Enyalioides azulae, Venegas, Pablo J., Torres-Carvajal, Omar, Duran, Vilma & Queiroz, Kevin de, 2013

Venegas, Pablo J., Torres-Carvajal, Omar, Duran, Vilma & Queiroz, Kevin de, 2013, Two sympatric new species of woodlizards (Hoplocercinae, Enyalioides) from Cordillera Azul National Park in northeastern Peru, ZooKeys 277, pp. 69-90 : 71-77

Enyalioides azulae sp. n. Figs 1-4

Holotype.

CORBIDI 06772 (Fig. 1), an adult male from Chambirillo close to Checkpoint 16 of the CAZNP (07°04'8.9"S, 76°00'51.2"W, 1122 m), Provincia de Picota, Región San Martín, Perú, collected on 1 May 2010 by P. J. Venegas.

Paratypes.

CORBIDI 8825, 8826, adult females collected on 30 October 2010 by P. J. Venegas; CORBIDI 08786, 08790, 08791, adult male, juvenile female, and juvenile male, respectively, collected on 21 January 2011 by P. J. Venegas and V. Duran; CORBIDI 09213, 09214, juvenile male and female, respectively, collected on 8 May 2011 by P. J. Venegas and V. Duran. All paratypes are from the type locality.

Diagnosis.

Enyalioides azulae can be distinguished from other species of Enyalioides , except Enyalioides microlepis and Enyalioides cofanorum , by the combination of the following characters: (1) strongly keeled ventral scales; (2) more than 37 longitudinal rows of dorsals in a transverse line between the dorsolateral crests at midbody; and (3) absence of superciliary flaps projecting over each orbit (present only in Enyalioides palpebralis ). Enyalioides azulae differs from Enyalioides cofanorum and Enyalioides microlepis in having more gulars (45-57, mean = 51.13 ± 4.05, versus 34-41, mean = 36.13 ± 2.00 in Enyalioides cofanorum and 34-49, mean = 37.88 ± 3.44 in Enyalioides microlepis ), a smaller body size (maximum SVL = 96 mm in both males and females, versus 107 mm in males and 109 mm in females of Enyalioides cofanorum , and 127 mm in males and 116 mm in females of Enyalioides microlepis ), a lower vertebral crest on the neck, a narrower snout in dorsal view, and in lacking blue on the gular region in males. Additionally, Enyalioides azulae has a marked sexual dichromatism, with males having greenish and females brownish background coloration (Fig. 2), whereas the other two species have brownish background coloration in both sexes. Enyalioides azulae further differs from Enyalioides cofanorum in lacking scattered enlarged scales on the dorsum, well-developed dorsolateral crests between the hind limbs, and a dark gular patch in females.

Description of holotype.

Male (Fig. 1); SVL = 96 mm; TL = 140 mm; maximum head width = 21.28 mm; head length = 26.35 mm; head height = 17.95 mm; dorsal head scales uni- or multicarinate, those on parietal region projected dorsally; parietal eye present; scales immediately posterior to superciliares conical and as dorsally projected as adjacent parietals and temporals; temporal scales small, granular and multicarinate; one enlarged pretympanic scale; 14 superciliares; six canthals; five postrostrals; 11 (left or right) supralabials counted to a point below middle of eye; rostral (2.57 × 1.16 mm) about twice as wide as adjacent supralabials; two longitudinal rows of lorilabials between suboculars and supralabials at level of middle of eye, 3-4 longitudinal rows of lorilabials anterior to this point; loreal region broken into small, multicarinate, and juxtaposed scales; nasal at level of supralabials III–IV; 10 (left or right) infralabials counted to a point right below middle of eye; mental (2.51 × 1.53 mm) wider and longer than adjacent infralabials; two postmentals; gulars ventrally projected; gular fold complete midventrally, extending dorsally and posteriorly to form antehumeral fold; neck with several oblique folds and a dorsolateral row of enlarged scales.

Vertebral crest not strongly projected, with vertebrals on neck similar in size to those between hind limbs; crest bifurcates posteriorly and extends onto tail less than ¼ its length; body flanks between fore and hind limbs without folds; irregular dorsolateral row of 1-2 keeled, enlarged scales (i.e., approximately twice as large as adjacent scales); dorsal scales between dorsolateral scale rows and vertebral crest small, keeled and subimbricate towards vertebral crest, granular towards dorsolateral scale rows; scales on flanks similar in size to lateralmost dorsal scales; ventral scales subimbricate, keeled, subrectangular, with a posterolateral mucron; ventrals more than twice the length of dorsals.

