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Neelaps calonotos (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL, 1854)

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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Black-striped Burrowing Snake, Western Black-striped Snake 
SynonymFurina calonotos DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 1241
Brachysoma calonotos — GÜNTHER 1858
Neelaps calonotus — GÜNTHER 1863: 24 (emend. for calonotos)
Neelaps caledonicus — HOFFMANN 1890 (in error for calonotus)
Furina calonota — BOULENGER 1896
Neelaps neocaledonicus — PALACKY 1898 (in errore for caledonicus)
Vermicella calonota — GLAUERT 1950
Melwardia calonota — WORRELL 1960
Neelaps calonotus — COGGER 1983: 228
Simoselaps calonota — HUTCHINSON 1990
Simoselaps calonotus — COGGER 1992
Simoselaps calonota — WELCH 1994: 107
Simoselaps calonotus — COGGER 2000: 684
Neelaps calonotus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 486
Neelaps calonotus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 486
Vermicella calonotus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 771
Vermicella calonotus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 785
Neelaps calonotus — COGGER 2014: 904
Simoselaps calonotus — LEE et al. 2016 (Fig. S1)
Neelaps calonotus — LEE et al. 2016 (Fig. 1)
Neelaps calonotos — ASH 2022 
DistributionAustralia (Western Australia)

Type locality: see comment. Corrected to Nouvelle-Hollande [= Australia] fide Duméril (1853: 517).  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA-2012.411 (formerly 3943A), the larger of the two syntypes (J.P. Verreaux, 1844), designated by Wells & Wellington (1985: 46); paralectotype: MNHN-RA 3943, from Tasmania (in error; MNHN catalogue indicated "Nouvelle-Hollande"). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus). A monotypic genus comprising N. calonotos, a very small, slender fossorial hydrophiine elapid snake (total length to 271 mm this study, males mean 239 mm, females mean 220 mm, tail length 10.4‒18.9% of SVL mean 15.2%) with: head narrow, depressed and not distinct from neck; protrusive round-shaped snout without cutting edge; no canthus rostralis; frontal not much wider than long; internasals present slightly smaller than prefrontals, suture between internasal and prefrontal transverse; preocular in contact with nasal, rarely separated by prefrontal; typically upper primary and secondary temporals fused to form single elongate scale without deep ventral descent (Fig. 3B), occasionally 1 + 1; rostral much wider than high posteriorly obtuse and only slightly projecting between internasals; a consistent colour pattern of dark crescent-shaped band extends across nape and dark broad band across head forward to level of eyes; tip of snout consistently dark; variable body colour of bright, pale pinkish or orange red with pale anterior portion or spot on each scale, typically distinct feature of a dark vertebral stripe with pale anterior portion or spot forming chain-like pattern extends from nape to tip of tail; 124‒145 ventrals; 128‒148 vertebrals; midbody scales very glossy and smooth, in 15 rows occasionally increasing to 16 posterior to the head and decreasing to 14 or 13 anterior to the vent; anal and 23‒34 subcaudals divided; supralabials six, last the largest; infralabials seven; ventral surface white with glossy shine; eyes are small with pupils indiscernible within black irises (Bush 2017). Other features in the genus are the reversion to the primitive karyotype of 2N = 36 (16M and 20m) (Mengden 1985), and pterygoid tooth row reduced posteriorly such that it does not extend beyond the level of the ectopterygoid-pterygoid articulation (Greer 1997). Storr (1968: 85) and B. Maryan record total lengths of 284 mm and 281 mm, respectively in female N. calonotos. (Maryan et al. 2023.)


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CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983.

Venomous!

Habitat: burrowing

Taxonomy: The two species of Neelaps are not closely related in the phylogeny of SANDERS et al. 2008, but these authors still retain them as Neelaps, which makes them polyphyletic.

Distribution: See map in Maryan et al. 2023: 13 (Fig. 6).

Type locality: originally “Tasmanie” [= Tasmania] (in error).

Type species: Furina calonotos DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 1241 is the type species of the genus Neelaps GÜNTHER 1863. 
EtymologyThe name is not explained by D,B&D but likely named after its (supposedly) southern distribution (DBD reported the origin of their specimen from Tasmania: Greek “notos” = south, and “calos” = beautiful, for the pretty color and pattern of the species). Cogger 1983 says that the name was validly emended by Günther (1863) from calonotos to calonotus. However, Günther doesn’t discuss the terminology at all but just uses calonotus. 
References
  • Australian Society of Herpetologists (ASH) 2022. Official List of Australian Species. ASH - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Glauert, L. 1960. A Handbook of Snakes of Western Australia, 2nd edn. Western Australian Naturalists' Club, Perth, 62 pp.
  • Günther,A. 1863. On new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 11: 20-25 - get paper here
  • Hallermann, J. 2020. An annotated list of reptiles and amphibians from the 1905 Hamburg expedition to southwest Australia deposited in the Zoological Museum Hamburg. Evolutionary Systematics 4: 61 - get paper here
  • Hoffman, C. K. 1890. Reptilien. III. Schlangen und Entwicklungsgeschichte der Reptilien. In: Bronn, H. G. Klassen und Ordnungen des Thier-Reichs, wissenschaftlich dargestellt in Wort und Bild. Leipzig: C. F. Winter'sche Verlagshandlung 6 (3): 1301-2089 - get paper here
  • Lee, Michael S. Y.; Kate L. Sanders, Benedict King, Alessandro Palci 2016. Diversification rates and phenotypic evolution in venomous snakes (Elapidae). R. Soc. open sci., DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150277 - get paper here
  • MARYAN, BRAD; J. SCOTT KEOGH & PERI E. BOLTON 2023. Phylogeny and morphology of the Australian snake genus Neelaps Günther, 1863 (Squamata: Elapidae), with resurrection of Narophis Worrell, 1961. Australian Journal of Taxonomy 34: 1–25
  • Palacky, J. 1898. La distribution des Ophidiens sur le globe. Mém. Soc. Zool. Fr. 11: 88-125
  • Sanders, K.L. et al. 2008. Molecular phylogeny and divergence dates for Australasian elapids and sea snakes (Hydrophiinae): evidence from seven genes for rapid evolutionary radiations. J. Evol. Biol. 21: 682 – 695 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1968. The genus Vermicella (Serpentes : Elapidae) in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. J. Royal Soc. Western Australia. 50: 80-92 - get paper here
  • Waite, Edgar R. 1899. Notes on snakes. Rec. Austral. Mus. 3 (5): 104-105 - 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.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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