Mabuya meridensis, Miralles, Aurélien, Rivas, Gilson & Schargel, Walter E., 2005

Miralles, Aurélien, Rivas, Gilson & Schargel, Walter E., 2005, A new species of Mabuya (Squamata, Scincidae) from the Venezuelan Andes, Zootaxa 895, pp. 1-11 : 3-8

Mabuya meridensis , new species

Holotype: ULABG 1570, an adult male. Type­locality: City of Mérida, Mérida state, Venezuela (Ciudad de Mérida, Estado Mérida, Venezuela), collected 10 July 1985 by Enrique La Marca, at an altitude of 1750 m.

Paratypes: Nine specimens. Venezuela, Mérida state: AMNH R–13405 to R–13408, Ríos Albarregas y Milla, all adults, collected by W. F. Rosenberg; AMNH R–13526; ULABG 4153, 4281, Urbanization of Santa Maria, City of Mérida, 1750 m alt., all adults, collected in 1996 by E. La Marca; UMMZ 57435, City of Mérida, juvenile, collected in 1922 by M. A. Carriker.

Diagnosis: A small to medium sized Mabuya with an undivided lower eyelid, all scales smooth, auricular lobes absent, and having: a short and acute snout, paired prefrontals and frontoparietals, a single pair of nuchals, four supraoculars, four supraciliaries with the second longest, seven dark and four white/pale stripes along body, and light cream colored lips.

Within Mabuya , only three species have seven longitudinal dark stripes on the body: M. cochabambae , M. dorsivittata and M. guaporicola . M. meridensis differs from all of them [data for the latter species in parentheses, after Dunn 1936, Cei 1993 and Avila­Pires 1995] in having reticulated and not well defined dorsolateral stripes, that widen posteriorly and fuse with each other and to the vertebral thin stripe on the posterior part of the body (vertebral and dorsolateral stripes sharp and well defined throughout all the length of the body). Additionally, M. meridensis differs from both M. cochabambae and M. dorsivittata in having four supraoculars (three); from both M. dorsivittata and M. guaporicola in having a relatively shorter body, fore­ and hindlimbs easily touching each other when adpressed against body (fore­ and hindlimbs never touch when adpressed to body); from M. cochabambae in having two frontoparietals (a single one); and from M. guaporicola in having 52 to 59 dorsal scales rows (65 to 68) and a whitish stripe on each side separating the dorsolateral from the dark upper lateral stripe (white intermediate stripe absent).

Description of the holotype: Specimen (Plate 1a–b) in good condition, with long medioabdominal slit; hemipenes not extruded, testes white, enlarged, apparently sexually active at time of capture.

Snout­vent length 66.48 mm; tail length 86.60 mm; head length 11.08 mm. Fore­ and hindlimbs easily touching each other when adpressed against body. Twenty­eight presacral vertebrae.

Rostral wider than high, contacting first supralabials, nasals and supranasals. Paired supranasals in median contact, contacting anteriormost loreal. Frontonasal approximately hexagonal, wider than long, laterally contacting anterior loreal. Paired prefrontals roughly pentagonal, in median contact, wider than long, contacting frontonasal, both anterior and posterior loreals, first supraciliaries, first and second supraoculars, and frontal. Frontal lanceolate, approximately twice as long as wide, wider anteriorly, in contact with prefrontal, second supraoculars and frontoparietals. Four supraoculars; the first the smallest, the second the longest and widest. Posteriormost supraocular in contact with the frontal is the second ( Greer & Broadley 2000). Four supraciliaries, second longest. Paired frontoparietals, longer than wide, in broad contact at midline, in contact with frontal, all supraoculars except the first, parietal and interparietal. Interparietal rhomboid, longer than wide, wider anteriorly, posterior tip barely in point­contact with nuchals, and preventing the parietals from touching each other. Parietal eye hardly distinct. Parietals larger than interparietal, wider than long, overlapping the upper temporal scale ( Greer & Nussbaum 2000). Single pair of transversely enlarged nuchals, each as wide as two rows of dorsals.

PLATE 1. Drawings of the head of the holotype of Mabuya meridensis (ULABG 1570): (A) lateral view of the head and (B) dorsal view of the anterior part of the body. Scale bar = 2 mm.

Nasal subrectangular. Nostril located posteriorly. Postnasal small, in contact with supranasal, anterior loreal and first supralabial. Two subrectangular loreals behind nasal, subequal in size, the second slightly higher. First loreal in contact with first and second supralabials, second loreal in contact with second and third supralabials. One presubocular in contact with fourth, fifth and sixth supralabials. One preocular, in front of presubocular and behind second loreal, in contact with third and fourth supralabials. Lower eyelid undivided with a transparent disk, one row of small scales across its dorsal edge ( Greer & Broadley 2000). Eight supralabials, the sixth being the widest and forming the lower bor­ der of the eyelid. Seven infralabials. Temporals imbricate, smooth, cycloid, not distinctly delimited from scales on the nape or sides of the neck. Two pretemporals. One primary temporal, two secondary temporals in contact and three tertiary temporals ( Greer & Broadley 2000). Ear­opening relatively small, oval, with undulating anterior margin and smooth posterior margin. Auricular lobules absent.

Mental wider than long, posterior margin straight. Postmental wider than long adjacent to first and two­thirds of second infralabials. Two pairs of chin shields, first in contact with postmental, posterior one­third of second and anterior three­quarters of third infralabials. Gulars similar in size and outline to ventrals.

