Gouvea’s Sipo

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Chironius gouveai is distinguished from all congeners by the following unique combination of morphological characters: (i) dorsal scale rows 12 / 12 / 10; (ii) cloacal plate divided; (iii) dorsal scale rows keeled usually two; (iv) ventrals 156 - 174 in females, 151 - 167 in males; (v) subcaudals 139 - 146 in females, 131 - 152 in males; (vi) apical pits often present only on the cervical region; (vii) three supralabials contacting orbit; (viii) temporal formula usually 1 + 1; (ix) after preservation, uniform light brown, grayish olive or bluish dorsum with a light vertebral stripe; and dorsals and ventrals with black or brown edges; (x) after preservation, labials predominantly yellowish or whitish, except for the last two or three supralabials, which may present the same color of dorsal series or postocular stripe; gular region, first third of belly, and subcaudals (which can also be whitish) yellowish; remainder of the belly can be yellowish, olive or bluish; (xi) subcaudals with black or brown edges; outer margins with a black outline; (xii) hemipenial body generally ornamented with papillate calyces gradually replaced by smooth calyces toward the apex; (xiii) hemipe

Revision of the Chironius bicarinatus complex (Serpentes: Colubridae): Redefined species boundaries and description of a new species

distribution

Distribution (Fig. 8). Chironius gouveai is widely distributed across inland Serra do Mar at higher altitudes in the Mixed and Semideciduous Forests, from the Paranapanema River (northernmost record in the municipality of Londrina; 23 ° 18 ′ 34.6 ″ S, 51 ° 10 ′ 26.4 ″ W) to the Uruguayan pampas (southernmost record in the province of Rio Negro, M'Bopicua Port; 33 ° 06 ′ 38.7 ″ S, 58 ° 11 ′ 31.6 ″ W), with its western limit by the Parana River (westernmost record in the province of Corrientes, Ita Ibate, Argentina; 27 ° 25 ′ 43.8 ″ S, 57 ° 20 ′ 17.0 ″ W), between sea level to ~ 1030 m a. s. l ..

Revision of the Chironius bicarinatus complex (Serpentes: Colubridae): Redefined species boundaries and description of a new species