Indistinct Groundsnake

description

Description of holotype. Adult male, SVL 232 mm, tail length 53 mm (22.8 % SVL); body diameter 7.0 mm; head length 7.9 mm (3.4 % SVL); head width 4.8 mm (2.2 % SVL); interocular distance 3.4 mm; head slightly distinct from body; snout-orbit distance 3.3 mm; rostral 1.8 mm wide, about one time broader than high; internasals 0.9 mm wide; internasal suture sinistral relative to prefrontal suture; prefrontals 1.9 mm wide; frontal 2.2 mm wide, with a curvilinear triangle shape in dorsal view; parietals 2.1 mm wide, about twice as long as wide; nasal divided; loreal 2.5 mm long, about 3 times longer than high; eye diameter 1.5 mm; pupil round; supraoculars 1.2 mm wide; two postoculars; temporals 1 + 2, upper posterior temporal elongate, about four times longer than high, and three times as long as first temporal; seven supralabials, 3 rd- 4 th contacting orbit; symphisial 0.8 mm wide, separated from chin shields by first pair of infralabials; seven infralabials, 1 st- 4 th contacting chin shields; anterior chin shields about three times as long as broad, posterior chin shields absent; three series of gular scales; dorsal scales 17 / 17 / 17 rows, smooth without apical pits; preventrals 3

Molecular phylogeny of Atractus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with emphasis on Ecuadorian species and the description of three new taxa

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Atractus esepe is placed in the genus Atractus as diagnosed by Savage (1960), based on phylogenetic evidence (Fig. 1). It is included in the Atractus iridescens group due to its brown dorsal ground color and its phylogenetic position (Figs 1, 6). The species is diagnosed based on the following combination of characters: (1) 17 / 17 / 17 smooth dorsals; (2) two postoculars; (3) loreal long; (4) temporals 1 + 2; (5) seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; (6) seven infralabials, first four contacting chinshields (7) seven maxillary teeth; (8) 2 - 3 gular scale rows; (9) 2 - 3 preventrals; (10) 149 ventrals in the male holotype, 156 in the female paratype; (11) 41 subcaudals in the male holotype, 30 in the female paratype; (12) dorsal ground color brown with a pattern of complete (MZUTI 3759) or broken (MZUTI 3758) (Fig. 6 a) dark lines running parallel along each side of the body and separated from each other by a cream line, but rendering the appearance of a row of dorso-lateral blotches in the broken pattern (MZUTI 3758); (13) venter cream faintly speckled with brownish pigment (Fig. 6 b); (14) 232 - 241 mm SVL; (15) 34 - 53 mm TL.

Molecular phylogeny of Atractus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with emphasis on Ecuadorian species and the description of three new taxa

distribution

Distribution. Known only from the type locality, Caimito, in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas at 102 m (Fig. 3). This locality is 1.3 km airline distance from the shoreline.

Molecular phylogeny of Atractus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with emphasis on Ecuadorian species and the description of three new taxa

etymology

Etymology. The specific epithet esepe is derived from the Spanish pronunciation of " sp. ", which is the abbreviation for the Latin word species. Here, we use this word in allusion to how the majority of Ecuadorian researchers refer to Atractus specimens found in the field.

Molecular phylogeny of Atractus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with emphasis on Ecuadorian species and the description of three new taxa