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Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature

Zeitschrift/Journal: Herpetozoa

Jahr/Year: 2010

Band/Volume: 22_3_4

Autor(en)/Author(s): Kucharzewski Christoph, Tillack Frank, Fuhrmann Kay

Artikel/Article: Wiederfund und Neubeschreibung der Typusexemplare von Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886 (: Serpentes: ) 181-187 ©Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie e.V., Wien, Austria, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at

HERPETOZOA 22 (3/4): 181 - 187 181 Wien, 30. Dezember 2009

Rediscovery and redescription of the type specimens of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886 (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae)

Wiederfund und Neubeschreibung der Typusexemplare von Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886 (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae)

CHRISTOPH KUCHARZEWSKI & FRANK TILLACK & KAY FUHRMANN

KURZFASSUNG Im Zuge einer Bestandsaufnahme und Neuinventarisierung der herpetologischen Sammlung des Landes- museums für Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg, Deutschland (LMNMO) wurden die beiden Syntypen der von FISCHER (1886) beschriebenen Colubriden-Art Ophites ruhstrati (heute ruhstrati ruhstrati) wiedergefun- den. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden diese ausführlich neubeschrieben. ABSTRACT During reinventory work within the Herpetological Collection of the Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg, Germany (LMNMO), the authors rediscovered the two syntypes of the colubrid Ophites ruhstrati (currently ruhstrati) which was described in 1886 by FISCHER. In the present work, a detailed redescription is given for the syntypes . KEY WORDS Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae: : Lycodon ruhstrati; Ophites ruhstrati; redescription of syn- types; systematics, ;

INTRODUCTION

The colubrid snake species Ophites them – Euprepes (Tiliqua) ruhstrati and ruhstrati was described by Johann Gustav Ophites ruhstrati – as new species. HOLT- FISCHER (1886) based on two specimens ZINGER-TENEVER (1919b) published a list of from “Süd-Formosa” [Southern Taiwan]. It the Oldenburg herpetological collection was named in honor of Ernst RUHSTRAT including the RUHSTRAT-material but with- (1856–1913) who worked in as an as- out mention of the species described by sistant of the “Kaiserlich Chinesischer See- FISCHER. After that, the collection was zolldienst” [Royal Chinese Marine Custom stored on shelves in the attic of the museum Service]. According to FUHRMANN & KU- building, and fell into oblivion for nearly 90 CHARZEWSKI (2008) the Grossherzogliche years. In 2006 it was “rediscovered” and Museum Oldenburg (now Landesmuseum reviewed by German herpetologists (e.g., A. für Natur und Mensch, Oldenburg) received KWET [Amphibia], J. HALLERMANN [Sauria], several times and at least one lizard U. FRITZ [Testudines]), and newly catalogued sent by RUHSTRAT from China (Shanghai (FUHRMANN &KUCHARZEWSKI 2008). and Chinkiang [= Zhengjiang Shi, Jiangsu During this project the well conserved type Province]) and Taiwan at the end of the 19th material of Ophites ruhstrati was rediscov- century. ered whereas the holotype of Euprepes The Oldenburg herpetological collec- (Tiliqua) ruhstrati [regarded as synonym of tion was first reviewed by J. G. FISCHER longicaudata (HALLOWELL, 1857) (1819–1889), one of the most renowned by STEJNEGER (1907: 214)] could not be German herpetologists of that time. In his located and must be regarded as lost. 1886 paper he listed four species The systematic position of Lycodon from that collection and described two of ruhstrati was discussed controversially by ©Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie e.V., Wien, Austria, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at

