Dipsas aparatiritos RAY, SÁNCHEZ-MARTÍNEZ, BATISTA, MULCAHY, SHEEHY III, SMITH, PYRON & ARTEAGA, 2023
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Dipsas aparatiritos
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Hidden Snail-eating Snake Spanish: Caracolera Escondida |
| Synonym | Dipsas aparatiritos RAY, SÁNCHEZ-MARTÍNEZ, BATISTA, MULCAHY, SHEEHY III, SMITH, PYRON & ARTEAGA 2023 |
| Distribution | Panama Type locality: Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera (PNGDOTH), ca. 7.5 km N of El Copé de La Pintada, Coclé Province, 8.670383°N, 80.592343°W, 763 m a.s.l. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: USNM 579828, female; 30 Jul 2010; S. Gotte, J. Jacobs, D. Mulcahy and R. Reynolds; (Biol. Survey Field Series 4608) (Figs 3, 4). Paratype. Panama, female; PNGDOTH, ca. 7.5 km N of El Copé de La Pintada, Coclé Province, 8.670383°N, 80.592343°W, 763 m a.s.l.; 30 Jul 2010; S. Gotte, J. Jacobs, D. Mulcahy and R. Reynolds; USNM 579829 (Biol Survey Field Series 4609) (Figs 5, 6). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Dipsas aparatiritos sp. nov. is placed in the genus Dipsas based on phylogenetic evidence (Fig. 1) and the absence of a labial that is noticeably higher than other labials. The species is diagnosed based on the following combination of characters: (1) 15/15/15 smooth dorsals with enlarged vertebral row (1.5–2.4× as wide as adjacent rows); (2) loreal and a preocular in contact with orbit; (3) 7 supralabials with 4th and 5th contacting orbit, 1st supralabial fused with nasal scale; (4) 8–9 infralabials with 3rd to 6th in contact with chin shields, first pair of infralabials not in contact behind symphysial due to presence of two postmentals; (5) 191–196 ventrals in males, 177–197 in females; (6) 122–136 divided subcaudals in males, 111–126 in females; (7) dorsal and ventral color consisting of 17–20 dark brown to black white-bordered body bands (10– 12 dorsal scales long anteriorly to 3–5 dorsal scales long posteriorly) separated from each other by white to pale yellow (anteriorly) to pale brown (posteriorly) interspaces measuring 2–6 dorsal scales long, ventral surfaces white with encroachment from the dorsal dark blotches and with smaller blackish marks in-between the blotches, dorsal aspect of head dark reddish brown with small blotches on the labial and temporal scales as well as a pale nuchal collar, throat white with small dark brown to blackish markings, iris pale brown with minute black speckles; (8) 310–465 mm SVL in males, 169–424 mm females; (9) 122–260 mm TL in males, 65–247 mm in females. (Ray et al. 2023) |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in Ray et al. 2023: 152 (Fig. 9) Diet: In PNGDOTH, JMR examined the fecal samples of this species and found that one (2% of the sample) contained the operculum of a snail and 49 (98%) contained oligochaete chaetae. |
| Etymology | The species name is an adjective formed from the Greek word aparatíritos (απαρατήρητος), which means unnoticed. The snake has hidden in plain sight for more than forty years at a very well-studied field site for herpetological research. |
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