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| Calamaria nebulosa Lee, 2021 |
ABSTRACT
I describe a new Calamaria from northern Laos that was previously misidentified as Calamaria yunnanensis Chernov, 1962. This new species is quite similar to C. yunnanensis, but is distinguished by having a considerable pairwise genetic distance in the mitochondrial gene CytB (~20.2%) and the following morphological characters: nine modified maxillary teeth; length of rostral scale visible from above half the length of the prefrontal suture; eye diameter less than eye–mouth distance; preocular scale absent; single postocular scale present, less than eye diameter; 179 ventral scales in female; 21 subcaudal scales in female; subcaudals 10.9% of total body scales on the ventral surface; dorsal scales reducing to six rows above 12th subcaudal anterior to the tail tip, reducing to four rows above the last subcaudal; dorsal ground colour in preservative bluish-grey with five indistinct dark brown longitudinal stripes throughout body; and entire ventral region immaculate yellow in preservative. To clarify the taxonomic status of C. yunnanensis, I provide a revised diagnosis of this species and thoroughly describe a referred specimen sampled for mitochondrial DNA sequence data in past studies. Additional material from south-western China, northern Laos, Thailand and Myanmar is needed to resolve issues in the taxonomy of Calamaria in this region.
KEYWORDS: taxonomy, Southeast Asia, biodiversity, systematics, morphology, Squamata, Ophidia, Colubroidea
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| Holotype of Calamaria nebulosa sp. nov. (FMNH 258666) with (a) dorsal and (b) ventral views of the body, along with (c) right lateral, (d) dorsal and (e) ventral views of the head. Scale bars: a, b = 10 mm; c-e = 5 mm. Photographs taken by Justin L. Lee. |
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| Lateral views of the tail tips of (a) Calamaria nebulosa sp. nov. holotype (FMNH 258666) and (b) Calamaria yunnanensis (ROM 41547). Scale bar: 10 mm. Photographs by Justin L. Lee. |
Calamaria nebulosa sp. nov.
Diagnosis: A species of Calamaria distinguished from all other members of the genus from mainland Southeast Asia by having the following combination of morphological characters: (1)rostral scale wider than high; (2) portion of rostral scale visible from above approximately half the length of the prefrontal suture; (3) six scales and shields surrounding the para-parietal scale; (4) absence of a preocular scale; (5) four supralabials, with the second and third touching the eye; (6) five infralabials, the first pair separating the mental scale from the anterior chin shields; (7) 179 ventrals and three gular scales; (8) 22 paired subcaudals;(9) dorsal colour pattern in preservative bluish-grey with five indistinct dark brown longitudinal stripes; (10) ventral surface of tail in preservative uniform yellow, immaculate; and(11) absence of a distinct white nuchal collar posterior to the head.
A summary of diagnostic characters and comparisons is given below and in Tables 3–4.
Etymology: The species epithet ‘nebulosa’ is the nominative form of the word ‘nebulous’, meaning ‘misty, foggy or cloudy’ in Latin, and is given in the feminine form to match the female genitive declension of the genus name Calamaria. The species name is an allusion to both the type locality of this snake, situated in the mountainous regions of Laos, and the generally clouded appearance of its dorsal ground colour in preservative. I recommend the English common name ‘Clouded reed snake’.
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| Referred specimen of Calamaria yunnanensis (ROM 41547) with (a) dorsal and (b) ventral views of the body, along with (c) right lateral, (d) dorsal and (e) ventral views of the head. Scale bars: a, b = 10 mm; c-e = 5 mm. Photographs taken by Justin L. Lee. |
Calamaria yunnanensis Chernov, 1962
Etymology: The species epithet ‘yunnanensis’ is a reference to the type locality situated in Yunnan Province, China. I recommend the English common name ‘Yunnan reed snake’.
Justin L. Lee. 2021. Description of A New Species of Southeast Asian Reed Snake from northern Laos (Squamata: Colubridae: Genus Calamaria F. Boie, 1827) with A revised Diagnosis of Calamaria yunnanensis Chernov, 1962. Journal of Natural History. 55(9-10); 531-560. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2021.1909165
