Contia persica, Boulenger, 1893

Rajabizadeh, Mahdi, Nagy, Zoltán T., Adriaens, Dominique, Avci, Aziz, Masroor, Rafaqat, Schmidtler, Josef, Nazarov, Roman, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza & Christiaens, Joachim, 2016, Alpine-Himalayan orogeny drove correlated morphological, molecular, and ecological diversification in the Persian dwarf snake (Squamata: Serpentes: Eirenis persicus), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176, pp. 878-913 : 903

CONTIA PERSICA NIGROFASCIATA TERENT ÉV & CHERNOV, 1965

Holotype

ZISP 10323 ( Zoological Institute , Russian Academy of Science, Saint Petersburg, Russia).

Terra typica

‘ Urbs Dizful (Arabistan)’ [around Dezful (32°23′12″N, 48°23′38″E), Khuzestan province, south-western Iran (locality indicated by triangle 6 in Fig. 2 )] .

Diagnosis

N = 9; 5♂, 4♀. 193–207 (x = 200.8) ventrals in ♂ and 209–219 (x = 212.2) in ♀; 67–96 (x = 81.6) subcaudals in ♂ and 68–74 (x = 70.6) in ♀; ratio of the tail length over total length 21.57–28.49 (x = 24.64) in ♂ and 19.02–20.69 (x = 19.73) in ♀; 15/15 dorsal scale rows on the anterior and mid dorsal body, usually 13 (71.4%), sometimes 12 or 14, posterior dorsal scales; seven supralabials, usually eight (77.8%), rarely seven/ eight, infralabials on both sides of the head; posteri- or chin shields attached; no loreal scale; nine to 11 scales between the last infralabials, ten to 11 (in a single specimen, nine) scales behind the parietals.

The dorsal body and the tail are marked by alternate transverse bars of blackish and whitish or pinkish colour; except the snout, dorsal and lateral head, and the nape greyish or blackish; blackish or dark blotches on and below the posterior eye, adjacent to the supralabials, and on the parietals; sometimes a few blackish marking on the anterior infralabials; the rest of the infralabials, the lower margin of the supralabials, and ventral surface of the head, and the body uniformly cream ( Fig. 1E ).

Figures

Figure 1. Different morphs of the Eirenis persicus species group: A, persicus morph from Dasht-e Arjan, Fars province, south-western Iran (photo by F. Hidary); B, walteri morph from Dehbakri, Kerman province, south-eastern Iran (photo by R. Nazarov); C, new morph from Sisakht, Yasuj province, central Zagros mountains, Iran (photo by H. Esmaeili); D, persicus morph from Kafir Kot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan (photo by R. Masroor); E, nigrofasciatus morph from Dezful, Khuzestan province, south-western Iran (photo by F. Hidary).

Figure 2. All available distribution records of the Eirenis persicus species group. Circles indicate the E. persicus specimens, with the persicus morph bearing unicoloured dorsal scales; squires indicate specimens from eastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and southern and western Pakistan, having both persicus morph that base of their anterior dorsal scales are darker, and walteri morph; stars indicate specimens referred to Eirenis mcmahoni (Wall, 1911); plus symbols indicate specimens in north-eastern Pakistan, having both persicus morphs that base of their anterior dorsal scales are darker, and with walteri morph; asterisks indicate specimens with the novum pattern; triangles indicate specimens of the nigrofasciatus morph. Circle 29 indicates the type locality of Cyclophis persicus Anderson, 1872; squire 2 indicates the type locality of Pseudocyclophis walteri Boettger, 1888; squire 7 indicates the type locality of Contia zebrina Wall, 1923; triangle 6 indicates the type locality of Contia persica var. nigrofasciata Nikolsky, 1907; star 3 indicates the type locality of Contia angusticeps Boulenger, 1894; plus symbols 2–5 indicate the type series localities of Contia mcmahoni Wall, 1911. For more details, see Appendix 1.