Boulenger's Keelback

Description

Morphological characteristics of the specimen from Ha Tinh Province agreed well with the descriptions of David et al. (2013) and Le et al. (2018): SVL 252 mm, TaL 111 mm (n = 1, female); head distinct from neck, moderately depressed; eye large, pupil round; rostral broader than deep, visible from above; prefrontal longer than internasal, in contact with the loreal; frontal longer than snout–frontal distance, nearly equal to parietal; parietal elongated, in contact with frontal; nasal divided; loreal 1/1, not in contact with orbit; preocular 1/1; postoculars 2/2, bordering anterior temporals; anterior temporal 1/1, posterior temporals 2/2; subpralabials 9/9, fourth to sixth touching the eye, eighth largest; infralabials 10/10, first to fifth bordering chin shields; dorsal scale rows 19-19-17, keeled, except the outer row smooth; ventrals 143; cloacal scale undivided; subcaudals 85, paired. Colouration in preserved specimen. Dorsal surface of body brown, with dorsolateral dull yellow stripe; anterior supralabials white, posterior ones black with a median elongated cream-coloured blotch, forming a postocular stripe extending on the neck; venter and lower surface of tail cream (Fig

New records and an updated list of snakes from Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam

Ecology

The specimen was collected at 9:45 h on the ground, near the trail. The surrounding habitat was disturbed evergreen karst forest of medium hardwood and shrub.

New records and an updated list of snakes from Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam

Distribution

In Vietnam, H. boulengeri had previously been reported from Lao Cai Province in the north southwards to Lam Dong Province (Nguyen et al. 2009, Le et al. 2018, Uetz et al. 2025). Elsewhere, this species is known from China, Cambodia and Thailand (Uetz et al. 2025).

New records and an updated list of snakes from Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam