Calamaria alcalai WEINELL, LEVITON & BROWN, 2020
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Calamaria alcalai
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Calamariinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Alcala's Reed Snake |
| Synonym | Calamaria alcalai WEINELL, LEVITON & BROWN 2020 |
| Distribution | Philippines (Occidental Mindoro Province [Mindoro Island]) Type locality: Philippines, Occidental Mindoro Province, Municipality of Sablayan, Barangay Batong Buhay, Sitio Palbong (12.865 ºN, 120.902 ºE), 130 m elevation. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: PNM 9873 (formerly KU 305555; field number ELR 645), adult male, collected by Edmund B. Leo Rico on September 17, 2006. Paratypes (n=2): KU 335918 (field number RMB 17682), adult male, collected by Wilson Bulalacao, B. Gurubat, R. Reyes, Diego Roldan-Pina, Scott Travers, and J. Zafe at approximately 2400 hrs on July 7, 2013; KU 335919 (field number RMB 17719), adult female, same locality and collectors as first paratype but obtained between 1900–2100 hrs on November 11, 2013. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The new species differs from all other southeast Asian species by having the following combination of characters: prefrontal scales large, bordering rostral scale; internasal scales absent; 13 longitudinal rows of dorsal scales throughout length of body; subcaudal scales > 30 pairs (females), > 40 pairs (males); mental scale not in contact with chin shields; preocular scale present; prefrontal scale not in contact with eye. Color pattern in life: dorsal surface of head, body, and tail maroon or light maroon; ventral surface of head and anterior of body yellow; ventral surface of posterior of body and tail pale cream; boundary between dorsal and ventral body coloration on first longitudinal row of dorsal scales light yellow to cream. Color pattern in ethanol: dorsal surface of head, body, and tail uniformly dark brown; ventral surface of head, body, and tail pale yellow or cream. (Weinell et al. 2021). Comparisons: This new species may be confused with juveniles of the genera Calliophis, Hemibungarus, Oxyrhabdium, Myersophis, and Naja, adults and juveniles of the genera Pseudorabdion, Calamorhabdium, Rabdion, Collorhabdium, Etheridgeum, Macrocalamus, other species of Calamaria, as well as adults and juveniles of the Levitonius (Weinell et al., 2020). Calamaria alcalai can be distinguished from all species outside of the genus Calamaria by having the internasals and prefrontals fused (versus distinct). Additionally, C. alcalai can be distinguished from species of Hemibungarus by having the supralabials broadly in contact with the prefrontal and parietal (versus not in contact), and by having 13 longitudinal rows of dorsal scales (vs. 15); from species of Oxyrhabdium and Myersophis by having the loreal and anterior temporal scales absent (vs. present), and by having 13 longitudinal rows of dorsal scales (vs. 15); from species of Naja by having the supralabials broadly in contact with the prefrontal and parietal (versus not in contact), and by having 13 longitudinal rows of dorsal scales throughout the length of the body (vs. 21–23 rows behind the head, reducing to 13–15 rows before the vent); from species of Calliophis by having the supralabials broadly in contact with the prefrontal and parietal (versus not in contact); from Levitonius mirus by having subcaudals paired (vs. unpaired) and other characters (Weinell et al., 2020); and from species of Calamorhabdium, Collorhabdium, Etheridgeum, Macrocalamus, Pseudorabdion, and Rabdion by having 13 longitudinal rows of dorsal scales (vs. 15; Inger and Marx, 1965; Wallach, 1988; David and Pauwels, 2004; Amarasinghe et al., 2015). The new species is known only from the Philippine island of Mindoro, whereas Calamorhabdium, Rabdion, Collorhabdium, Etheridgeum, and Macrocalamus are not known from the Philippines; Calliophis, Myersophis, Pseudorabdion, and Levitonius mirus occur in the Philippines, but have not yet been recorded on the island of Mindoro (Leviton et al., 2018; Weinell et al., 2020). The new species may be confused with other Calamaria species, most of which are small (< 300 mm maximum total length), have thirteen longitudinal rows of dorsal scales throughout the length of the body, subcaudals paired, internasals and prefrontals fused to each other, loreal absent, and anterior temporal absent (Inger and Marx, 1965; Feldman et al., 2016). The new species can be distinguished from all other Calamaria except C. schlegeli by having subcaudals > 40 (vs. < 35) in males and > 30 (vs. < 30) in females (Inger and Marx, 1965; Grismer et al., 2004; Ziegler and Quyet, 2005; Howard and Gillespie, 2007; Koch