Palms and soles covered with small tubercles, subequal in size. Both regions delimited by a row of larger and flatter scales. Subdigital lamellae smooth, single, 12 under fourth finger (on each sides), 15 under left fourth toe (right toe partly amputated). Fingers and toes clawed. Relative length of the toes in the following order: I <II <III = V <IV.

All scales, except head shields and scales on sole and digits, cycloid, smooth and imbricate. Thirty scale rows around midbody, 52 transverse rows of dorsal scales, 31 transverse rows of ventral scales. Four preanals larger than adjacent ventral scales. Median subcaudal series of scales twice as wide as long on the posterior half of the tail.

Coloration in preservative: background colour of flanks and upper side of the head, neck, back, limbs and tail dark bronze. Venter, lower side of head, throat, lower side of limbs and tail immaculate grey.

Lower half of rostral and each supralabial, and upper third part of each infralabial and mental white, immaculate, resulting in distinct and contrasting “lip marks”. A dark spot on posterior edge of each fourth supraocular. Lateral and upper sides of limbs spotted with small fused dark dots. Palms and soles slightly darker than venter. Preanals pale cream with four little chocolate brown longitudinal dashes.

Seven dark brown stripes run along body, some of them continuing along tail. One very thin vertebral stripe, from 8th dorsal until base of the tail. Two dorsolateral stripes not well defined, formed by a succession of aligned dots; widen posteriorly and fused with each other and to the vertebral thin stripe in the posterior half part of the body; from nape (first dorsal scales) until first third of tail where the two stripes merge into a single middorsal stripe with several interruptions; about one scale wide at midbody and astride two rows of scales. Two upper lateral stripes on each side; margins darker and strongly contrasted; about three scales wide at midbody; from nostrils, loreals, upper half part of supralabials, around eyes and temporals, along upper half part of ear­openings, on neck, above arms, on sides until insertion of hindlimbs. Two lower lateral stripes; from corner of mouth, below ear­opening, above forelimb until insertion of hindlimb; dorsal margins darker and very well contrasted, whereas limits between ventral margins and venter not distinct.

Four whitish stripes run along body; two dorsolateral stripes separating dark dorsolateral from the upper lateral dark stripes; and two lateral stripes separating the dark upper lateral from lower lateral dark stripes.

Although the coloration in life was not observed, it seems that the specimen has darkened in preservative.

Variation: The following summary of meristic and mensural variation gives the range for each character, followed by the mean, ± the standard deviation, and sample size in parentheses. For some bilateral characters, the sample size has been noted as the number of sides rather than specimens, and this is then indicated after the sample size. Dorsal scale rows: 52–59 (55.66 ± 2.39, 9); midbody scale rows: 28–32 (30.66 ± 1.32, 9); ventral scale rows: 31–39 (34.88 ± 2.71, 9); lamellae under fourth finger: 12–14 (12.77 ± 0.87, 18 sides); lamellae under fourth toe: 15–18 (16.37 ± 1.14, 16 sides); head length: 10.49–14.46 (12.50 ± 1.37, 8); snout–vent length: 55.02–76.73 (69.63 ± 7.40, 8); tail length: 79.67– 133.26 (103.45 ± 21.43, 7); presacral vertebrae: 28–30 (29.00 ± 0.92, 8).

All specimens studied have separated prefrontals and parietals in contact, except the holotype which has prefrontals in contact and parietals barely in point­contact. Seven specimens have four supraoculars on both sides, two specimens have five supraoculars on the right and four on the left side, and one specimen has five supraoculars on the right and three on the left side.

All specimens from AMNH and UMMZ are lighter in coloration than those from ULABG, with cream clear venter. This difference seems to result from a difference in fixation conditions. The single juvenile (UMMZ 57435) has a more contrasted and vivid coloration than the adults. Of the eight adult specimens, four have a dark dot on each fourth supraocular. Position of the dorsal scale where the thin dark vertebral stripe begins: 1–6 (2.75 ± 1.83, 8), and where the two dark dorsolateral stripes begin: 8–17 (11.62 ± 3.24, 8).

Etymology: The specific name was given in reference to Mérida, capital city of the state of Mérida, Venezuela, the locality where the holotype of Mabuya meridensis was collected.

Distribution, habitat and ecology: According to Huber and Alarcón (1988), the type locality is situated among farmlands and areas for cattle raising in the Venezuelan Andes. This area is bordered by cloud forests that are found at an altitudinal range from 2000 to 3200 m above sea level. These forests are dense, with medium to large sized trees and also provide a well­developed understory with numerous epiphytic plants as well as endemic species of ferns, bromeliads and orchids.

The type specimen, along with the paratypes ULABG 4153 and 4281, were collected in a garden of a house in Mérida city. Mabuya meridensis was observed by us in secondary forests, farmlands, rocky areas, margins of rivers or creeks, as well as disturbed areas such as dirt roads, stonewalls and gardens. We saw Mabuya meridensis in Mérida from 1300 m (in the city of Ejido) to ca. 2200 m above sea level in Mucuruba. However, the species was never found in the cloud forest near Mérida city (Cesar Barrio, pers. comm.). At the least sign of danger, M. meridensis rapidly hides amidst clumps of herbaceous vegetation or into cracks on the walls of houses. At present, M. meridensis is known only from the type locality, and a few other places around Mérida city.

Like all other species belonging to the genus Mabuya , M. meridensis is viviparous, four and five embryos having been found in the uterus of females ULABG 4153 and 4281, respectively.