Ophiodes luciae, Cacciali, Pier & Scott, Norman J., 2015

Cacciali, Pier & Scott, Norman J., 2015, Key to the Ophiodes (Squamata: Sauria: Diploglossidae) of Paraguay with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 3980 (1) : -

Ophiodes luciae sp. nov.

Suggested common name: Lucy’s Worm Lizard Figs 1–2

Holotype. MNHNP 9685 ( Figs. 1–2 ), adult female, collected in Departamento Presidente Hayes, 35 km NE and across the Paraguay River from Antequera, (Departamento San Pedro), Paraguay (23°53’18”S, 57°19’23”W) ( Fig. 3 ), 22 January 1995 by E. Bongermini, T. Waller, R. Palacios, and P. Micucci. Field number ALA 2073.

Diagnosis. The new species is placed in the genus Ophiodes by having plate - like scales on the top of the head, two pairs of scales between the rostral and the first unpaired plate, no external forelegs, and flap-like hind limbs. Ophiodes luciae is distinguished from other species of Ophiodes by a combination of 1) a uniform striped color pattern around the body, 2) an absence of black supralabial bars, 3) 171 dorsal scales between occipital and the vent, 4) 29 scales around midbody, and 5) a hind limb four scales long ( Table 1 ). Ophiodes luciae with its coloration of faint homogeneous stripes can be distinguished from O. intermedius , with its distinct broad, dark, lateral stripes, and often narrow vertebral stripe ( Fig. 4 A); from O. vertebralis , with its distinct dorsolateral dark and light stripes, from O. fragilis with its broad dark and pale lateral lines ( Fig. 4 B); and from O. striatus with its well-defined light and dark body stripes ( Fig. 4 C). Like O. luciae , Ophiodes sp. “1” has a series of narrow dark lines on the body and tail, but the stripes are darker and much more obvious in the latter; Ophiodes sp. “2” has 3 well-marked dorsolateral dark lines, the second broader than the other two; and Ophiodes sp. “3” has a broad olivebrown middorsal stripe that occupies three scale rows, and 3 narrower dark and light dorsolateral stripes ( Fig. 4 D). Ophiodes luciae lacks the distinct black bars that are on the faces of all other Ophiodes except O. vertebralis . Ophiodes luciae is stouter than O. intermedius and O. vertebralis . The posterior limb flap of O. luciae (4 scales long) is shorter than that of O. intermedius (5–7), O. striatus (5–8), O. fragilis (6–10), O. sp. “2” (5–6) and O. sp. “3” (5–9) ( Fig. 5 ). There are more scale rows around the midbody of O. luciae (29) than around the bodies of all the other Ophiodes species (23–28) except that of O. fragilis (23–29). Ophiodes luciae has more scales occiput to vent (171) than all other Ophiodes (130–164).

Description of holotype. An adult female with SVL 158 mm, head length 17 mm, two tail fragments 150 and 152 mm, tail not regenerated. Body cylindrical, no ear opening, body scales microornamented with longitudinal ridges, vestigial hemipenes present. Posterior appendage not reaching the level of the vent.

Pholidosis. Rostral semicircular, in contact with first supralabials, nasals, and anterior internasals; two pairs of internasals; each scale in anterior pair in contact with nasals, postnasal, and posterior internasal; posterior internasals in contact with postnasals, first loreals, and prefrontal; prefrontal single, large, heart-shaped, with two posterior lobes, in contact with posterior internasals, all four loreals, and frontal; frontal twice as long as wide, in contact with prefrontal, supraciliaries, and occipital. Supraciliaries 5/5, supraoculars 5/5. One canthal in front of the first supraocular. Two postnasals in contact with anterior and posterior internasals. Two loreals, anterior one in contact with first and second supralabials, posterior one in contact with second supralabial on right side and second and third supralabial on left side. Preoculars 2/2; upper one larger than lower one. Supralabials 7/8, with 3/4 scales between fifth supralabial below eye and supraoculars around posterior rim of orbit. Two anterior temporals, followed by three posterior temporals. Supraorbitals 4/4; infraorbitals 7/7. Infralabials 8/8, first contacting the mental scale, second and third contacting gulars. Gulars 4/4, first and second ones in contact with infralabials. Longitudinal scale rows around midbody 29; 171 scales between occipital scale and level of vent; 6 scales along posterior vent margin; posterior extremities short, 4 scales long ( Fig. 5 D).

