Cu Lao Cham Kukri Snake

description

Description of holotype. Adult male; head small and elongate (HW / HL = 0.579), faintly distinct from neck; body rather slender; SVL 424 mm; tail quite long (TaL / TL = 0.219), 119 mm in length; eye small with round pupil, eye diameter equal to distance between eye and nostril; snout quite pointed with a large oval nostril piercing the upper part of nasal. Head scalation. Rostral thick and curved on to upper snout surface, visible from above, pointed posteriorly, touching nasals, internasals and first supralabial on both sides; the portion of rostral visible from above shorter than its distance from frontal; supralabials 8 / 8, the 4 th and 5 th bordering eye; 1 / 1 loreal; 1 / 1 presubocular; 1 / 1 preocular; 2 / 2 postoculars; nasal divided vertically; 2 + 2 / 2 + 2 temporals, anterior ones elongated; prefrontal wider than long and larger than internasal; frontal large and hexagonal, longer than wide; parietals larger than frontals, bordered laterally by the upper temporals and anteriorly by frontal, supraoculars and postoculars; 9 / 9 infralabials, first pair medially in contact with each other, first four in contact with anterior chin shield, the 5 th largest and touching poste

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Cu Lao Cham Islands, central Vietnam

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Oligodon culaochamensis sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) medium size in adults (TL ± 582 mm); (2) 17 or 19 dorsal scale rows at neck and midbody and 15 or 17 rows before vent; (3) LaL / TL ratio 0.218 – 0.219 in males, 0.166 – 0.169 in females; (4) ventrals 167 – 169 in males and 179 – 182 in females; (5) subcaudals 63 – 66 in males and 51 – 52 in females; (6) presubocular present; (7) 8 supralabials, fourth and fifth entering orbit; (9) 9 – 10 maxillary teeth, posterior three enlarged; (10) nasal divided; (11) temporal streak absent; (12) long and deeply forked hemipenes, extending to 20 th subcaudal, without spines and papillae but with a prominent diagonal ridge, oblique flounces and distal calyces; (13) cloacal plate undivided; (14) 10 – 11 + 3 – 4 dorsal blotches; and (15) vertebral stripe on tail and anterior part of body.

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Cu Lao Cham Islands, central Vietnam

distribution

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from Cu Lao Cham Islands, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam.

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Cu Lao Cham Islands, central Vietnam

etymology

Etymology. The specific epithet culaochamensis is derived from Cu Lao Cham Islands, where the new species was discovered. Comparisons. Based on hemipenal morphology (deeply forked, no papillae, no spines), O. culaochamensis sp. nov. is a member of the O. cyclurus group as defined and mentioned in previous publication (Smith 1943, David et al. 2008 a, 2008 b; Green et al. 2010; Neang et al. 2012; Nguyen et al. 2016). Therefore, the new species differs from all congeners within the Oligodon taeniatus group (David et al. 2008 b; Neang et al. 2012; Nguyen et al. 2016), which includes O. barroni (Smith), O. deuvei David, Vogel & Rooijen, O. moricei David, Vogel & Rooijen, O. mouhoti (Boulenger), O. pseudotaeniatus David, Vogel & Rooijen, and O. taeniatus (Günther), because they have obvious papillae on hemipenes, except for O. moricei in which males remain unknown; from all congeners within the O. cinereus group (David et al. 2008 a, 2012; Green et al. 2010; Neang et al. 2012; Vassilieva 2015; Nguyen et al. 2016), which includes O. albocinctus (Cantor), O. cinereus (Günther), O. inornatus (Boulenger), O. joynsoni (Smith), O. maculatus (Taylor), O. melanozonatus Wall, O. nagao David, Ngu

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Cu Lao Cham Islands, central Vietnam