et al., 2009; Orlov, 2009; Nguyen et al., 2009; Ziegler et al., 2009; Orlov et al., 2010; Yang and Zheng, 2018). The high number of subcaudals in the new species suggests a close relationship to C. schlegeli; both species also have the unusual condition of the mental not in contact with the anterior chin shields. Calamaria schlegeli contains two subspecies, C. schlegeli schlegeli Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril (from the Thai -Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and several other associated small landmasses) and C. s. cuvieri Jan (from Java and Bali islands), which usually differ in the color pattern of the head, in the number of subcaudal pairs distal to the location where dorsocaudals reduce to four rows, and in the fraction of individuals having the preocular present (Inger and Marx, 1965). The new species differs from C. s. cuvieri by having subcaudals > 40 in males (vs. < 40) and > 30 in females (vs. < 30), preocular present (vs. usually absent), and prefrontal not in contact with eye (vs. usually in contact with eye; Inger and Marx, 1965); and from C. s. schlegeli by having ventrals > 165 in males (vs. < 155) and > 175 in females (vs. < 170); ventrals + subcaudals > 205 in males (vs. < 185) and > 210 in females (vs. < 200). Although Inger and Marx (1965) found that the number of subcaudals in C. s. schlegeli ranges from 27–44 in males (n = 26) and 19–35 in females (n = 29), only the males from northern Borneo (subcaudals 44; n = 2) and males and females from Singapore (subcaudals 37–42 or 31–35, respectively; n = 5 each) were observed to have as many or more subcaudals compared to the three individuals known of the new species. Only seven other species of Calamaria are known from the Philippines, including C. bitorques W. Peters, C. gervaisii, C. joloensis Taylor, C. lumbricoidea, C. suluensis Taylor, C. palavanensis, and C. virgulata (Leviton et al., 2018; Weinell et al., 2019). In addition to having a greater number of subcaudals, the new species is distinguished from all Philippine Calamaria by having a longer relative tail length (males > 15% vs. < 12%; females > 12% vs. < 11%); from C. bitorques by having pale nuchal bands absent (vs. present), mental not in contact with anterior chin shields (vs. in contact), frontal ratio > 4.5 (vs. 1.5– 2); from C. joloensis by having more ventrals (males 167–168 vs. 119; unknown for females of C. joloensis), mental not in contact with the anterior chin shields (vs. in contact), frontal ratio > 4.5 (vs. ~ 3); from C. lumbricoidea by having pale longitudinal dorsal stripes absent (vs. present), black banding on ventrals absent (vs. present), mental not in contact with the anterior chin shields (vs. in contact), frontal ratio > 4.5 (vs. 1.5– 2.5); from C. palavanensis by having frontal ratio > 4.5 (vs. < 2); from C. suluensis by having more ventrals (males 167–168 vs. < 140; females 178 vs. < 170), mental not in contact with the anterior chin shields (vs. in contact), frontal ratio > 4.5 (vs. 1.75 –2.15); from C. virgulata by having the frontal ratio > 4.5 (vs. < 4). The only other species known from Mindoro Island is C. gervaisii (Leviton et al., 2018). Taylor (1922) and Marx and Inger (1955) recognized two additional Calamaria from Mindoro, C. mindorensis Boulenger and C. tropica Taylor, but Inger and Marx (1965) did not consider these taxa to be distinct from C. gervaisii. This placement of C. mindorensis and C. tropica within the synonymy of C. gervaisii is supported by their shared condition of having < 23 subcaudals and the mental in contact with the anterior chin shields, whereas C. alcalai has more subcaudals (males > 40, females > 30) and the mental not in contact with the anterior chin shields. See Table 3 for a comparison of the characters distinguishing Calamaria alcalai, new species from other Philippine Calamaria. (Weinell et al. 2021). Color in life: Dorsal surface of head, body, and tail maroon or light maroon; ventral surface of head and anterior of body yellow; ventral surface of posterior of body and tail pale cream; boundary between dorsal and ventral body coloration on first longitudinal row of dorsal scales light yellow to cream. (Weinell et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Similar species: Calamaria schlegelii |
| Etymology | The species epithet alcalai is a patronym in the genitive singular, honoring Dr. Angel C. Alcala, for his numerous contributions on the systematics, biogeography, and ecology of amphibians and reptiles of the Philippines—and, in general, for his influential promotion of conservation and sustainable management of the archipelago’s terrestrial and marine biodiversity. |
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