Panaspis mocamedensis, Ceríaco & Heinicke & Parker & Marques & Bauer, 2020

Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Heinicke, Matthew P., Parker, Kelly L., Marques, Mariana P. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2020, A review of the African snake-eyed skinks (Scincidae: Panaspis) from Angola, with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 4747 (1), pp. 77-112 : 102-105

Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 17–19 )

With the exception of P. cabindae , the presence of Panaspis species in Namibe province has never been noted. According to our molecular data, some Panaspis from Namibe province represent a distinct lineage of the Panaspis maculicollis species complex, sister to the recently described P. namibiana from neighboring Namibia ( Ceríaco et al. 2018a). Based on the molecular and morphological evidence produced in this study, we herein describe this population as a new species, putatively endemic to the province.

Holotype. FLMNH 187243 (field number AMB 10652), unsexed adult, from a river bed, 45 km SW of Virei (-16.11958°, 12.83458°, 523 m), Namibe Province, Republic of Angola, collected by Luis M. P. Ceríaco, Ishan Agarwal, Suzana Bandeira and Pedro Baptista on 3 December 2016 ( Fig. 17–18 ).

Paratypes. Four specimens, all from the Republic of Angola: CAS 263325 , 263326 , 263327 (field numbers AMB 10649, 10650 , 10651 respectively) all unsexed adults, with the same collecting data as the holotype ; CAS 264266 (field number AMB 11401) from Maungo farm (-14.538018º, 12.744793º, 365 m), Namibe Province, Republic of Angola, collected by L.M.P. Ceríaco, Mariana P. Marques, Joyce Janota and Alvaro (Varito) Baptista on 9 August 2018 ;

Diagnosis. Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the following combination of characteristics: 1) absence of supranasals; 2) ablepharine eye (as defined by Greer 1974); 3) frontoparietals fused; 4) dorsum coppery-brown, with a dorsolateral light stripe extending approximately to midbody, accompanied by a thinner stripe composed by black dots band starting on the temporals and extending to the base of the tail; 5) presence of rows of light spots on the neck; 6) absence of a white ventrolateral stripe; 7) 23 to 24 midbody scales rows.

Description of the holotype. Unsexed subadult in good condition, but with a regenerated tail. Arrangement and relative size of head, body and tail scales typical for Panaspis . Robust, cylindrical body with well-developed pentadactyl limbs. Fore- and hind-limbs do not overlap when adpressed against the body. SVL 32.6 mm, tail regenerated. Head length 6.2 mm, with relatively acuminate snout (HL 172% HW). Other relevant measurements are presented in Table 5 . Rostral wider than high, and visible from above. Nasals widely separated behind rostral by frontonasal. Frontonasal acuminate anteriorly, wider than long. Nostrils small, set posteriorly in the nasals bordering the postnasal. Prefrontals in contact with one another, almost pentagonal, contacting loreals, first supraocular, and frontal. Two loreals, the posterior margins of the largest loreal bordering the preocular, which is higher than wide. Frontal length shorter than distance between anterior tip of frontal and tip of snout; frontal in contact with prefrontals anteriorly, the first supraocular, and frontoparietals. Frontoparietals fused, in contact with the frontal, three supraoculars, parietals and interparietal. Frontoparietal plus interparietal length 2.2 times length of the frontal. Interparietal pentagonal with visible parietal foramen in anterior part; parietals about the same width of that of the frontoparietals and contacting each other at the anterior point of the interparietal. Parietals in contact. A pair of large, broad nuchals collectively bordered by a total of eight dorsals. Supraoculars three. Supraciliaries four (left side) and four (right side), third largest. Pretemporals two. Tympanum visible, approximately one seventh the height of the eye. Supralabials six, the fifth and sixth being the suboculars. Ablepharine eye. Infralabials five. Postmental bordering five scales (mental, two primary chin-shields, and one infralabial on each side). Ventral scales smooth. MSR 23, SAD 56, SAV 57. Limbs with five digits; scales on soles of hands and feet smooth. Relative length of digits of manus III>IV>II>VI relative length of digits of pes IV>III>II=V>I. Finger-IV scales 9 (right side), Toe-IV scales 15 (right side). Tail long, robust and tapering smoothly.

