Hydrus palustris Schneider, 1799

Published, First, 2012, 3473, Zootaxa 3473, pp. 1-60 : 8

Hydrus palustris Schneider, 1799

Hydrus palustris Schneider, 1799: 249 ; based on Russell (1796: 25, pl. 20, “Paragoodoo”).—Type locality “ Indiae orientalis ”, namely Eastern India; here restricted by virtue of neotype designation and geographic inference to the coastal areas of northern Andhra Pradesh State, eastern India.—Onomatophore. Neotype, by present designation: BMNH 1904.7.27.32 (specimen depicted by Russell, 1796: pl. 33); see below.

Status. An objective synonym of Hydrus piscator Schneider, 1799 . Synonymized with Tropidonotus quincunciatus by Schlegel (1837: 309); synonymized with H. piscator by Boulenger (1893: 230)

Comments. Schneider (1799: 249) cited Russell’s vernacular name as Paragudu. The name Paragoodo, as well as other Russell’s vernacular names, is in Telugu, a language spoken only in the areas of the Coromandel Coast, now the coastal areas of northern Andhra Pradesh State (see above). As a consequence, the original type locality of H. palustris Schneider, 1799 is restricted by inference also to the lowlands along the northern Coast of Coromandel, namely the coastal areas of northern Andhra Pradesh State, eastern India.

The holotype of H. palustris was the specimen depicted by Russell (1796: pl. 20) but is seemingly lost. It is not present in the collection of skins deposited in the collections of the BMNH (see above under the account of H. piscator ). The holotype of H. palustris Schneider, 1799 being lost, we here designate a neotype in order to fix the nomenclatural status of this taxon within the Xenochrophis piscator -complex. In agreement with the various dispositions of Article 75.3 of the International code of zoological nomenclature ( Anonymous 1999; referred to hereafter as the Code) and based on (1) the need to fix the status of H. palustris and associate this combination with specimens showing a moderate dorsal chessboard-like pattern present in most of peninsular India, (2) the loss or destruction of the holotype, which is not present either in the collections of BMNH or ZSI, (3) the morphological similarity of the selected neotype with the holotype as depicted on Russell’s plate, (4) the origin of the neotype from a locality on the eastern coast of India, we here designate as neotype of H. palustris Schneider, 1799 the holotype of H. piscator , namely BMNH 1904.7.27.32 (specimen depicted by Russell, 1796: pl. 33).