Ninia schmidti (Jan, 1862) Arteaga & Harris, 2023

Arteaga, Alejandro & Harris, Kyle J., 2023, A new species of Ninia (Serpentes, Colubridae) from western Ecuador and revalidation of N. schmidti, Evolutionary Systematics 7 (2), pp. 317-334 : 317

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.7.112476
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2D3CA9C5-24E2-4EF4-84BF-174362F70EBC
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/A266B6BC-EBE9-5688-8A79-71C0D4AC0254
treatment provided by	Evolutionary Systematics by Pensoft
scientific name	Ninia schmidti (Jan, 1862)
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

Ninia schmidti (Jan, 1862) comb. nov.

Figs 4b View Figure 4 , 5e-h View Figure 5 , 7a View Figure 7 , 8a View Figure 8 , 9 View Figure 9 , 10 View Figure 10 , 11 View Figure 11 , 12 View Figure 12

Streptophorus sebae schmidti Jan, 1862: 27. Holotype ZMH (destroyed), from Guayaquil.

Ninia spilogaster Peters, 1881: 49. Holotype ZMB (not located), from Ecuador.

Neotype.

ZMH R10390 (Fig. 9 View Figure 9 ), adult female collected by Bi. Jansen between 1901 and 1902 at Guayaquil, Guayas province, Ecuador.

Proposed standard English name.

Schmidt’s Coffee-Snake.

Proposed standard Spanish name.

Culebra cafetera de Schmidt.

Diagnosis.

Ninia schmidti comb. nov. is placed in the genus Ninia , as diagnosed by Dunn (1935), based on phylogenetic evidence (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). The species is diagnosed based on the following combination of characters: (1) 19/19/19 keeled dorsals; (2) two postoculars; (3) loreal 1.4-2.3 × longer than high; (4) temporals 1+2; (5) seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; (6) seven or eight infralabials, first four or five contacting chin shields; (7) usually two rows of chin shields; (8) one or two preventrals; (9) 138-144 ventrals in males, 139-155 in females; (10) 50-57 subcaudals in males, 46-53 in females; (11) dorsal ground color uniformly black without a white nuchal collar (Fig. 10 View Figure 10 ); (12) ventral surfaces of adults obscured with dark pigment particularly along the posterior edge of each ventral scale (Figs 9b View Figure 9 , 11a View Figure 11 ), immaculate white in some juveniles (Fig. 11b View Figure 11 ); (13) 167-283 mm SVL in males, 230-409 mm in females; (14) 42-61 mm CL in males, 53-84 mm in females.

Comparisons.

Ninia schmidti comb. nov. is compared to other species of the genus previously subsumed under N. atrata sensu lato (differences summarized in Table 1 View Table 1 ). The new species differs from most of them (particularly from N. guytudori sp. nov.) by having ventral surfaces obscured by dark brown pigment particularly along the posterior edge of each ventral scale (Figs 9b View Figure 9 , 11a View Figure 11 ), throat and chin shields obscured by dark brown pigment (Fig. 5f, h View Figure 5 ), supralabials partly or entirely black or dark gray (dingy white in ZMH R10390), and white nuchal collar in adults absent (Figs 4a View Figure 4 , 5e, g View Figure 5 ) or faint and obscured by dark pigment (ZMH R10390). This species resembles N. teresitae , from which it differs by having a lower number of subcaudals and by lacking a pocket-like structure at the base of the hemipenial body (Table 1 View Table 1 ). The cis-Andean N. hudsoni has an immaculate white belly and dorsal scales arranged in 21 or 23 rows at mid-body (Suppl. material 1; Camper et al. 2021). Ninia schmidti comb. nov. differs from trans-Andean populations of N. atrata by lacking a nuchal collar in adults, ventral surface of tail obscured by dark gray pigment (instead of uniformly cream; Angarita-Sierra and Lynch 2017), nasal divided, and by having the sulcate surface of the hemipenial body ornamented with a large basal hooked spine (Fig. 12 View Figure 12 ).

Hemipenial morphology.

