Coronella rosenbergii Bleeker, 1860b :37

Kaiser, Christine M., Kaiser, Hinrich & O’Shea, Mark, 2018, The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874), Zootaxa 4512 (1), pp. 1-73 : 20-21

Coronella rosenbergii Bleeker, 1860b:37

Taxonomic status. Junior synonym of S. modestus .

Synonyms. None.

Original name. Coronella Rosenbergii Bleeker 1860b:37 . This species was named for the German naturalist Hermann von Rosenberg (1817–1888; Fig. 3H ), who made an herpetological collection along the southern coast of Seram Island. Rosenberg was originally a cartographer and the Acting Civil Administrator of southern Seram ( Bleeker 1860b; Steenis-Kruseman 1950) but his interest in ornithology connected him to Hermann Schlegel at the RMNH in Leiden. The species description was presented in Dutch. Rosenberg’s photograph ( Fig. 3H ; public domain) was taken by the photographer Conrad Spamer in 1882.

Holotype. RMNH. RENA 4066 ( Fig. 10 ; Table 1), an adult male.

Type locality. “Paulohi, Ceram, Molukschen Archipel” [Seram Island, Maluku Province, Indonesia]. Bleeker (1860b) stated specifically that he considered this to be the first collection of reptiles from the southern coast of Seram. The locality name refers to a region in the south-central area of Seram inhabited by speakers of Paulohi, a rare Malayo-Polynesian language ( Stresemann 1927; Wurm 2007). The most likely location for a collection in the mid-1800s is near the settlement of Amahai (ca. 3.3416°S, 128.9235°E), a port facing Ambon, the main population center of the region, which Bleeker visited on 11 October 1855 ( Bleeker 1856).

Collection. The specimen was collected in southern Seram by Rosenberg, for whom the species was named. Rosenberg was stationed on Seram from 26 April 1859 – 17 December 1861 ( Rosenberg 1867; Steenis-Kruseman 1950) and, during that time, must have collected for Bleeker, whom he most likely met in Batavia before his deployment. Bleeker’s species description was dated April 1860, which leads us to believe that the specimen was most likely collected during the second half of 1859.

Key characteristics of the holotype. O (582) mm SVL + O (178) mm TL = O (760) mm TTL. V ♂ = O (203), SC ♂ = O (80), SCR ♂ = O (0.28), D = O (17-17-15), SL E = O (3+4), SL = 7 (7), IL = O (9), IL G = O (4). Bleeker (1860b) remarked that the tail was roughly one quarter the length of the entire body, which fits well with our measurements (TL/TTL = 0.23).

Key characteristics of the species. See the account of S. modestus above.

Comments. Bleeker (1860b) specifically mentioned that the specimen had “een flaauwe gele dwarsche nekband” [a faint yellow cross neckband], which is a key characteristic of S. modestus . In his treatment of Papua New Guinean Stegonotus, McDowell (1972) included a footnote below his account for S. modestus , in which he stated that “Bleeker based his description [of C. rosenbergii ] on two specimens,” one from the museum in Leiden (RMNH 4066) and one from London (BMNH 1946.1.13.88). McDowell further opined that Boulenger’s (1893:367) listing of the latter as “Type of C. rosenbergii ” constituted a lectotype designation. We carefully read Bleeker’s (1860b) species description and found no indication that Bleeker had two specimens in hand when he described the species. Furthermore, whereas Bleeker’s type locality is very specific, the one provided by Boulenger (1893) for BMNH 1946.1.13.88 is vague, listing merely “Ceram.” Lastly, the original collection number of the BMNH specimen is 63.12.4.9, indicating that the specimen reached London with a shipment from Bleeker in 1863, three years after the original description was published. Our interpretation of the Code leads us to conclude that Boulenger’s (1893) notation that BMNH 1946.1.13.88 (formerly 63.12.4.9) should be considered a syntype of C. rosenbergii is not supported by evidence in the original description or from the specimen itself. We therefore disagree with McDowell (1972) and hereby invalidate the purported lectotype designation (Code, Article 74.2). There is but a single type specimen of C. rosenbergii , and it is the holotype in Leiden.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Selected 19 th Century authors and collectors of Stegonotus species. (A) Hermann Schlegel (1804–1884), author of the species name modestus. (B) André Marie Constant Duméril (1774–1860), co-author with (C) and (D) of the genus name Stegonotus and the species names cucullatus, lividus, and muelleri. (C) Gabriel Bibron (1806–1848). (D) Auguste Henri André Duméril (1812–1870). (E) René-Primevère Lesson (1794–1849), co-collector (with Prosper Garnot; no image available) of the L. cucullatum holotype. (F) Pieter van Oort (1804–1834), co-collector (with Salomon Müller and Heinrich Macklot; no images available) of the L. lividum syntypes. (G) Pieter Bleeker (1819–1878), author of the species names greineri (and perhaps collector of its holotype) and rosenbergii. (H) Hermann von Rosenberg (1817–1888), collector of the Coronella rosenbergii holotype and the person for whom the species was named. (I) Wilhelm Karl Hartwig Peters (1815–1883), author of the species name samarensis. (J) Fedor Jagor (1816–1900), collector of the Spilotes samarensis holotype. (K) Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther (1830–1914), author of the genus name Zamenophis as well as the species names holochrous, batjanensis, and australis. The species Stegonotus guentheri was named in Günther’s honor. (L) Adolf Bernhard Meyer (1840–1911), author of the species names magnus and parvus and collector of the type material.

FIGURE 10. Holotype of Coronella rosenbergii Bleeker, 1860b, RMNH.RENA 4066, an adult male from Seram Island, Maluku Province, Indonesia. Shown are the entire specimen (TTL = 760 mm) in (A) dorsal and (B) ventral views, and its head in (C) dorsal, (D) right lateral, and (E) ventral views.