Fimbrios smithi, Ziegler, Thomas, David, Patrick, Miralles, Aurelien, Kien, Doan Van & Truong, Nguyen Quang, 2008

Ziegler, Thomas, David, Patrick, Miralles, Aurelien, Kien, Doan Van & Truong, Nguyen Quang, 2008, A new species of the snake genus Fimbrios from Phong Nha — Ke Bang National Park, Truong Son, central Vietnam (Squamata: Xenodermatidae), Zootaxa 1729, pp. 37-48 : 39-41

Fimbrios smithi sp. n.

( Figs. 2–8 )

Holotype. IEBR 3157, an adult male, from Phong Nha—Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh province, central Vietnam, collected by Doan Van Kien and Nguyen Van Hoan on 15 May 2005 in the Cha Noi region at an altitude of ca. 350 m above sea level.

Etymology. We name this species in honour of Malcolm A. Smith, who described the monotypic genus Fimbrios with the species F. klossi , and in recognition of his outstanding herpetological contributions for Southeast Asia.

Diagnosis. A species of the genus Fimbrios , characterized by a combination of the following characters: 1) rostral, mental and first three to four labials with raised, everted edges; 2) rostral separated from the internasals by a horizontal ridge of tissue; 3) suture between the internasals longer than that between the prefrontals; 4) a single pair of enlarged chin shields; 5) one large loreal, that extends from the nasal to the eye; 6) one preocular, one supraocular, two postoculars, and two suboculars; 7) 31 rows of keeled scales at midbody (those of the outer row enlarged); 8) 193 laterally rounded ventrals; 9) 72 unpaired subcaudals; 10) a total length of at least 440 mm in males (with a tail length of 94 mm, and a tail / total length ratio of 0.214); 11) dorsum greyish brown; with a paler flank area, and pale blotches and stripes at the neck region.

Description of holotype. 440 mm total length (346 mm snout vent length, and 94 mm tail length); tail / total length ratio 0.214; body slender, cylindrical; head length 10.2 mm (from tip of snout to hind margin of parietal); head not distinct from neck, dorsally covered with large shields; eye small, with vertically subelliptic pupil; right maxilla with ca. 34 equal sized and curved teeth.

Rostral partly destroyed, triangular, not visible from above, separated from the internasals by a horizontal ridge of tissue; suture between the internasals (1.4 mm) longer than that between the prefrontals (0.9 mm); nostril in the anterior part of a large, concave nasal; frontal slightly broader than long, broadly truncate in front, much shorter than the parietals; loreal large, pentagonal, extending from the nasal to the eye; one small preocular, higher than wide; one small supraocular, wider than high; two small postoculars; two suboculars, the anteriormost being distinctly larger; four anterior and five posterior temporals each; eight supralabials, the first four very small, with strongly raised edges, the last one much elongated; fifth and sixth supralabials in contact with the larger subocular; one mental, followed by ten infralabials; mental and anterior three infralabials with their edges raised like the supralabials; first pair of infralabials in contact with each other; first five infralabials in contact with the single pair of enlarged chin shields; chin shields covering nearly the whole of the chin in front, in contact with the first ventral; no posterior chin-shields.

Dorsal scales elliptical, keeled from the neck region onwards; especially at the cloacal region, the middle keel is distinctly pointed posteriorly; 31 scale rows at midbody, those of the outer row enlarged; 36 scales round the anterior part of the body (one head length behind head), and 29 dorsal scale rows at posterior body (one head length before vent); 193 distinct, laterally rounded ventrals; 72 single subcaudals; anal entire; tail moderate.

The invertedly dissected right hemipenis proved to be deeply forked, with the region proximal to the bifurcation being smooth, and the area distal to the bifurcation being spinose.

The formaldehyde-fixed and subsequently ethanol-preserved holotype is dark greyish brown above, the lower flanks are pale brown; there are few pale blotches discernible in the dorsal and lateral neck region; these blotches comprise one to five scales; in addition, there exists each a thin, one to three scales wide longitudinal pale stripe in the lateral neck region; these stripes begin about 7 mm behind the eyes, obliquely descend for about 3 mm and then horizontally stretch for further 7–13 mm; the chin region of the preserved holotype is brownish grey; the ventral and subcaudal scales are yellowish grey, edged with dark grey (most obvious in the posterior body and below the tail).

Distribution. The discovery of the new species, which is known only from the type specimen from Phong Nha—Ke Bang National Park (see Fig. 9 ), took place at the type locality of the skink species Tropidophorus noggei and Lygosoma boehmei (see Ziegler et al. 2005, 2007b).

Natural history. The male holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. was discovered on the forest ground in steep primary karst forest, near A Bo Doi limestone cave. We did not find any water courses in the immediate vicinity, but the snake was found within the dry season. The snake was found killed by local people on the forest path nearby karst rock outcrops.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Head of the ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in lateral view. Photograph by Thomas Ziegler.

FIGURE 3. Head of the ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in dorsal view. Photograph by Thomas Ziegler.

FIGURE 4. Drawing of the head of the ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in dorsal (A) and lateral (B) view. Drawing by Aurélien Miralles.

FIGURE 5. Head of the ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in ventral view. Photograph by Thomas Ziegler.

FIGURE 6. Midbody region of the ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in lateral view. Photograph by Thomas Ziegler.

FIGURE 7. The ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in dorsal view. Photograph by Thomas Ziegler.

FIGURE 8. The ethanol-preserved holotype of Fimbrios smithi sp. n. (IEBR 3157) in ventral view. Photograph by Thomas Ziegler.

FIGURE 9. Map showing the known distribution of Fimbrios klossi in Cambodia and Vietnam (small dots) according to Smith (1921, 1943), and Campden-Main (1970), as well as the type locality (large dot) of F. smithi sp. n. within Phong Nha—Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. Because recent collections of F. k l o s s i by Orlov et al. (2003) were only given therein as provincial records, these findings are represented as stars in the centres of Thua Thien Hue, Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dac Lac provinces.