Youjiang Keelback Snake

description

Description of holotype. The adult female specimen has the following characters: TL 582 mm (SVL 409 mm and TAL 173 mm), tail complete, TAL / TL ratio 0.30. Body elongated and cylindrical; head flattened anteriorly, distinct from the neck, HL 16.95 mm, HW 8.82 mm. Nostril lateral, round, piercing in the middle of the nasal. Eye large, ED 2.3 mm, pupil round. Tail complete, long and tapering. Body scalation. DSR 19 - 17 - 17, feebly keeled posterior to nape, and outermost dorsal scale row on both sides smooth, not notched at their posterior extremity. VEN 160 (+ 3 preventrals); SC 112, all paired; CP divided. Dorsal scale row reduction. 3 + 4 → 3 (76 - 77) (right) 19 ——————————— 17 3 + 4 → 3 (75 - 76) (left) Dentition. Maxillary teeth 30, gradually enlarging, the last 3 moderately enlarged, without diastema between the last three and the anterior teeth. Head scalation. Rostral visible dorsally, trapezoidal, wider than high; nasals nearly rectangular, about twice as wide as high, divided into two parts; nostril in the anterior part of the nasal, posterior margin of nostril with a distinct nostril cleft, the posterior section of nasal vertically subrectangle, about half as wide as the

A new species of the Genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Baise, Guangxi, China

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Hebius youjiangensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scale rows 19 - 17 - 17, feebly keeled except the outermost rows; (2) tail length comparatively long, TAL / TL ratio 0.30 in females; (3) ventrals 3 + 160; (4) subcaudals 112; (5) supralabials 9, the fourth to sixth in contact with the eye, the seventh to ninth largest; (6) infralabials 10, the first 5 touching the first pair of chin shields; (7) preocular 1; (8) postoculars 2; (9) temporals 4, arranged in three rows (1 + 1 + 2); (10) maxillary teeth 30, the last 3 enlarged, without diastema; (11) postocular streak presence; (12) background color of dorsal brownish black, a continuous beige stripe extending from behind the eye to the end of the tail on 5 th to 7 th scale rows in anterior part of body, and 4 th to 6 th in middle and posterior part of body; (13) anterior venter creamish-yellow, gradually fades to the rear, with irregular black blotches in the middle and outer quarter of ventrals, the posterior part almost completely black.

A new species of the Genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Baise, Guangxi, China

distribution

Distribution and Habitat. At present, the new species is only found at the type locality of Daleng Village, Youjiang District, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. We found the snake between 1: 00 to 2: 00 am after a light rain, swimming on the hill stream water surface. The habitat environment was well preserved subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, at an elevation of 780 m. Comparisons. Hebius youjiangensis sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Hebius by having the following characters: preoculars, postoculars, supralabials, infralabials, prefrontal, ventrals, subcaudals, and DSR counts; a conspicuous, beige dorsolateral stripe extending from behind the eye to the end of the tail on each side; and the posterior part of venter almost black. Hebius youjiangensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from H. andreae (Ziegler & Le Khac Quyet, 2006), H. beddomei (Günther, 1864), H. bitaeniatus (Wall, 1925), H. boulengeri (Gressitt, 1937), H. celebicus (Peters & Doris, 1878), H. clerki (Wall, 1925), H. concelarus (Malnate, 1963), H. craspedogaster (Boulenger, 1899), H. flavifrons (Boulenger, 1887), H. inas (Laidlaw, 1901), H. ishigakiensis (Malnat

A new species of the Genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Baise, Guangxi, China

etymology

Etymology. We named this species based on its type locality Daleng Village is adjacent to the Youjiang River, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The name we suggest is Yòu Jiāng Fù Liàn Shé (Ůĭkńfi) as Chinese common name and Youjiang Keelback Snake as English common name.

A new species of the Genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Baise, Guangxi, China