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Atractus acheronius PASSOS, RIVAS-FUENMAYOR & BARRIO-AMORÓS, 2009

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymAtractus acheronius PASSOS, RIVAS-FUENMAYOR & BARRIO-AMORÓS 2009
Atractus acheronius — WALLACH et al. 2014: 68 
DistributionVenezuela (Sierra de Perijá)

Type locality: upper Río Negro Valley (2200-2400 m), Sierra
de Perijá, municipality of Machiques de Perijá (09◦ 52′ N, 72◦ 48′ W), state of Zulia, Venezuela.  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: MHNLS 398 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (short): Atractus acheronius can be distinguished from congeners by having 17 dorsal scale rows, presence of preocular scales, seven upper and lower labials, seven maxillary teeth, 166 ventrals in the single female, 23 subcaudals, dorsum brown with small dark brown dots, large body size, huge body diameter, and small tail size.


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Comment 
EtymologyNamed after the Acheron River in Greek mythology. According to the old Greek myth Acheron was tributary of the Styx River, in which the boatman Charon crossing the earth souls into infernal regions. The word acheronius is used herein in allusion to the type locality (= Black River in English) as well as in reference to the secretive habits of the new species. 
References
  • Natera-Mumaw, Marco; Luis Felipe Esqueda-González & Manuel Castelaín-Fernández 2015. Atlas Serpientes de Venezuela. Santiago de Chile, Dimacofi Negocios Avanzados S.A., 456 pp. - get paper here
  • Passos, Paulo; Rivas Fuenmayor, Gilson; Barrio-Amorós, Cesar 2009. Description of two new species from Venezuela in the highly diverse dipsadine genus Atractus (Serpentes: Colubridae). Amphibia-Reptilia 30 (2): 233-243 - get paper here
  • RIVAS, GILSON A.; CÉSAR R. MOLINA, GABRIEL N. UGUETO, TITO R. BARROS, CÉSAR L. BAR- RIO-AMORÓS & PHILIPPE J. R. KOK 2012. Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist. Zootaxa 3211: 1–64 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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