Bothrocophias cf. microphthalmus (Cope, 1875)

Llanqui, Irbin B., Y. Salas, Cinthya & Oblitas, Melissa P., 2019, A preliminary checklist of amphibians and reptiles from the vicinity of La Nube Biological Station, Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, Peru, Check List 15 (5), pp. 773-796 : 788-790

Bothrocophias cf. microphthalmus

Figure 7C, D

Material examined. MUSA 4099; Transect TN23, 25. IX.2013.

Identification. A small pitviper, SVL 397–724 mm. It can be identified by loreal scales elongate; 23 scale rows around mid-body; dorsal scales keeled and tuberculate on posterior part of body; 144–165 ventrals; anal plate single. Snout distinctly elevated. Dorsum brown to pale olive with a pattern of alternating triangular blotches, with dark brown borders, the apices meeting or approaching the midvertebral line. Venter pale gray, darkly mottled laterally, which intensifies in maturity. Similar species in adjacent localities are: Bothrops atrox , which has 180–200 ventral scales, and dorsal scales not tuberculate. Bothrocophias andianus , although not recorded nearby ( Doan and Arizábal 2002, Duellman 2005), may occur near LNBS, and can be distinguished from B. microphthalmus by having 166–179 ventral scales ( Peters and Orejas-Miranda 1970, Pérez-Santos and Moreno 1988, Harvey et al. 2005).

Distribution. Bothrocophias microphthalmus is distributed in the Andes Amazon foothills in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Brazil from 900 to 2350 m a.s.l. (Gutberlet Jr. and Campbell 2001, Harvey et al. 2005, Cisneros-Heredia et al. 2006, Wallach et al. 2014, Uetz and Hošek 2019). B. cf. microphthalmus has been only observed in the vicinity of LNBS.

Remarks. The collected specimen is a pre-adult individual. Ventral coloration is unusually pale gray, but the pholidosis corresponds to Bothrocophias microphthalmus . We prefer to be cautious and leave the identification as B. cf. microphthalmus until more specimens become available.