(n = 2; Fig. 12 View Figure 12 ) Everted and inflated, the organ is cylindrical, weakly bilobed, semicalyculate and capitate. Sulcus spermaticus centrifugal, bifurcate and with walls strongly defined, bifurcation occurs proximal to the midpoint of the hemipenial body; sulcus spermaticus branch runs to lobe tips; capitation crotch located just above the bifurcation point of sulcus spermaticus (sulcate side). Region between capitation groove and lobe tips as well as entire intrasulcar region of the globular lobes homogenously ornamented with small calyces and densely packed spines. In sulcate view, base of hemipenial body surface with minute mesial spinules, but otherwise lacking medium-sized hooks. In lateral and asulcate views, base of hemipenial body covered with 2-5 rows of medium-sized hooked-shaped spines arranged in an inverted “V” pattern and one large basal hook larger than any other spine on the hemipenial body; hooks replaced below by minute spicules towards the base of the organ.

Description of neotype.

Adult female, 283 mm TL; 53 mm CL; 230 mm SVL; CL/SVL ratio 0.23; head distinct from body; HL 12.5 mm; HW 7.4 mm; rostral wider than high; internasals wider than long (1.4 × 0.9 mm); internasal suture 0.9 mm; prefrontals longer than internasals, as wide as long (2.3 × 2.3 mm; suture 2.1 mm); frontal shield-shaped and wider than long (2.8 × 2.6 mm); parietals longer than wide (4.0 × 2.5 mm); interparietal suture 2.4 mm; supraoculars 1/1, each longer than wide (1.3 × 0.9 mm), entering orbit and contacting postocular; nasal scales 2/2 where anterior nasal scale contacts internasal, rostral, first supralabial, and posterior nasal in contact with loreal, prefrontal, internasal, first and second supralabials; loreal single, longer than high (1.7 × 1.2 mm), entering orbit and in contact with 2nd and 3rd supralabials; postoculars 2/2; temporal formulae 1+1, anterior temporal scale 2 × longer than posterior temporal; anterior temporal in contact with 4th to 7th supralabials; supralabials 7, 3rd-4th entering orbit, 5th in contact with postocular; infralabials 8, 1st-5th in contact with one pair of chin shields; dorsal scales in 19 rows, keeled, strongly striated, lacking apical pits; ventrals 144; divided subcaudals 46; cloacal plate undivided.

Natural history.

Specimens of Ninia schmidti comb. nov. have been found active at night on leaf-litter in old-growth to heavily disturbed evergreen lowland forest and seasonally dry forests. Regdy Vera (pers. comm. to AA) reports that in Manabí province, this species is common under leaf-litter in humid soil and under fallen trunks, particularly in cacao plantations. In captivity, SC 095 consumed earthworms and leeches, but rejected slugs and land flatworms of the family Geoplanidae . This specimen laid a clutch of two eggs. Field observations by Vera suggest that this species does not tolerate dry, open areas.

Distribution.

Ninia schmidti comb. nov. is endemic to an estimated area of 42,281 km2 along the Chocoan-Tumbesian transition area in western Ecuador. The species is known from 8 localities (listed in Suppl. material 3) and has been recorded at elevations 46-1843 m above sea level (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ).

Etymology.

The specific epithet Ninia schmidti is a patronym honoring Philipp Moses Paul Frederich Schmidt (1800-1869/1873), a physician in Hamburg best known for his work on sea snakes ( Beolens et al. 2011).

Conservation status.

We consider Ninia schmidti comb. nov. to be included in the Near Threatened conservation category following the IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2012) because the species’ extent of occurrence is estimated to be greater than the 20,000 km2 threshold needed to qualify for the Vulnerable category. Unfortunately, out of the eight localities where N. schmidti comb. nov. is known to occur, two represent historical populations and five are of singleton individuals. The species occurs as fragmented populations and occurs over an area where most (~80%) of the forest cover has been transformed into plantations and human settlements ( MAE 2012). Therefore, N. schmidti comb. nov. may qualify for a threatened category soon if its habitat continues to be destroyed. Fortunately, the species occurs in one protected area: Buenaventura Reserve.