Stegonotus derooijae Ruane et al., 2017:13

Kaiser, Christine M., Kaiser, Hinrich & O’Shea, Mark, 2018, The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874), Zootaxa 4512 (1), pp. 1-73 : 56

Stegonotus derooijae Ruane et al., 2017:13

Taxonomic status. Valid.

Synonyms. None.

Original name. Stegonotus derooijae Ruane et al., 2017:13 . The species epithet honors Nelly de Rooij ( Fig. 17I ), who described S. florensis (see above). The species description was presented in English.

Type specimens. Holotype: MZB Ophi.3288 ( Fig. 32 A–E; Ruane et al. 2017: Fig. 6 ), an adult male ( Table 1) . Paratypes: MZB Ophi.3293 ( Fig. 32 F–H), listed as possibly female . SAMA R70467 ( Fig. 32 I–K), listed as possibly female .

Type localities. All type specimens were collected in Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia. Holotype: Waibya Camp, Salawati Island, elev. 75 m (ca. 0.9564°S, 130.78°E). Paratypes: MZB Ophi.3293, same data as the holotype; SAMA R70467, Warinkabom , Batanta Island, elev. 50 m (ca. 0.8369°S, 130.72°E) .

Collection. All type specimens were collected by Stephen Richards, Burhan Tjaturadi, and Keliopas Krey between 5 and 28 June 2005.

Key characteristics of the type specimens. (1) Holotype, MZB Ophi.3288: 455 mm SVL + 193 mm TL = 648 mm TTL. V ♂ = 181, SC ♂ = 94 , SCR ♂ = 0.34, D = 17-17-15, SL E = 3+4, SL = 7 , IL = 8, IL G = 5. (2) Paratype, MZB Ophi.3293: 450 mm SVL + 168+ mm TL = 618+ mm TTL. V? = 178, SC? = O, SCR? = O, D = O-17-O, SL E = O, SL = 7, IL = 9, IL G = O. (3) Paratype, SAMA R70467 : 290 mm SVL + 108 mm TL = 398 mm TTL. V? = 178, SC? = 90, SCR? = 0.34, D = O-17-O, SL E = O, SL = 7, IL = 8, IL G = O.

Key characteristics of the species. According to their specimen list, Ruane et al. (2017: Appendix) included four specimens (three types, one without type status) of S. derooijae in their analysis. Those the authors considered as possibly female we considered as unsexed for the purposes of our analysis and lumped them into a questionable category for the potentially sexually dimorphic values of V, SC, and SCR, as indicated by a subscripted question mark (?). Of the examined series, one unsexed specimen was collected on Batanta, one male and one unsexed specimen on Salawati, and one unsexed specimen on Waigeo. Characteristics include V? = 178–197 (184 ± 11.0), V ♂ = 181; SC? = 90–91, SC ♂ = 94; SCR? = 0.33, SCR ♂ = 0.34; D = O-17-O (100%); SL E most likely 3+4; SL = 7 (n = 3, 75%) or 9 (n = 1, 25%); IL = 8 (n = 2, 50%) or 9 (n = 2, 50%); IL G most likely 5. The range in ventral scales gives us pause, as it is large and with a very high standard deviation. In other species of Stegonotus , standard deviations for ventral scales range from 4–8 scales, and 11 appears to be very high, even if two sexes are lumped together in this data set.

Comment. Ruane et al. (2017) considered S. derooijae to be a member of their S. diehli complex.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Syntypes of Stegonotus lividus (S. Müller in Duméril et al., 1854) n. comb., from Semau Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. Photos include views of the entire body of RMNH.RENA 325A (lectotype), an adult female (TTL = 607 mm), in (A) dorsal and (B) ventral views, and of the specimen’s head in (C) dorsal, (D) right lateral, and (E) ventral views. The head of the paralectotype (RMNH.RENA 325B) is shown in (F) dorsal, (G) right lateral, and (H) ventral views.

FIGURE 17. Selected 19 th and 20 th Century authors and collectors of Stegonotus species. (A) Giacomo Doria (1840–1913), author of the species names aruensis and keyensis. (B) Odoardo Beccari (1843–1920), collector of the Stegonotus aruensis and S. keyensis type specimens. (C) William Macleay (1820–1891), author of the genus name Herbertophis and the species names darnleyensis and plumbeus. (D) John Archibald Boyd (1846–1926), collector of the Herbertophis plumbeus holotype. (E) George Albert Boulenger (1858–1937), author of the species names guentheri, heterurus, and reticulatus. Image licensed for use, © National Portrait Galley, London, United Kingdom. (F) The Reverend George Brown (1835–1917), collector of the Stegonotus heterurus syntypes from Duke of York Island. (G) Albert Stewart Meek (1871–1943), collector of the Stegonotus guentheri and S. reticulatus syntypes. (H) Wilhelm Adolfovich Lindholm (1874–1935), author of the species name diehli. (I) Nelly de Rooij (1883–1964), author of the species name florensis. (J) Franz Werner (1867–1939), author of the species names dorsalis and poechi. (K) Rudolf Pöch (1870–1921), collector of the Stegonotus dorsalis and S. poechi holotypes, and in whose honor the latter was named. (L) Lothar Forcart (1902–1990), author of the species name sutteri.

FIGURE 32. Type specimens of Stegonotus derooijae Ruane et al., 2017. Photos include views of the entire body of the holotype MZB Ophi.3288, an adult male (TTL = 648 mm) in (A) dorsal and (B) ventral views, and of the specimen’s head in (C) dorsal, (D) right lateral, and (E) ventral views. The heads of the paratypes MZB Ophi.3293 and SAMA R70467are shown in dorsal (F,I), right lateral (G,J), and ventral (H,K) views, respectively.