Neusticurus tatei ( Burt and Burt 1931 )

Barrio-Amorós, César L. & Brewer-Carías, Charles, 2010, Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 1942, pp. 1-68 : 47-48

Neusticurus tatei ( Burt and Burt 1931)

Tate’s water teiid; Lagartijo acuático de Tate; Maskani

Camps IV, V, Locality VI. 23 March 2002. EBRG 4250–53 .

Originally described as a species of Arthrosaura, Uzzell (1966) erroneously considered N. racenisi to be conspecific with N. tatei . Van Devender (1967) recognized N. racenisi and N. tatei as separate species. Avila- Pires (1995) and Donnelly and Myers (1991) provided good redescriptions of N. racenisi . We here provide a modern diagnosis for N. tatei based on the three specimens we collected.

Diagnosis. Neusticurus with elongate snout, regular scales in frontonasal-prefrontal region, tympanum deeply recessed in the external auditory meatus, lower eyelid with semitransparent disc of 4 or 5 palpebrals. Dorsum with enlarged, keeled scales on midline and paravertebral zone without enlarged tubercles; flanks with keeled scales of equal size. Scales across sides and dorsum in three different rings (one posterior to the forelimbs, another at midbody, the last before hind limbs) 29-35-28 on male (EBRG 4250), 34-34-39, 33-30- 31, and 31-27-30 (respectively on three females EBRG 4251–53). Ventrals in 28, 27-27-29 transverse rows with 6–9 scales each (all specimens combined). Tail distinctly compressed without rows of tubercles, with enlarged, keeled scales forming double dorsal crest on distal part of tail. Male with 30 and 31 (total 61) femoral pores; 22 subdigital lamellae on Finger 4, 33 on Toe 4. Three females with 20–23 (mean = 21.7) subdigital lamellae on Finger 4, 32–34 (mean = 33) on Toe 4. Size of male (EBRG 4250) 94 mm SVL, 134 mm TL (tail half regenerated), 39.0 mm RHL, 51.0 mm RFL, 28.0 mm HL, 15.5 mm HW, 10.0 mm L4F, 16.8 mm L4T. Size of females 85.0-80.0-73.0 mm SVL, 125 (tail half regenerated)-160- (tail 1/6 regenerated)-145 (tail 1/5 regenerated) mm TL, 31.0-30.0-24.0 mm RHL, 45.0-44.0-44.0 mm RFL, 23.5-21.5-20.6 mm HL, 12.3-11.2- 11.0 mm HW, 8.0-7.0-7.8 mm L4F, 13.5-13.5-13.5 mm L4T.

Other Neusticurus reported from the Venezuelan Guayana are N. bicarinatus , N. medemi , N. racenisi , and N. rudis . Neusticurus tatei can be easily differentiated from N. racenisi (sympatric in Sarisariñama) by the following characters (those of N. tatei in parentheses): short snout (elongated), irregular scales in frontonasalprefrontal region (regular), smaller scales on flanks and dorsum in a transversal count, up to 63 (larger, up to 39). Neusticurus bicarinatus has six longitudinal rows of tubercles on the dorsum (none). Neusticurus medemi is similar to N. racenisi by having irregular scales on frontonasal-prefrontal region (regular) ( Dixon and Lamar 1981). Neusticurus rudis has a moderately short snout (elongate), 4–6 regular or irregular rows of tubercles on the dorsum (none), flanks with prominent trihedral tubercles surrounded by distinctly smaller scales (absent).

Coloration. In life, male reddish brown dorsally; sides of head reddish orange; gular region yellow ( Fig. 18 , bottom); belly grayish white; lower surfaces of tail were dark gray; femoral pores yellow; soles and palms gray. Female pattern distinctive (EBRG 4252) ( Fig. 18 , top); head dark brown anteriorly, with dirty yellow marbling on sides; tympanic to gular regions yellow; dorsum dark reddish brown with dorsolateral orange spots; transverse broken rings of scales on flanks yellow, between normal dorsal colored flanks; belly dirty white or each scale dirty white with gray center.

In preservative, male uniformly dark brown dorsally; chin and throat white with gray mottling on infralabials; venter white, pale gray on chest and dark bluish gray on underside of tail; femoral pores dirty white. Of females, EBRG 4253, the darkest, with dark brown dorsum with diffuse pale brown spots dorsolaterally; ventral aspect of head pale gray; scales on chest and preanal plate white with dark gray center scales on belly and anterior part of the tail, darker gray distally. EBRG 4252 similar, but with more contrasting pattern, especially with pale yellow dorsolateral spots (each covering four scales), and broken transversal bands of scales on flanks white; gular region, chest, and belly dirty white; preanal plate and ventral surfaces of tail like EBRG 4253; sides of tail with a checkered pattern consisting of dark and pale brown squares, those on upper side of spots and pale orange to white spots dorsolaterally; venter as in EBRG 4252.

Natural history. This species, which previously was known from few specimens from Cerro Duida , Amazonas, Venezuela, was common at Sarisariñama , both at Canaracuni creek , and at the base and slopes of the mountain (400–1100 m). It was sympatric with Neusticurus racenisi at Canaracuni creek . It is a highly aquatic species, active only by day, escaping by swimming or diving as soon as they are approached. At Camp IV, three adults were resting in a crevice at night in the spray zone of a cascade. All specimens have regenerated tails, suggesting a possible high predation rate or interspecific fights .

Material examined. Neusticurus bicarinatus .— VENEZUELA: Estado Bolivar, Sierra de Lema , MBUCV 8011 .

Neusticurus tatei .— VENEZUELA: Estado Bolivar, Sarisariñama , EBRG : 4250–53.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Male (EBRG 4250; bottom) and female (EBRG 4252; top) of Neusticurus tatei.