Calamaria nebulosa LEE, 2021
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Calamaria nebulosa
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Calamariinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Clouded Reed Snake |
| Synonym | Calamaria nebulosa LEE 2021 Calamaria yunnanensis – STUART & HEATWOLE, 2008 Calamaria yunnanensis – QUAH et al., 2008 (in part) Calamaria cf. yunnanensis – WEINELL et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | Laos (Phongsaly Province) Type locality: Laos, Phongsaly Province, Phongsaly District, on the mountainous road to Udomxai [= Oudomxai] about 25 km from Phongsaly City (21º29’N, 102º12’E; ~1000 meters above sea level) |
| Reproduction | oviparous (presumed, fide Lee, 2021) |
| Types | Holotype: FMNH 258666 (field tag: HKV 64382), an adult female collected dead on road (DOR) by Mr. Bounthavy Phommachanh on 6 October 1999. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A species of Calamaria distinguished from all other members of the genus from mainland Southeast Asia by having the following combination of morphological characters: (1) rostral wider than high; (2) portion of rostral scale visible from above approximately half the length of the prefrontal suture; (3) six scales and shields surrounding the paraparietal scale; (4) absence of a preocular scale; (5) four supralabials, with the second and third touching the eye; (6) five infralabials, the first pair separating the mental scale from the anterior chin shields; (7) 179 ventrals and three gular scales; (8) 22 paired subcaudals; (9) dorsal color pattern in preservative bluish-gray with five indistinct dark-brown longitudinal stripes; (10) ventral surface of tail in preservative uniform yellow, immaculate; and (11) absence of a distinct white nuchal collar posterior to the head. (Lee, 2021) |
| Comment | Similar Species: Calamaria yunnanensis CHERNOV, 1962. Most specimens of C. yunnanensis can be distinguished from C. nebulosa sp. nov. by having a distinct nuchal color posterior to the head and a dark-brown midventral stripe under the surface of the tail (vs. nuchal collar and midventral stripe absent) and by having dark-brown margins on each of the ventral scales (vs. ventral scales immaculate). However, some specimens of C. yunnanensis do not share these color pattern traits. In specimens where the coloration is difficult to interpret in preservative or is variable, C. nebulosa sp. nov. can be differentiated from C. yunnanensis by having 179 ventrals in female (vs. 199), subcaudal/total body scale ratio 10.9% in female (vs. 8.7%), tail length approximately 7.9% of total length in female (vs. 5.0%), dorsal scales reducing to six rows above the 12th subcaudal (vs. 3rd to 5th subcaudal) and reducing to four rows above the last subcaudal (vs. third-to-last subcaudal). All specimens of C. yunnanensis have narrow dark-brown longitudinal stripes present on the margins of each dorsal scale row, occasionally restricted to the flanks in some specimens (vs. five, wider dark-brown longitudinal stripes, not present on every margin of each dorsal scale row), but these characters can be difficult to interpret on some specimens and should be treated with some wariness. (Lee, 2021). Distribution: Presumably has a wider distribution extending across northern Laos, northern Thailand, southern Yunnan Province, China and perhaps also Vietnam. Conservation: Recommended IUCN status: Data Deficient fide. Lee, 2021. |
| Etymology | Named after the nominative form the word “nebulous”, meaning “misty, foggy or cloudy” in Latin language and is given in feminine form to match the female genitive declension of the genus name Calamaria. The species name is an allusion to both the type locality of this snake, situated in the mountainous regions of Laos, and the generally clouded appearance of its dorsal ground color in preservative. |
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