Hebius octolineatus (BOULENGER, 1904)
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Hebius octolineatus
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Eight-lined Keelback Chinese: 八线腹链蛇 |
| Synonym | Tropidonotus octolineatus BOULENGER 1904: 133 Tropidonotus quadrilineatus BOULENGER 1904: 132 Tropidonotus pleurotaenia BOULENGER 1904: 133 Tropidonotus parallelus var. sublaevis DESPAX 1913 Natrix septemlineata SCHMIDT 1925 Natrix octolineata — MELL 1931 [1929] Natrix nigroreticulata CHANG 1932 Amphiesma octolineata – MALNATE 1960 Amphiesma octolineatum — DAVID, VOGEL & PAUWELS 1998 Natrix octolineata — ZHOU 2002 Amphiesma octolineatum — DAVID et al. 2007 Hebius octolineatum — GUO et al. 2014 Amphiesma octolineatum — WALLACH et al. 2014: 31 Hebius octolineatus — ZHOU et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | SW China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi) Type locality: Yunnan Fu (=Kunming Shi), Yunnan Prov., China; about 6,000 feet elevation. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Type: BMNH 1946.1.12.60 (and possibly additional specimens). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Hebius octolineatus can be distinguished from its recognized congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) TaL/ToL 20.7%–25.9%; (2) internasals narrowed anteriorly; (3) nasal divided, each half in contact with each other; (4) nostrils lateral; (5) loreal almost quadrilateral, higher than wide, not entering orbit; (6) supralabials usually eight; (7) preocular one or two; (8) postoculars three; (9) infralabials nine or ten, first pair in contact with each other, first–fifth infralabials in contact with anterior chin shields; (10) mental triangles; (11) dorsal scales rows 19-19-17; (12) dorsal scale rows reduced from 19 to 17 at position of third and fourth dorsal scale rows and from 81st to 86th ventrals; (13) ventrals 150–154; (14) subcaudals 70–80, paired; (15) anal divided; (16) four dorsal stripes on each side, not including ventrolateral stripe, two yellow and two grayish-black; (17) black zigzag lateral line, formed by outer edges of ventral shields; and (18) venter pale yellow (from Hou et al. 2021, based on n = 5). |
| Comment | Pope (1935, Rept. China: 114), acting as first revisor, chose octolineatus in preference to quadrilineatus and pleurotaenia. Similar species: Hebius septemlineatus |
| Etymology | Named after Latin octo = eight, and linea = line. |
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