Cylindrophis jodiae, Amarasinghe & Campbell & Hallermann & Sidik & Supriatna & Abstract.-The, 2015

Amarasinghe, A. A. Thasun, Campbell, Patrick D., Hallermann, Jakob, Sidik, Irvan, Supriatna, Jatna & Abstract. - The, Ivan Ineich, 2015, Two new species of the genus Cylindrophis Wagler, 1828 (Squamata: Cylindrophiidae) from Southeast Asia, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 98) 9 (1), pp. 34-51 : 42-44

Cylindrophis jodiae sp. nov. Amarasinghe, Ineich, Campbell & Hallermann

( Figs. 4 , 5 , 8 ; Table 3 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2D375EF3-B484-49F6-8F19-C9D5B7CD0CCC

Proposed standard English name: Jodi’s Pipe-Snake

Holotype: MNHN-RA 1911.0196 , SVL 415 mm, collected from Annam, Central Vietnam, by the French botanist Philippe Eberhardt, without precise date, but before 1911.

Paratypes (10): MNHN-RA 1974.1251 , ( SVL 391 mm), collected in the area of Saigon, southern Vietnam, by Sergent Poilane before 1974 ; MNHN-RA 1885.0100 – 103 , ( SVL 265, 264, 146, 177 mm), collected in Cochinchina, southern Vietnam, by Girard before 1885 ; MNHN-RA 1885.0098 – 99 , ( SVL 375, 656 mm), collected in Cochinchina, southern Vietnam, by Girard before 1885 ; MNHN-RA 1935.0001 , ( SVL 271 mm), collected in Cochinchina, southern Vietnam, by René Bourret before 1935 ; MNHN-RA 1974.1253 , ( SVL 192 mm), collected in the area of Saigon, southern Vietnam, by Sergent Poilane before 1974 ; BMNH 1920.1 .20.2649, ( SVL 345 mm), collected from Long-Xuyen , Vietnam by F. Lataste, collection date unknown .

Diagnosis: Cylindrophis jodiae sp. nov. is distinguished from all congeners by having the following characters: 21 midbody scale rows (vs. 17 in C. engkariensis ; 19 in C. boulengeri , C. burmanus , C. melanotus , C. ruffus ; 23 in C. aruensis , C. opisthorhodus ), 182–196 ventrals (vs. 217–225 in C. isolepis ), wide and interrupted bands on the back (vs. lateral and middorsal stripes along the body in C. lineatus ; two series of large reddish-brown spots along the back, which are enclosed by a black network in C. maculatus ; no bands and paler back in C. yamdena ).

Description of holotype: An adult, SVL 420 mm, tail length 10.1 mm; body elongate (largest body diameter at midbody is 23.8 mm), flattened laterally in cross section; head not distinct from neck, broadened and dorsoventrally flattened in the orbital and sagittal regions; snout rounded in dorsal and lateral view.

Rostral shield large, visible from above with a conical apex; a single nasal, widely in contact behind the rostral, no internasals; nasals in contact with rostral anteriorly and prefrontal posteriorly, and the first and second supralabials ventrally; the holotype has its right nasal in contact with the left prefrontal by a point, which is an anomaly; nostrils large; canthus rostralis weakly defined; prefrontals slightly larger than the frontal, and pentagonal; frontal small, triangular, and same length as its width (length 3.8 mm, width 3.7 mm), equal or somewhat smaller than supraocular; supraocular wide, subtriangular, wider posteriorly; parietals smaller than frontal which are in large median oblique contact oriented from right to left antero-posteriorly, subtriangular, their rear border bluntly pointed, bordered by supraoculars, frontal shield, upper posterior temporal shields, occipital shield, and two dorso-nuchal shields posteriorly on each side, the occipital shield of the same size as other dorso-nuchal scales; left parietal in larger contact than the right (just a point) with the frontal; loreal and preocular absent; eye small (diameter 1.8 mm), pupil rounded; eye in broad contact with supraocular dorsally, prefrontal and third supralabial antero-ventrally, fourth supralabial ventrally, and postocular posteriorly; a single postocular, quadrangular, posteriorly roundish and wider, in broad contact with supraocular, anterior temporal, and narrow contact with fourth supralabial; temporals 1+2, triangular; anterior temporal larger than posteriors; anterior temporal in contact with supraocular and posterior temporal dorsally, 4 th and 5 th supralabials ventrally, anterior temporal does not meet parietal on both sides; upper posterior temporal slightly larger than lower posterior temporal.