Limb scales keeled and imbricate dorsally and ventrally; scales on dorsal and posterior aspects of thighs keeled and imbricate, with most scales less than half the size of those on anterior and ventral aspects; 19 subdigitals on manual digit IV; 26 subdigitals on pedal digit IV; one femoral pore on each side; tail laterally compressed and gradually decreasing in relative height towards tip; caudal scales strongly keeled and imbricate, moderately increasing in size posteriorly on lateral and dorsal aspects of each autotomic segment; ventral caudals larger than dorsal caudals, with individual vertebral segments three scales long ventrally and six scales long dorsally.

Color in life of holotype (Fig. 1). Dorsal surface of head dark brown with light green flecks; lateral surface of head green with lorilabial and pretympanic regions turquoise and a black narrow supratemporal stripe; a black oblique stripe extending from eye to commisure of the mouth; an orange cream oblique stripe on suboculars, posterior labials and adjacent gulars; labials cream; rostral and mental light green; wide, cream longitudinal stripe extending from above tympanum to scapular region; gular region dirty cream with dark spots and flecks; dark brown patch on medial aspect of gular fold; dorsal background green with diffuse, transverse dark brown bars on body, limbs, and tail; flanks covered with dark brown reticulations; ventral surface of body, limbs and tail tan with diffuse darker brown spots on thighs; iris reddish copper with a fine golden ring around the pupil.

Intraspecific variation.

Meristic and morphometric characters of Enyalioides azulae are summarized in Table 1. Male paratypes (CORBIDI 08786, 09213) are very similar in coloration to the holotype (Fig. 3 A–D). The dark patch on the gular region of adult males is also present in juvenile male specimens.

Adult (CORBIDI 08825-08826) and juvenile (CORBIDI 08791, 09214) females share similar color patterns (Figs. 3 E–F, 4): head brown with a narrow dark brown supratemporal stripe; broad subocular dark stripe extending from eye to commisure of mouth, with a parallel, conspicuous white or cream stripe immediately anterior to it; pale, wide longitudinal stripe extending from tympanum to scapular region; gular region pale brown without dark markings, or white with faint reddish brown reticulation as in specimen CORBIDI 08826; dorsal background light brown, with a greenish tone in CORBIDI 08826 (Fig. 3 E–F) and coppery tone in CORBIDI 09214 (Fig. 4E); transverse dark brown bars on dorsal aspect of body, limbs, and tail; ventral surface of body, limbs and tail light brown (CORBIDI 08825; Fig. 4B) or white (CORBIDI 08826; Fig. 4F); iris reddish brown.

Although this species seems to have a marked sexual dichromatism in background colors (green in males, brown in females, see Fig. 2), one male specimen (the holotype) exhibited metachromatism consisting of dark brown tones being replaced by green tones.

Distribution and natural history.

Enyalioides azulae is known only from its type locality in the montane rainforest of the Río Huallaga basin (Fig. 5) in northeastern Peru at an elevation of 1100 m. This locality lies within the CAZNP, on a mountain ridge between the Región San Martín and Región Loreto (Fig. 6). Seven of the eight individuals of Enyalioides azulae reported in this paper were collected at night sleeping on low vertical stems of bushes 15-80 cm above the ground. One adult male (the holotype) was collected during the day on a narrow trail after a rain; when approached, it fled and hid under a fallen log. This species is found in sympatry and possibly syntopy with Enyalioides binzayedi sp. n. (see below) and Enyalioides laticeps . The smallest individuals (CORBIDI 08790-08791, SVL = 61 and 62 mm, respectively) were collected in January. Other species of squamate reptiles collected at the same locality include Alopoglossus angulatus , Anolis fuscoauratus , Anolis transversalis , Cercosaura manicata , Potamites ecpleopus , Potamites strangulatus , Potamites sp., Chironius fuscus , Dipsas indica , Imantodes cenchoa , Imantodes lentiferus , Micrurus obscurus , Oxyrhopus petola , and Xenopholis scalaris .

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a noun derived from the Spanish word "azul" (blue) in the genitive case; it refers to the Cordillera Azul, the mountain range after which the National Park where this species was discovered is named. Although the word "azul" in "Cordillera Azul" is an adjective, and the Spanish noun "azul" is masculine, we are here treating "azulae" as a feminine noun that is an abbreviation for "Cordillera Azul" and is therefore to be interpreted as meaning "of the [Cordillera] Azul."