Calamophis Meyer, 1874

Murphy, John C., Mumpuni, Lang, Ruud de, Gower, David J. & Sanders, Kate L., 2012, The Moluccan Short-Tailed Snakes Of The Genus Brachyorrhos Kuhl (Squamata: Serpentes: Homalopsidae), And The Status Of Calamophis Meyer, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60 (2), pp. 501-514 : 511

Calamophis Meyer, 1874

Calamophis jobiensis Meyer, 1874: 135

Brachyorrhos jobiensis Peters & Doria, 1878: 371

Brachyorrhos albus Boulenger, 1893: 305

Material examined. — Indonesia – West Papua: Andai, MSNG 56343-1-2; Ambuaki, MNHN 5175; Kebar Valley, BPBM 3850; Mount Arfak, West Papua, MSNG 30193-1-2.

Type species. — Calamophis jobiensis Meyer by monotypy

Diagnosis. — Rostral broader than tall, nasal scale undivided and quadrangular; nares tiny, crescent-shaped and valvular; internasal single; postocular single; dorsal scales in 19 rows that are reduced to 17 anterior to the vent; dorsal scales are lanceolate, and imbricate; base of tail constricted; tail is thick and tapers slowly to an almost blunt tip; males of at least some species have tubercles on scales in first four rows just anterior and posterior to vent. This genus is polytypic and the lost holotype presents some nomenclatural challenges. This will be discussed in a later paper.

Distribution. — West Papua: Ambuaki, Andai, Kebar Valley, Mount Arfak, and Yapen Island. Iskandar and Colijn (2001) also list Biak Island, but we have not located specimens from this locality. The Papua New Guinea locality for B. jobiensis in Iskandar and Colijn (2001) is incorrect, since it is based on Mainophis robusta , which is a synonym of the elapid Furina tristis (Shea & Sadlier, 1999) .

Content. — One described species and several undescribed species ( Murphy, 2012)

Etymology. — Probably derived from the Latin calamus meaning reed, and the Greek ophis meaning snake.

Identification Key for the Species of