Tropidodipsas fischeri (BOULENGER, 1894)
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Tropidodipsas fischeri
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Fischer’s Snail-Eating Snake S: Caracolera de Fischer |
| Synonym | Virginia fasciata FISCHER 1885: 95 (fide KOFRON 1985) Tropidodipsas fischeri BOULENGER 1894 (nom. subst.) Elapoides fasciatus Geophis fasciata — GÜNTHER 1893 (fide VILLA et al. 1988) Tropidoclonium annulatum BOCOURT 1892 Tropidodipsas annulata Tropidodipsas kidderi STUART 1942 Tropidodipsas fischeri — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945 Tropidodipsas kidderi — STUART 1963 Tropidodipsas fischeri — STUART 1963 Tropidodipsas fischeri — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 Sibon fischeri — WILSON & MEYER 1985: 91 Sibon fischeri — LINER 1994 Sibon fischeri — MARINEROS 2000: 114 Tropidodipsas fischeri — WILSON & MCCRANIE 2002 Tropidodipsas fischeri — HARVEY et al. 2008 Tropidodipsas fischeri — WALLACH et al. 2014: 746 Tropidodipsas fischeri — GRÜNWALD et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | S Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca), SW Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras (elevation 1340-2150 m) Type locality: Guatemala kidderi: Guatemala; Type locality: Alta Verapaz, above Finca Samac, 6 km (air) W Cobán, ca. 1500 m elevation. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Syntypes: BMNH, SMNS (Stuttgart Museum) Holotype: UMMZ [kidderi] |
| Diagnosis | Description. The following is based on three males (KU 194358-60). Tropidodipsas fischeri is a moderately small, banded snake (maximum recorded TOL 652 mm [Kofron, 1985a]; 568 mm TOL in largest Honduran specimen [KU 194359]) with a relatively short tail, head slightly distinct from neck; snout relatively short, broadly rounded in dorsal outline; rostral not extending posteriorly between internasals, its length from above about half that of median (but slightly sinistral relative to median prefrontal suture) internasal suture, internasals long, about one-half length of prefrontal suture; prefrontals well over twice as large as internasals in area, median prefrontal suture about three-quarters length of frontal; frontal slightly longer than wide, widest anteriorly, length about three-quarters that of parietals, in contact with prefrontals, supraoculars, and parietals; supraoculars longer than wide, much shorter than frontal; parietals long, wide, widest anteriorly, their median suture about same length as frontal; parietals in contact with frontal, supraoculars, upper postocular, anterior and upper secondary temporals, and about 5 nuchal scales; nasal divided, postnasal about same size as prenasal; postnasal in contact with first and second supralabials, loreal, prefrontal, and internasal; loreal single, elongate, bordering eye; preoculars absent; postoculars 2, lower smaller than upper; temporals 1+2, anterior one usually above fifth supralabial, lower secondafy one usually above sixth supralabial; no temporal bordering eye; supralabials 6-7 (usually 6), usually with third and fourth (occasionally fourth and fifth) bordering eye; pupil vertically elliptical; infralabials 6-7 (usually 7), first pair in con tact posterior to mental, first 3-4 in contact with anterior chinshields; anterior edge of first sublabial contacting posterior pair of chinshields; anterior chinshields paired, longer than wide, longer than posterior chinshields; posterior chinshields paired, short, about as wide as long; mental groove present; ventrals 182-184 (183.0+/-1.0) [167-194 both sexes combined range-wide]; cloacal scute entire; subcaudals 59-63 (60.7+/-2.1) [43-82 both sexes combined range-wide], divided; dorsal scales weakly keeled (at least posteriorly), in 17-17-17 rows on body, vertebral row not enlarged, without apical pits or supracloacal ridges; TOL 358-568 (466.0+/-105.1) mm; SVL 292-450 (374.0+/-79.2) mm; TAL/TOL 0.184-0.208. (Mccranie 2011) Diagnosis/Similar Species. Tropidodipsas fischeri can be distinguished from most other Honduran snakes in having smooth to weakly keeled dorsal scales in 17 rows throughout the body and a dorsal pattern of dark crossbands the length of the body. Other Honduran snakes than can have those characteristics differ in the following ways. Stenorrhina degenhardtii has the internasal fused to the anterior section of the nasal and a divided cloacal scute (versus internasal not fused to nasal and cloacal scute entire in T. fischeri). Geophis fulvoguttatus has fewer than 160 ventral scales (versus more than 165 ventrals in T. fischeri). Imantodes cenchoa and I. gemmistratus have a short, blunt head that is very distinct from the thin neck and more than 100 subcaudals (versus rounded head that is only slightly distinct from neck and fewer than 85 subcaudals in T. fischeri). Tropidodipsas sartorii has a ringed body pattern (versus banded dorsal pattern in T.fischeri). (Mccranie 2011) |
| Comment | Synonymy partly after KOFRON 1985 who also suggested to treat T. kidderi as subspecies of S. fischeri, S. fischeri kidderi (STUART 1942). KLUE 1984 listed Tropidodipsas kidderi as a synonym of Tropidodipsas fasciata subannulata. Nomenclature: Virginia fasciata FISCHER 1885 is a homonym of Tropidodipsas fasciata GÜNTHER 1858. |
| Etymology | Named after Johann Gustav Fischer (1819-1889), German herpetologist working in Hamburg. |
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