Synophis bogerti, Torres-Carvajal, Omar, Echevarria, Lourdes Y., Venegas, Pablo J., German Chavez, & Camper, Jeffrey D., 2015

Torres-Carvajal, Omar, Echevarria, Lourdes Y., Venegas, Pablo J., German Chavez, & Camper, Jeffrey D., 2015, Description and phylogeny of three new species of Synophis (Colubridae, Dipsadinae) from the tropical Andes in Ecuador and Peru, ZooKeys 546, pp. 153-179 : 156-160

Taxon classification Animalia Squamata Colubridae

Synophis bogerti sp. n.

Synophis bogerti Proposed standard English name: Bogert’s fishing snakes

Synophis bogerti Proposed standard Spanish name: Serpientes pescadoras de Bogert

Synophis bicolor (part)- Bogert (1964): 515.

Holotype.

Ecuador: Provincia Napo: QCAZ 12791 (Figs 1, 2), adult male from Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary, sendero Coatí (0°38'8.40"S, 77°31'19.20"W, 1000 m), collected on 18 July 2014 by J. D. Camper.

Paratypes.

Ecuador: Provincia Morona Santiago: QCAZ 13323 adult male from Laguna Cormorán, Sardinayacu, Parque Nacional Sangay (2°4'17.51"S, 78°12'57.24"W, 1747 m), collected on 16 January 2015 by J. Pinto, D. Velalcázar and D. Nuñez. Provincia Napo: QCAZ 3511, adult female from Cordillera de los Guacamayos (0°37'40.16"S, 77°50'0.98"W, 1200 m), collected on 1 August 1995 by S. Burneo and M. Díaz; QCAZ 5072 adult male from Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary (0°41'9.26"S, 77°35'54.93"W, 1250 m), collected on 26 July 2012 by J. D. Camper; QCAZ 11070 adult female from Reserva Ecológica Antisana, sector Cocodrilos, Cocodrilos-Tena road (0°39'42.50"S, 77°47'29.20"W, 1656 m), collected on 24 November 2010 by F. Velásquez-Alomoto. Provincia Pastaza: QCAZ 13585, adult male from Comunidad Zarentza, Parque Nacional Llanganates (1°21'45.47"S, 78°3'29.52"W, 1350 m), collected on 18 February 2015 by D. Rivadeneira, F. Mora, J. C. Sánchez, D. Velalcazar, D. Nuñez and J. Pinto; QCAZ 13586, adult female from Comunidad Zarentza, Parque Nacional Llanganates (1°21'45.25"S, 78°3'28.22"W, 1391 m), collected on 27 February 2015 by D. Rivadeneira, F. Mora, J. C. Sánchez, D. Velalcázar, D. Nuñez and J. Pinto.

Diagnosis.

Synophis bogerti can be distinguished from other species of Synophis by having a semicapitate, bilobed hemipenis with a large lateral spine at the base of the hemipenial body (Fig. 3); 19 longitudinal rows of dorsals at midbody; strongly keeled dorsals except for first row, which is weakly keeled (at least posteriorly); and 154-163 ventrals in males, 161-168 in females. Scutellational characters of all recognized species of Synophis are presented in Table 3.

Description of the holotype.

Adult male (Figs 1, 2), SVL 367 mm; tail length 184 mm; eye diameter 1.17 mm; pupil round; head width 6.32 mm at level of supralabial 6; and head length 11.7 mm from snout to posterior margin of jaw; width at midbody 5.19 mm; head distinct from neck.