182 CH. KUCHARZEWSKI & F. TILLACK & K. FUHRMANN

several authors and some confusion exists to comparisons between ruhstrati from about the status of the mainland and insular Taiwan with multifasciatum OTA (1988) populations in Southeast and East Asia. recognised two subspecies: Lycodon ruh- Soon after its description, the species strati ruhstrati (FISCHER, 1886) and Lycodon was synonymized with Dinodon septentrio- ruhstrati multifasciatus (MAKI, 1931). nale (GÜNTHER, 1875) by BOULENGER (1893: According to the available information, the 363) or treated as a variation of the latter, geographical distribution of Lycodon r. ruh- respectively (BOULENGER 1899: 65 “Dinodon strati includes Taiwan, southern China septentrionalis var. ruhstrati’’. STEJNEGER (, north to , west to Sichu- (1907: 370) listed the taxon as Dinodon an and southeast ), and septentrionale ruhstrati (FISCHER). POPE (ZHAO & ADLER 1993; ZIEGLER 2002; VO- (1929: 428) elevated it to species rank with- GEL & BRACHTEL 2008). Records for Myan- in the Dinodon. Comparative an- mar published by DEUVE (1970: 129 as D. alyses with (ANDERSON, futsingense) and ZIEGLER (2002) seem not to 1879) led him to use the combination Lyco- be based on voucher specimens because the don ruhstrati for the first time and he syn- references used by both authors do not in- onymized Dinodon futsingensis POPE, 1928 clude Burmese locality data. The authors are [locus typicus “Futsing Hsien, Fukien’’] not aware of recent publications dealing with with Lycodon ruhstrati (POPE, 1935: 191 ff). new material of Lycodon r. ruhstrati from In 1931 MAKI described the subspecies Din- . odon septentrionale multifasciatum from Currently the Lycodon ruhstrati com- the southern Ryu Kyu Archipelago (Japan) plex is under revision and several changes in which was considered a subspecies of Lyco- taxonomy and systematics must be expected don ruhstrati by TORIBA (1982). According (G. VOGEL pers. comm., September 2008).

METHODS

In our redescription of the type speci- taken with a thread along the ventral body mens of O. ruhstrati ventral scales were side and measured with a tape measure. The counted according to DOWLING (1951a), and head length was defined as the true distance the formal notation of the reduction of the from the tip of the snout to the posterior longitudinal dorsal scale rows followed margin of the angle of the jaw. Head width DOWLING (1951b). Counts of dorsal scale was measured at its widest point. Bilateral rows started at the level of the 10th and scale characters were given in left/right ended at the level of the last ventral plate. order. The terminal scale was not included All distances were measured to the nearest in the number of subcaudals. If there were millimeter. Measurements of the head were differences between our data and FISCHER’s done with a slide-calliper. Snout-vent (1886) original description the latter was length (from tip of the snout to posterior added in brackets […]. margin of anal plate) and tail length were

RESULTS

The handwritten inventory book of the & GREVE without year) was the first to men- Oldenburg herpetological collection estab- tion the species in the form of “Ophites lished in 1881 by Carl Friedrich WIEPKEN Ruhstrati. Fischer (Spec. nov.; Type) Süd- and Eduard Wilhelm Johann GREVE “Ver- Formosa”, under the number 37c. In addi- zeichnis der in Spiritus aufbewahrten und tion there was a specimen of “Lycodon ausgestopften Reptilien und Amphibien’’ Mülleri. D. B. Süd-Formosa” catalogued [Catalogue of the ethanol-preserved and under the number 37b. Like in all other stuffed and amphibians] (WIEPKEN specimens of the catalogue, their entries ©Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie e.V., Wien, Austria, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at

Rediscovery and redescription of the type specimens of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886 183

Fig. 1: Dorsal view of LMNMO – REP 918, syntype of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886. Abb. 1: Dorsalansicht von LMNMO – REP 918, Syntypus von Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886.

Fig. 2: Dorsal view of LMNMO – REP 919, syntype of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886. Abb. 2: Dorsalansicht von LMNMO – REP 919, Syntypus von Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886. ©Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie e.V., Wien, Austria, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at

184 CH. KUCHARZEWSKI & F. TILLACK & K. FUHRMANN

lacked information about the collector or doubt about the status of Ernst RUHSTRAT as donor, respectively. In 1889 the herpetolog- collector/donor because none of the above ical collection was re-catalogued by WIEP- three catalogues included these data. KEN & GREVE based on their previous inven- FISCHER’s source of knowledge about RUH- tory book of 1881. The new edition includ- STRAT as collector remained obscure. ed identical entries without changes. The Beyond that there was no obvious relation Oldenburg herpetological collection was between RUHSTRAT and collecting activities later reviewed again by Hans HOLTZINGER- on Taiwan. According to HOLTZINGER- TENEVER who established a type written cat- TENEVER (1919b) the “Grossherzogliche alogue of snakes based on the systematics of Museum Oldenburg” (now “Landesmuseum BOULENGER (HOLTZINGER-TENEVER 1919a). für Natur und Mensch, Oldenburg”) re- According to that, Ophites ruhstrati was ceived a total of 26 snakes sent by listed as “Dinodon septentrionalis Gthr.“ RUHSTRAT; they all, however, originated with the following data “alte No. 37c, neue from China (Shanghai and Chinkiang [= No. 73. Type, China“. The specimen named Zhengjiang Shi, Jiangsu Province]). “Lycodon Mülleri” which was catalogued STEJNEGER (1907) was the only one originally under the old number 37b was besides FISCHER (1886) who mentioned that now listed as “Stegonotus dumerilii Blgr.“ the syntypes were stored in the Oldenburg under the new number 74 with the locality Museum. In recent studies dealing with the “Süd-Formosa” [Southern Taiwan]. Al- systematics of the genus Lycodon and the though in all catalogues only one specimen species ruhstrati (e.g., OTA 1988; LANZA (No. 37c, alternatively No. 73) was marked 1999) the type material was not studied. as type, our re-examinations showed that FISCHER’s original description was excep- the specimen listed under the name tionally comprehensive for that time. “Lycodon Mülleri” (No. 37b, alternatively Nonetheless, during the re-examination of No. 74) represented the second specimen of the syntypes we noted that the data provid- FISCHER’s original series of Ophites ruh- ed by him deviated in some aspects from strati. Consequently both specimens had to ours, and we will list these in the following be regarded as syntypes (following ICZN re-descriptions together with observations Art. 72.4.1, Art. 73.2). But there was some not published before.