Color in Preservative. Dorsal surface of head dark olive, paler on the scale margins, becoming paler and more yellow anteriorly and laterally; nasals, loreals, preoculars, and supralabials pale yellow-olive with gray smudges on the dorsal margins of supralabials 2–5 where they meet the loreals, preocular, and tiny suboculars; dark gray spots on the ventral margins of supralabials 2–4; preoculars with gray spots next to eye; temporal region olive with gray spots in the centers of the temporal scales and the sixth supralabial. Infralabials and ventral surface of head light yellow-olive. Dorsum olive; 19 faint lines composed of gray spots in the scale centers, some of which extend to the end of the tail; the lines become more faint towards the ventral surface. Venter pale yellow-olive.

Habitat. The single specimen of O. luciae was taken in Wet Chaco ( Dinerstein et al. 1995), in a savanna composed of palms ( Copernicia alba ), native bunch grasses, and bare ground, with small interspersed islands of semideciduous forest. The savanna floods periodically from the Paraguay River ( Fig. 6 ).

Etymology. Ophiodes luciae is named in honor of our colleague and good friend Aida Luz (Lucy) Aquino, who has worked for more than thirty years on the biology, distribution, and conservation of the Paraguayan herpetofauna.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsolateral view of the holotype of Ophiodes luciae sp. nov. (MNHNP 9685) showing the color pattern. White bar 50 mm.

FIGURE 2. Detail of the head of Ophiodes luciae sp. nov., showing the absence of black bars on supralabials and sides of the neck. White bar 10 mm.

FIGURE 3. Map of Paraguay (gray-shadowed) showing the type locality of Ophiodes luciae sp. nov. (black ring), and Paraguayan records of O. intermedius (red triangles), O. fragilis (blue circle), O. striatus (yellow rhombous – arrow indicates a photographic record from Artigas, Itapúa Department, taken from www. faunaparaguay. com / ophiodesstriatus. html –), and Ophiodes sp. “ 3 ” (green squares).

FIGURE 4. Dorsal pattern of Paraguayan species of Ophiodes: A— O. intermedius (MNHNP 6969), B: O. fragilis (MNHNP 9036), C: O. striatus (MNHNP 11341), D: Ophiodes sp “ 3 ” (MNHNP 7628).

FIGURE 5. Hind limb of different species of Ophiodes from Paraguay: A— O. intermedius (MNHNP 6969); B— Ophiodes sp. “ 3 ” (MNHNP 8331); C— O. fragilis (MNHNP 9036); and D— O. luciae sp. nov. (MNHNP 9685).

FIGURE 6. Elevation map of the type locality (black dot) and surroundings. Areas in dark green (50 – 80 masl) are periodically flooded.

Tables

TABLE 1. Pholidosis of Ophiodes. Boldface italics indicates species where the ranges of scale counts overlap the counts in O. luciae sp. nov. Data for species other than O. luciae from Gallardo (1966) and Borges-Martins (1998) and from examined specimens.

	Scales between Occiput and Vent Scales around Midbody	Scales in Hind limb
Ophiodes luciae sp. nov.	171 29	4
Ophiodes intermedius	139–158 25–27	5–7
Ophiodes vertebralis	136–150 25–28	4 –7
Ophiodes striatus	147–164 24–27	5–8
Ophiodes fragilis	130–147 23– 29	6–10
Ophiodes sp. “1”	142–156 24–27	3 –6
Ophiodes sp. “2”	135–153 23–26	5–6
Ophiodes sp. “3”	144–161 24–27	5–9