Both in life and preservative, background color of flanks and upper side of head, neck, dorsum, legs and tail is coppery brown, with a darker dot in the anterior part of each scale. Posteriorly the tail is lighter, with disjunct dark speckles. A beige stripe, less than one scale wide, limited by the dorsal background color above and by a thin stripe of darker brown below (especially evident under the anterior part of eye), extends from the temporals and runs along the insertion of the arms. Areas below the dark brown stripe become lighter, until they reach the ventral side, which is beige. Presence of rows of light spots on the neck. Supralabials light beige anteriorly and posteriorly, with strong coppery brown markings in the middle. This pattern extends to the infralabials. Venter uniformly light-beige, as are the palmar regions of hands and feet.

Variation. Variaton in scalation and body measurements of the paratypes of Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. is reported in Table 5 . The majority of the paratypes agree entirely with the holotype, except regarding the contact between the prefrontals, which are separated in paratypes CAS 263325 and 263326.

Comparison with other south and southwestern African Panaspis . As the molecular data provide evidence of the independence of the P. mocamedensis sp. nov. lineage from all other taxa, we here restrict our morphological comparisons to those named congeners occurring in Namibia and Angola. The extreme morphological conservatism of Panaspis limits diagnostic characters for most species (except P. cabindae and P. aff. breviceps ) to subtle features, chiefly related to coloration pattern. Comparing P. mocamedensis sp. nov. with P. cabindae and P. aff. breviceps , the newly described species can be easily distinguished by not having supranasals (present in P. cabindae ), by having an ablepharine eye (pre-ablepharine eye in P. cabindae and completely movable lower eyelids in P. aff. breviceps ), and by having the frontoparietals fused (divided in P. cabindae and in P. aff. breviceps ). In comparison with P. wahlbergi , P. mocamedensis sp. nov. can be distinguished by its coloration, namely by the lack of the broad black lateral stripe and bordering ventrolateral white stripe extending from the supralabials through the ear to the groin (males) or terminating behind the shoulder (females). Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. maculicollis on the basis of the lack of black patch extending from ear to just beyond the shoulder and by having a smaller count of midbody scale rows (23 to 24 in P. mocamedensis sp. nov. versus typically 26 in P. maculicollis ). P. mocamedensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from the newly described P. namibiana on the basis of the presence two or three vertical or diagonal rows of white spots on the neck and by having a smaller count of midbody scale rows (23 to 24 in P. mocamedensis sp. nov. versus usually more than 24 in P. namibiana ).

Distribution. The newly described species is currently only known from central Namibe Province ( Fig. 19 ). It is likely that the species occurs in other regions of the province where appropriate habitat is available, but further sampling is needed to confirm its presence.

Habitat and Natural History notes. The species is terrestrial and is typically found under leaf litter or other debris. It is only known from habitats represented by mosaics of steppes and savannah dominated by Mopane trees and sandy soils ( Fig. 20 ; Grandvaux-Barbosa 1973). Specimens from Virei were captured by day, but CAS 264266 was active under debris well after sunset.

Etymology. The specific epithet “ mocamedensis ” refers to the former name of Namibe Province (Moçâmedes), to which the species is apparently endemic. We propose the English vernacular name “Moçamedes Snake-Eyed Skink” and the Portuguese vernacular name of “Lagartixa da Manta-Morta de Moçâmedes”.

Figures

FIGURE 17—Preserved specimen (holotype) of Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. (FLMNH 10652). Photos by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.

FIGURE 18—Live photo of the holotype of Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. (FLMNH 10652). Photo by IshanAgarwal.

FIGURE 19—Distribution map of Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. in Angola. Star denotes type locality.

FIGURE 20—Mosaics of steppes and savannah dominated by Mopane trees and sandy soils savannah in Maungo, central Namibe Province, where one of the paratypes(CAS 264266) of Panaspis mocamedensis sp. nov. was found. Photo by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.