Elseya (Hanwarachelys) schultzei ( Vogt 1911: 410 )

Thomson, Scott, Amepou, Yolarnie, Anamiato, Jim & Georges, Arthur, 2015, A new species and subgenus of Elseya (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from New Guinea, Zootaxa 4006 (1), pp. 59-82 : 68

Elseya (Hanwarachelys) schultzei ( Vogt 1911: 410) ( Figure 6–7 )

Northern New Guinea Stream Turtle

1911 Emydura schultzei— Vogt 1911:410

2000 Elseya schultzei— Samedi and Iskandar 2000:111 2010 Myuchelys novaeguineae — Georges and Thomson 2010:29 2010 Elseya novaeguineae — Rhodin et al. 2010:131 2015 Elseya (Hanwarachelys) schultzei resurrected, Thomson et al. this study

Type data: Holotype—ZMB 22182 collected near Sae village, Seko coast, near Skosai, ca 5 km W. mouth of Tami River, Papua, Indonesia (2˚37'S,140˚54'E), restricted this study.

Diagnosis —Eyes typically green in the sclera with a bright gold iris which is distinct. Head shield entire, extending down the parietal arches to broadly contact the tympanum. Head shield narrower than in Elseya novaeguineae but wider than in E. rhodini . No contact between the vomer and the pterygoids of the skull, distinguishing the species from E. rhodini .

Distribution —Streams draining into the rivers of New Guinea north of the central ranges—i.e. not including the Vogelkopf and Bomberai peninsulas (Birds Head)—and east to at least Madang.

Collection History — This taxon was described by Vogt (1911) based on a single specimen collected by Leonhard Schultze in an unnamed river west of the Tami River in northeastern Papua, Indonesia (type locality “Fluss westlich der Tamimündung” [river west of the mouth of the Tami]). Although it is impossible to give a precise locality, Schultze (1914) gave an account of his travels and a detailed map from which one can deduce that the type specimen was probably collected near Sae village, Seko coast, near Skosai, ca 5 km W. mouth of Tami River, Papua, Indonesia (2˚37'S,140˚54'E); and the type locality is hereby so restricted. The holotype is in the Berlin collection (ZMB 22182, figured by Goode 1967). When described, Emydura schultzei was compared to and distinguished from a specimen of “ Emydura macquariae ” (ZMB 22210, figured by Goode 1967:67) from the upper Sepik River basin south of the headwaters of the Tami River, near the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border. The species was recognized as distinct until synonymized with E. novaeguineae by Goode (1967). That E. schultzei represents a distinct taxa has been confirmed by recent genetic studies (Georges et al. 2014). Therefore we remove this species from the synonymy of Elseya novaeguineae recognizing it as a valid taxon.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Dorsal views of the holotypes of A. Elseya (H) schultzei (ZMB 22182) and B. Elseya (H) novaeguineae (MTD D 8222).

FIGURE 7. Ventral views of the holotypes of A. Elseya (H) schultzei (ZMB 22182) and B. Elseya (H) novaeguineae (MTD D 8222).