Swamp Keelback
Helicops nentur Costa, Santana, Leal, Koroiva & Garcia, 2016
Also calledCobra-D’água (por) · Dama-D’Água (por)
First described in: Costa, Henrique C.; Diego J. Santana, Fernando Leal, Ricardo Koroiva, and Paulo C.A. Garcia. A New Species of Helicops (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Hydropsini) from Southeastern Brazil.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
distribution
Distribution. Endemic to Brazil (Plt. 285 A), recorded in the central Atlantic Forest and its contact with the Cerrado and Caatinga (Plt. 285 A) at low to intermediate elevations (Plt. 285 B). Observed in the field in flooded areas, lakes, and rivers (Costa et al., 2016).
Atlas of Brazilian Snakes: Verified Point-Locality Maps to Mitigate the Wallacean Shortfall in a Megadiverse Snake Fauna
materials_examined
Type locality. Fazenda Papa Capim, São José da Safira, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Atlas of Brazilian Snakes: Verified Point-Locality Maps to Mitigate the Wallacean Shortfall in a Megadiverse Snake Fauna
biology_ecology
Natural history and habitat. — Available information (from the holotype and one paratype) suggests that H. nentur sp. nov. inhabits lentic water bodies such as swamps. The holotype was collected while active at 0300 h, partially submerged. After collection, it gave birth to two stillborn specimens not measured nor preserved. ZUFMS-REP 2291 has an umbilical scar on ventrals 91 – 95. Date of collection of these two specimens suggest that reproduction in H. nentur sp. nov. might occur during the rainy season (October – March).
A New Species of Helicops (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Hydropsini) from Southeastern Brazil
description
Helicops nentur sp. nov. differs from H. angulatus, H. apiaka, H. danieli, H. gomesi, H. pastazae, H. petersi, H. polŋlepis, H. scalaris, H. tapajonicus, and H. ŋacu by having fewer than 60 subcaudals in both sexes. The presence of 56 subcaudals in the male and 41 – 52 in the females of H. nentur sp. nov. also distinguishes it from H. triƲittatus (subcaudals 67 – 80 in males and 56 – 66 in females) and H. leopardinus (64 – 89 in males and 53 – 76 in females). The absence of subcaudal keels distinguish H. nentur sp. nov. from H. angulatus, H. apiaka, H. gomesi, and H. scalaris (character unknown in H. ŋacu). In H. nentur sp. nov., the third and fourth supralabials contact the eye, whereas in H. danieli, H. hagmanni, H. pastazae, H. petersi, and H. tapajonicus only the fourth supralabial contacts the eye. This character also distinguishes H. nentur sp. nov. from H. angulatus (fourth, fourth + fifth or fifth supralabial [s] contacting the eye), H. gomesi and H. triƲittatus (fourth or fifth supralabial contacting the eye), H. scalaris (fourth or fourth + fifth supralabial [s] contacting the eye), and H. ŋacu (fourth + fifth supralabials contacting the eye). The presence of 9 – 10 infra
A New Species of Helicops (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Hydropsini) from Southeastern Brazil
In the stacks
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Every page naming Helicops nentur in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 8844883.