Redescription of the syntypes of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886

LMNMO – REP 918, Süd-Formosa, larger and higher than prenasal, nostril very ? RUHSTRAT coll.; old inventory catalogue large; loreal 1/1, about two times as long as no. 37c; depicted on plate 2, figures 6a - 6d high, touching the 2nd and 3rd supralabial, in FISCHER (1886); (Fig. 1): widely separated from the internasals, pos- An adult male; total length 583 mm, terior angle deeply inserted between preoc- snout-vent length 525 mm, tail length 58 ular and 3rd supra-labial; preocular 1/1, mm (incomplete) [total length 580 mm, tail barely visible from above, not touching the length 60+ mm]; head length 163 mm; head frontal; postoculars 2/2, upper one larger, width 96 mm; head very distinct from neck; touches the parietal and the upper anterior body elongated and laterally compressed; temporal, the lower postocular touches the eyes with vertical elliptical pupils, eye anterior temporals and the 5th + 6th supral- diameter same as the distance between the abials; temporals 2+3/2+3; rostral broader anterior margin of the eye and the middle of than high, hardly visible from above; one the nostril; supralabials 8/8, 3rd to 5th in pair of internasals, as long as broad, shorter contact with the orbit; infralabials 10/10, than the prefrontals; one pair of prefrontals, first pair in contact behind the mental, 1st to broader than long; frontal pentagonal, only 5th in contact with the anterior inframaxillar, slightly longer than broad (ratio 1.08:1), lit- 5th and 6th touching the posterior inframax- tle shorter than the supraoculars, slightly illars; nasal divided, touching the 1st and 2nd longer than the distance to the rostral; pari- supralabials and the prefrontal, postnasal etals longer than broad; two pairs of infra- ©Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie e.V., Wien, Austria, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at

Rediscovery and redescription of the type specimens of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886 185

Fig. 3: Left maxilla of LMNMO – REP 918, syntype von Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886. Apical end is on the left side. Abb. 3: Linker Oberkieferknochen von LMNMO – REP 918, Syntypus von Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886. Das Vorderende des Kiefers liegt links.

