); vegetation on rocks of the tide zone (C); dense vegetation predominant in island (D); view of Ilha dos Franceses from Itaoca Beach (E). Photographs by Google Earth Pro (A), F. Barbo (B, C, D), and R. Sawaya (E).