Coluber dictyodes Wied, 1824

Vanzolini, Paulo E. & Myers, Charles W., 2015, The Herpetological Collection Of Maximilian, Prince Of Wied (1782 - 1867), With Special Reference To Brazilian Materials, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2015 (395), pp. 1-155 : 55

Coluber dictyodes Wied, 1824

1824 Isis : 668 (diagnosis).

1825 Beitra¨ge: 343.

PRESENT STATUS: Liophis miliaris merremii (Wied, 1824) . See Coluber merremii Wied above.

REMARKS: This species was named and diagnosed in the Isis and subsequently discussed in some detail in the Beitra¨ge, based on one fresh specimen that was described in the field but which could not be preserved. Hence, there has never been a preserved holotype, and no indication that any other specimens were captured and preserved. Wied stated that the teeth were moderately large (Za¨hne mittelma¨ssig gross), a subjective assertion said by Gans (1964: 36–37) to be a misstatement and probably ‘‘an error in field examination.’’ Gans wrote that the length given by Wied was 617 + 131 mm, apparently equating Wied’s measurements with the modern English foot (in which case Gans converted the tail length correctly but not the body length, which should have been 749 mm). Our conversion 5 721 + 126 mm.

Wied did not explicitly say where the described specimen came from, only that the species lived in the region of Cabo Frio, Marica, and Sagoarema [Saquarema], and probably also Rio de Janeiro and the river Parahyba. Cabo Rio , the first locality, is usually given as ‘‘ type locality.’’

The name Coluber dictyodes does not appear in Wied’s 1860 manuscript classification/catalog, but included among seven names under ‘‘genus 147. Liophis Wagl. ’’ are:

3. Merremii Wied. Brasilien; and

4. reticulata Wied (? L. Merremii var.) Brasilien.

We cannot associate the name reticulata with anything described by Wied , and wonder if it might have been a manuscript name that never saw print, or possibly a lapsus for the present name dictyodes .