maxillars of equal length, the anterior pair a Coloration. – Color and pattern little broader than the posterior, the posteri- have partly faded. The coloration of the or pair partially divided by the inserted head is completely uniform cream. The gulars; dorsal scales in 17-17-15 rows, ground color is light cream. On the body lanceolate, only slightly imbricated, homog- there are 50 whitish outlined brown bands. enous in size and shape, the dorsal rows dis- In the anterior third of the body the bands tinctly keeled, lateral rows weakly keeled, touch the ventrals. The anteriormost bands 3-4 outer rows without keels; dorsocaudals are saddle-shaped and widened dorsally. also keeled; two weekly developed apical The first dark band is the largest and covers pits present on all dorsals throughout body; 16 dorsal scales vertebrally. The bands ventral scales 2+229+1/2 [221], strongly decrease in width posteriorly to the lenght angulated but not keeled; anal plate undi- of about two dorsal scales and show irregu- vided; subcaudals 34+/33+ [36+/36+]; lar margins. Most bands are horizontally angulated. Dorsal scale row reduction for- interrupted by the dorsal ground color at the mula: level of the 4th or 5th dorsal scale row. 3+4 (146) Ventrolaterally, in the posterior part of body, 17 (10) ————— 15 (229) 3+4 (144) there are small irregular shaped brown mark- Dorsocaudal scale reduction formula: ings between the bands. On the tail there are nine brown bands. Ventral coloration is uni- 3+4 (5) 3+4 (17) (tail in- 10 ———— 8 ———— 6 complete) form dirty cream with a few small irregular 3+4 (4) 3+4 (17) brown spots, subcaudals with dirty cream Dentition. – Maxillary teeth on the coloration and darker margins. left side (Fig. 3): 7(2nd missing)+3+2; max- LMNMO - REP 919, Süd-Formosa, ? illary teeth on the rigth side: 7(2nd +4th mis- RUHSTRAT coll.; old inventory catalogue no. sing, 3rd incomplete)+3+2(1st missing). 37b; (Fig. 2): Anterior 7 maxillary teeth strongly curved This specimen generally corresponds backward and increasing in size posteriorly, with the former one (LMNMO - REP 918) 6th largest; the middle three smaller and in pholidotic features and shows the follow- stout; the posteriormost pair little longer ing differences: juvenile specimen; sex not than the middle ones, ungrooved; first dia- determined; total length 248 mm, snout- stema about tree times as long as the second. vent length 191 mm, tail length 57 mm The maxillary bone reaches beyond the [total length 250 mm, tail length 60 mm]; palatine. The dentary teeth on the left side: head length 95 mm; head width 62 mm; 5+12, anterior 5 increasing in size posterior- loreal fused with postnasal on both sides; 1 ly, 4th largest, followed after a diastema by pair of internasals, which are broader than 12 smaller teeth, which slightly decrease in long; temporals 2+3 / 2+1+2 (upper anterior size posteriorly. elongate temporal above the remaining ©Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie e.V., Wien, Austria, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at

186 CH. KUCHARZEWSKI & F. TILLACK & K. FUHRMANN

lower ones); two pairs of inframaxillars, the a backward opened U-shaped pattern. The anterior pair being a little broader and longer remaining head is cream colored. On light than the posterior pair; ventral scales 1+217 cream dorsal ground color there are 34 [223], subcaudals 102/102 [103/103]. brown body bands, very weakly outlined Dorsal scale row reduction formula: with white. The first band covers 17 dorsal 3+4 (140) scales vertebrally and starts 3 dorsal scales 17 (10) ————— 15 (216) 4+5 (139) behind the parietals. The bands decrease in Dorsocaudal scale reduction formula: width posteriorly to a lenght of about 1.5-2 dorsal scales and show irregular margins. 4+5 (2) 3+4 (10) 2+3 (31) 1+2 (66) 10 ——— 8 ———— 6 ———— 4 ———— 2 The bands are horizontally notched or inter- 2+3 (3) 3+4 (9) 2+3 (32) 1+2 (66) rupted by the dorsal ground color at the Dentition. – Maxillary teeth on the level of the 5th dorsal scale row, after reduc- left side: 7(6th missing)+3(1st missing)+2 tion at the level of the 4th row. Behind the (1st missing); maxillary teeth on the rigth 8th body band some of the cream colored side: 7(2nd+4th missing, 3rd incomplete)+3 interspaces have brown speckles in their +2(1st missing). The dentary teeth were not centres, creating the impression of an irreg- counted in order to prevent the specimen ular band. Ventrolaterally, beginning at the from damage. 5th light interspace, there are small irregular Coloration. – The coloration of shaped brown markings between the bands. the head shows a dark cap covering rostral, On the tail there are 18 brown rings with internasals, prefrontals, frontal, supraocu- alternating dark spots on the outer margins lars, nasal/loreal, preocular, postoculars and of subcaudals. Exept the tail, ventral col- the upper portion of 1st to 6th supralabial. oration is uniform cream. On the anterior part of the parietals there is

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Gernot VOGEL (Heidelberg, Germany) for personal information.

REFERENCES

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Rediscovery and redescription of the type specimens of Ophites ruhstrati FISCHER, 1886 187

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DATE OF SUBMISSION: 26. November 2008 Corresponding editor: Heinz Grillitsch

AUTHORS: Christoph KUCHARZEWSKI, Bernauer Straße 35 A, 13507 Berlin, Germany < c.kucharzewski @gmx.de >; Frank TILLACK, Museum für Naturkunde – Leibnitz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitäts- forschung an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany < frank-tillack@t- online.de > (corresponding author); Kay FUHRMANN, Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch, Damm 38-44, 26135 Oldenburg, Germany < [email protected] >