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| Ahaetulla rufusoculara Lam, Thu, Nguyen, Murphy & Nguyen, 2021 |
Abstract
A new vine snake, genus Ahaetulla, from Soc Trang Province, southern Vietnam is described based on morphological data and nucleotide sequences from COI and Cytb. Ahaetulla rufusoculara sp. nov. is diagnosed by the following morphological characters: bright red eyes; snout without dermal appendage; internasal separated from supralabial by loreal; body scale rows 15-15-13; ventrals 186–190 in males and 182–185 in females; subcaudals 143–153 in males and 128 or 129 in females; 8 (rarely 9) supralabials, fourth and fifth or fourth to sixth entering orbit; 12–14 maxillary teeth; hemipenis short, reaching 6th or 7th SC; cloacal plate divided; dorsum bright green; and yellow or white stripe along the lower flank. The new species differs from its congeners by an uncorrected p-distance in COI and Cytb sequences of at least 7.7% and 7.5%, respectively.
Keywords: Reptilia, Ahaetulla rufusoculara, hemipenis, mitochondrial DNA, southern Vietnam, vine snake
Ahaetulla rufusoculara
Etymology. The specific epithet rufusoculara refers to the red color of the eyes and is derived from the Latin adjective rufus (meaning “red”) and oculus (means “eye”).
We recommend “Red-eyed Vine Snake” and “Rắn roi mắt đȯ” as the common English and Vietnamese names of the new species, respectively.
Ngon Quang Lam, Tran Thi Anh Thu, Luan Thanh Nguyen, Robert W. Murphy and Sang Ngoc Nguyen. 2021. A New Species of Ahaetulla Link, 1807 (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Zootaxa. 4966(3); 290–304. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4966.3.2
