Coluber bengalensis Gray, 1834

Published, First, 2012, 3473, Zootaxa 3473, pp. 1-60 : 12

Coluber bengalensis Gray, 1834

Coluber bengalensis Gray, 1834 [in 1832–1835]: pl. 82, figs. 1–3.—Type locality. Originally none given, but inferred as being “Bengal”.—Onomatophore. Holotype: specimen depicted by Gray (pl. 82, figs. 1–3), not traced and considered to be lost.

Status. A taxon here regarded as a subjective synonym of Xenochrophis piscator .

Comments. Although no description accompanied Gray’s (1834: fig. 5) plate, his drawing is accurate enough to identify a specimen of the genus Xenochrophis with a straight collar. This kind of collar can be found in the species X. schnurrenbergeri and in some southern specimens of X. piscator , as defined herein. Gray’s plate contains a fine drawing of the underside of the tail in which we count 88 subcaudals. The fact that this specimen most probably stems from an area close to Vizagapatam, and that the number of subcaudal plates is out of the range of X. schnurrenbergeri but well inside the range of X. piscator , leads us to the conclusion that this taxon is a subjective synonym of X. piscator . Due to the fact that this population with the straight collar from South India might warrant a distinct taxonomic status, we refrain from choosing a lectotype and leave this point open for future work.