Dendrophis calligaster distinguendus Meise & Hennig,, 1932

Rooijen, Johan Van & Vogel, Gernot, 2016, On the status of three nominal species in the synonymy of Dendrelaphis calligaster (Günther, 1867) (Serpentes: Colubridae), Zootaxa 4093 (2), pp. 293-300 : 297

Description of the neotype (ZMB 24024, Fig. 3 ) of Dendrophis calligaster distinguendus Meise & Hennig, 1932

Adult female from New Ireland; body very slender, large eye with round pupil; snout vent length 75.0 cm; tail length 36.5 cm; 194 ventral scales; 141 paired subcaudal scales; anal shield divided; dorsal scales in 13-13-11 rows; vertebral scales strongly enlarged, hexagonal in shape, with convex posterior margin; supralabials 9 (+ 1 very small scale); supralabials 5,6 border the eye; 10 infralabials (L, R damaged); infralabials touching first chinshield 1–5; infralabials touching second chinshield 6,7; 2 postoculars; temporal scales 2:1:2:2 (L) /2:2:2 (R + 1 very small scale); 3 scales border the posterior margins of the parietal scales; eye diameter 4.8 mm; eye nostril distance 4.8 mm (L), 4.9 mm (R); snout width 5.6 mm; width of the vertebral scale at midbody 3.3 mm; length of the frontal scale 5.9 mm; head dorsally bronze with dark marks; loreal with black circumference and light centre, length-width ratio loreal 3:1; posterior halves of the scales behind the head black; supralabials and throat pale-yellow; an illdefined black temporal stripe consisting of black upper edges of supralabials and lower edges of postnasal, loreal, preocular and postoculars, black lateral edges of parietals and black parts of the temporal scales and scales behind the head; body bronze dorsally, dorsal scales of anterior part of the body with dark marks on the posterior halves; venter immaculate, yellowish.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Neotype of Dendrophis calligaster distinguendus (ZMB 24024)