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| Cryptotriton necopinus McCranie & Rovito, 2014
FIGURE 1. Adult male holotype of Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov. (MVZ 269392), SVL 26.4 mm.
FIGURE 3. Map of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and western Honduras showing the known collecting localities for the species of Cryptotriton. || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3795.1.6FIGURE 2. Adult male holotype of Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov., showing the nostril opening color in life.
Photographs: J.R. McCranie
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Abstract
We describe a new species of the plethodontid salamander genus Cryptotriton from Honduras after comparing morphological, molecular, and osteological data from the holotype to that of the other nominal forms of the genus. The new species differs from all of the known species of Cryptotriton in at least one character from all three datasets. We also suggest placing C. wakei in the synonymy of C. nasalis after examining the morphological and osteological characters of the single known specimen of C. wakei.
Keywords: Honduras, Plethodontidae, Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov., morphology, mtDNA, 16S, cytochrome b, Cryptotriton wakei synonym nov., Cryptotriton nasalis
Keywords: Honduras, Plethodontidae, Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov., morphology, mtDNA, 16S, cytochrome b, Cryptotriton wakei synonym nov., Cryptotriton nasalis
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| FIGURE 3. Map of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and western Honduras showing the known collecting localities for the species of Cryptotriton. |
Systematics
Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov.
Cataguana Hidden Salamander | Salamandra Escondida de Cataguana
Etymology. The specific name necopinus is a Latin adjective for unexpected. That name has two meanings in connection with the finding of this new species. Firstly, finding a member of Cryptotriton about 125 km SE of its previous eastern most known locality was certainly unexpected. Secondly, a group of seven collectors had spent six days and five nights in the area searching for amphibians and reptiles during March 2007 (Townsend et al. 2007) and at least two of those collectors had spent about a week in the area during 2006 (Townsend & Wilson 2009, Townsend et al. 2009). Thus, it was also unexpected to find an undescribed salamander species at the locality in such a short time period (two days and nights) after so many productive man-hours were previously spent there.
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| FIGURE 1. Adult male holotype of Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov. (MVZ 269392), SVL 26.4 mm.
FIGURE 2. Adult male holotype of Cryptotriton necopinus sp. nov. (MVZ 269392), showing the nostril opening color in life.
Photograph by J.R. McCranie.
FIGURE 3. Map of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and western Honduras showing the known collecting localities for the species of Cryptotriton. || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3795.1.6
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James McCranie and Sean Rovito. 2014. New Species of Salamander (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Cryptotriton) from Quebrada Cataguana, Francisco Morazán, Honduras, with comments on the taxonomic status of Cryptotriton wakei. Zootaxa. 3795(1): 061–070. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3795.1.6