Prefrontals fused in a rectangular scale, wider than long; frontal single, with an incomplete suture from anterior margin to the middle of the scale, heptagonal, slightly wider than long; parietals large, paired, longer than wide; loreal trapezoidal, almost two times longer than high; preocular single, bordering anterior margin of orbit; supraocular single, bordering dorsal margin of orbit; temporals 1+2; anterior temporal more than two times longer than high; posterior temporals two times longer than high, approximately one half the length of anterior temporal; internasals in contact medially, distinctly wider than long; nasals not in contact; rostral visible from above, concave, nearly two times wider than long, in contact with first supralabials, nasals, and internasals; mental triangular, in contact with first pair of infralabials; infralabials 10/11; supralabials 8/8 (fourth and fifth entering orbit on both sides); anterior genials three times longer than wide, bordered laterally by infralabials 1-5 on right side, 1-6 on left side; posterior genials two times longer than wide, in contact anteromedially and separated by two gulars posteriorly, and bordered laterally by infralabials 5-6 on right side and 6-7 on left side; dorsal scale rows 19-19-17, first dorsal row weakly keeled from ventral 118, other rows strongly keeled; anal single; ventrals 163; subcaudals 115, paired.

Hemipenial morphology.

The following description is based on the right hemipenis of the holotype (Fig. 3; QCAZ 12791). The fully everted and maximally expanded organ is bilobed, semicalyculate, semicapitate, and extends to the sixth subcaudal. Capitular grooves are on the asulcate side; capitula are ornamented with calcified papillae, larger on the asulcate side. Numerous larger papillae meet on the asulcate side of the lobular crotch. On the sulcate side, the capitula extend along the sides of the branches of the sulcus spermaticus, far down the hemipenial body. The sulcus spermaticus bifurcates on the proximal half of the body and its branches extend centrolineally to the tip of each lobe. The hemipenial body is ornamented with large calcified spines, except on the medial region of the asulcate side, where the spines are small. The spines increase in length towards the base of the hemipenial body, with one spine on the left side (sulcate view) being considerably longer than the others. The base of the hemipenial body bears much smaller and scattered spines.

Color in preservative of the holotype

(Figs 1, 2). Dorsal surface of head, body and tail uniformly dark grey; skin among scales on flanks cream, visible on anterior half of body; ventrals mostly cream on anterior end of body (ventrals 1-10), becoming progressively pigmented with light grey posteriorly except on their margins; anal plate cream medially and grey laterally; subcaudals with cream margins and same tone of grey as posterior ventrals; sides of head same tone of grey as dorsal surface, except for labials, which are mostly cream ventrally; chin cream with light grey anterior margin (most of mental and first three pairs of infralabials).

Variation.

Intraspecific variation in scale counts and measurements in Synophis bogerti is presented in Table 3. Keeling on the first row of dorsals starts on ventrals 5, 10, 87, 98 and 114 in paratypes QCAZ 5072, 13323, 3511, 13585 and 11070, respectively. Besides the holotype, male paratype QCAZ 5072 is the only specimen with an incomplete medial suture on the frontal scale. This condition was also reported and illustrated by Bogert (1964) in a specimen (UMMZ 91550) from eastern Ecuador, referred by him as Synophis bicolor and recognized by us as Synophis bogerti (Fig. 4).

Distribution and natural history.

Synophis bogerti occurs along the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in central Ecuador at elevations between 1000-1750 m (Fig. 6). The type locality is part of Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary, a 400 ha reserve consisting of primary and secondary forests in a matrix of agricultural land. Most localities where Synophis bogerti was collected lie within protected areas including two large national parks (Llanganates and Sangay), indicating that at least some populations of this species are protected. All specimens were found active at night (20h45-00h00), mostly on the ground or on shrubs 0.5 m above ground.

Etymology.

The specific epithet bogerti is a noun in the genitive case and is a patronym for Charles M. Bogert (1908-1992), an American herpetologist and former curator of the American Museum of Natural History. Among his many contributions, Bogert published a systematic revision of Diaphorolepis and Synophis , in which he recognized that "It is also possible, of course, that specimens tentatively referred to Synophis bicolor are not actually conspecific" ( Bogert 1964: 517). Specimens of " Synophis bicolor " from eastern Ecuador examined by Bogert (1964) correspond to Synophis bogerti sp. n.