Five supralabials, 3 rd –5 th larger in size; first supralabial in contact with rostral anteriorly and nasal dorsally; second supralabial in contact with nasal and prefrontal dorsally; third supralabial in contact with prefrontal and eye dorsally; fourth supralabial in contact with the eye, postocular, and anterior temporal dorsally; fifth supralabial in contact with anterior and posterior temporals dorsally and body scales posteriorly.

Mental small, triangular; first infralabial pair larger than mental plate and in broad contact with each other; 1 st infralabials in contact with anterior chin shield posteriorly; five infralabials in total, 1 st –3 rd in contact with first chin shield, 4 th and 5 th in contact with gular scales and not touching the chin shields; anterior chin shields larger than posterior ones; a mental groove continues from the posterior tip of the mental until the posterior chin shields.

Body slender; transverse body scale rows 21–21–17, all smooth, subcycloid, and weakly imbricate; vertebral and midventral scales undifferentiated from adjacent scales; 188 ventrals; cloacal plate divided, precloacal undivided and triangular; tail extremely short, relative TL (TL/total length) 2.5%, with a conical robust and thick tip, and six paired subcaudals.

Coloration: The holotype has a dark brown back with wide and interrupted white bands along dorsal surface from behind nape to tail, each band covering about two scales; head entirely dark, an incomplete, wide band encircling the nape; the venter is dark brown with regular, cream colored bars, divided at midline. See Fig. 4 for details of coloration in preservative.

Variation of paratypes: SVL range from 146–656 mm, but MNHN-RA 1885.0102 – 3 , 1974.1253 are juveniles; body scale rows at one scale prior to precloacal ranges from 16–18; ventrals 182–196; subcaudals 4–6; all the subcaudals entire except MNHN-RA 1885.0100 (2 nd divided) , MNHN-RA 1885.0103 (3 rd divided); relative TL 2.0–3.3 %.

Etymology: The species epithet is an eponym latinized as a noun in the genitive singular, honoring Dr. Jodi Rowley for her generous friendship, and remarkable contributions and expeditions assessing amphibian decline due to various diseases, conservation status, and in documenting amphibian biodiversity. Jodi Rowley is an Australian herpetologist. She has conducted amphibian research in Southeast Asia, mainly in Vietnam. Currently she is a co-ordinator of Australian Museum Research Institute, a member of the IUCN Amphibian Red List Authority and the co-chair for Mainland Southeast Asia of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Amphibian Specialist Group.

Distribution: The new species is only reported from Vietnam ( Fig. 8 ). The specimens from Cambodia and Thailand are much closely related to this new species, however for the moment we exclude these specimens as it seems now, after having examined these specimens, that there may be many more species in existence in Cambodia and Thailand.

Figures

Fig. 4. Coloration of Cylindrophis jodiae sp. nov. holotype, MNHN-RA 1911.0196 (A) head in dorsal view, (B) head in ventral view, (C) head in lateral view, (D) midbody in dorsal view, (E) midbody in ventral view, and (F) tail in ventral view.

Fig. 5. Scalation of Cylindrophis jodiae sp. nov. holotype, MNHN-RA 1911.0196 (A) head in dorsal view, (B) head in ventral view, (C) tail in ventral view, (D) head in lateral view, (E) tail in lateral view, (F) body in dorsal and ventrolateral view.

Fig. 8. Current distribution pattern of the genus Cylindrophis.