Atractus stygius PASSOS, AZEVEDO, NOGUEIRA, FERNANDES & SAWAYA, 2019
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Atractus stygius?
Atractus stygius
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Atractus stygius PASSOS, AZEVEDO, NOGUEIRA, FERNANDES & SAWAYA 2019 Atractus albuquerquei — ZAHER et al. 2005:32 (in part) |
| Distribution | Brazil (Mato Grosso: Parecis Plateau and adjacent areas) Type locality: Bocaiúva (12°29’50’’S, 57°52’30’’W; ca. 312 m), Craveri River, municipality of Brasnorte, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: MNRJ 26734 (formerly UFMT 8139), adult male, collected in 2009 by Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso team during the faunal rescue operation for the construction of a small hydroelectric plant; Paratypes: Nine specimens, all from the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil: UFMT 8137 (adult female), UFMT 8138 (adult male), UFMT 8140 (juvenile female), UFMT 8141 (juvenile male), UFMT 8142 (juvenile male) same data as the holotype; an adult female, UFMT 3949, collected by M. Carvalho on May 2004, specimen found in the stomach of a Pseudoboa coronata (UFMT 3726), from Continental Farm (11°30’06’’S, 55°12’18’’W; ca. 350 m), municipality of Claudia; an adult female, MNRJ 26735 (formerly UFMT 9024),collectedbyR.A ́vilaandR.Kawashita-Ribeiroon18 January 2011 at Vale de São Domingos (coordinates in paper; ca. 500 m), municipality of Jauru ́; a juvenile female, UFMT 9116, collected on 3 March 2011 by R. Kawashita-Ribeiro at Jurena River, Sa ̃o Nicolau Farm (098510S, 588140W; ca. 220 m); an adult female, MZUSP 20667, collected on 17 October 2012 by JGP Consultoria Ambiental team in the faunal rescue operation for the construction of a small hydroelectric plant at Segredo (coordinates in paper; ca. 500 m), Juruena River, municipality of Sapezal. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Atractus stygius can be distinguished from allcongenersbythefollowingcombinationofcharacters:(1) smooth dorsal scale rows 15/15/15; (2) postoculars two; (3) loreal moderately long; (4) temporal formula usually 1þ2; (5) supralabials seven, third, and fourth contacting eye; (6) infralabials seven, first four contacting chinshields; (7) maxillary teeth seven; (8) gular scale rows usually four; (9) preventrals usually four; (10) ventrals 178–192 in females, 170–176inmales;(11)subcaudals20–23infemales,25–28 in males; (12) in preservative, dorsum dark brown to black except for a conspicuous pale brown to beige parietal band; (13) in preservative, ventral surface of body cream, heavily pigmented with black marks, to mostly black; (14) maximum body size moderate in females (470 mm SVL) and males (390 mm SVL); (15) tail size small in females (8.0–9.7% SVL) and in males (8.1–10.4% SVL); (16) hemipenis moderately bilobed, semicapitate, and semicalyculate. |
| Comment | Similar species: Atractus albuquerquei; Possible misidentification: MZUSP 11157, 11242, fide Passos et al. 2019. |
| Etymology | The specific epithet stygius is a Latin adjective meaning of hell or the underworld. The word is also used in reference to something pernicious or tragic. We employed this name because of the secretive habits of the new species as well as an urgent alert for the absurd levels of deforestation that the Cerrado savannas have suffered in recent years, as a result of the indiscriminate expansion of soybean monoculture (Boerema et al. 2016). This scenario is even more worrisome for the conservation agenda given the growing disregard of Brazilian authorities regarding the preservation of natural environments, and considering the previously undetected high levels of herpetofaunal endemism recently reported for the Cerrado (Nogueira et al. 2011; Azevedo et al. 2016; Guedes et al. 2017). |
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