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| Pelodiscus shipian Gong, Fritz, Vamberger, Gao & Farkas, 2022 |
Abstract
We describe a new species from the Pelodiscus axenaria complex from Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces, China. Also, the application of the name P. axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991) is clarified by designating a neotype for this species. Besides its genetic divergence, the new species differs from all other Pelodiscus species, including the two other taxa constituting the complex (P. axenaria, P. huangshanensis), in the following combination of morphological traits: (1) small adult size, <15 cm carapace length; (2) carapace distinctly keeled, more or less strongly tuberculated, usually olive clay-coloured and adorned with greenish black marbling; (3) plastron yellowish white, typically immaculate except for a blurred-edged blotch behind each axilla that does not extend to the entoplastron and some slight black suffusion along its anterior border; (4) underside of the leathery margin of the carapace with varying amounts of dark pigmentation; (5) head olive clay-coloured with numerous black splotches; (6) chin grey brown with pale stipples, throat dark grey, finely spotted with black; (7) neck with a wide yellow lateral band stretching from the tympanum posteriorly, which tends to fade with age; (8) entoplastron boomerang-shaped, the amount of bending of the transverse bar between the two posteriolaterally directed rami >90°.
Key words: China, genetics, morphology, Pelodiscus shipian sp. nov., phylogeny, soft-shelled turtle, taxonomy
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| Neotype of Pelodiscus axenaria (JNU 20210001, adult male, 128.7 mm CL) in life. |
Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991)
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| One of the paratypes of Pelodiscus shipian sp. nov. (JNU 20210002, adult female, 88.2 mm CL) in life. |
Pelodiscus shipian sp. nov.
Suggested English name: Chinese Stone Slab Soft-shelled Turtle
Suggested Chinese name: 石片鳖 (shi pian bie)
Diagnosis. Besides its genetic distinctiveness (Gong et al. 2018), Pelodiscus shipian sp. nov. differs from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) small adult size, <15 cm CL; (2) carapace distinctly keeled, more or less strongly tuberculated, usually olive clay-coloured and adorned with greenish black marbling but sometimes much darker with obscure pattern; (3) plastron yellowish white, typically immaculate except for a blurred-edged blotch behind each axilla that does not extend to the entoplastron and a slight black suffusion along its anterior border; (4) underside of the leathery margin with varying amounts of dark pigmentation; (5) head olive clay-coloured with numerous black splotches; (6) chin grey brown with pale stipples, throat dark grey, finely spotted with black; (7) neck with a wide yellow lateral band stretching from the ear backwards, which tends to fade with age; (8) entoplastron boomerang-shaped, the amount of bending of the transverse bar between the two posteriolater-ally directed rami >90°.
Etymology. The name ‘shipian’ is the romanisation of 石片 (shi pian, Chinese for “slab”), derived from the local (Fengxin, Jiangxi) name of the species 石片鳖 (shi pian bie = stone slab soft-shelled turtle) that alludes to its resemblance to a flat stone. The suggested English common name refers to the same feature. The scientific species name is used as a noun in the nominative singular in apposition to the generic name (ICZN 1999: Article 11.9.1.2).
Shiping Gong, Uwe Fritz, Melita Vamberger, Yangchun Gao and Balázs Farkas. 2022. Disentangling the Pelodiscus axenaria complex, with the Description of A New Chinese Species and Neotype Designation for P. axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991). Zootaxa. 5125(2); 131-143. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5125.2.2
