Zootaxa 3774 (2): 165–182 www.mapress.com /zootaxa / ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) Article Copyright © 2013 Magnolia Press ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3774.2.4 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:933179AB-E8DB-4785-9F79-E0D051E1E398 A new species of the genus Opisthotropis Günther, 1872 from northern Laos (Squamata: Natricidae) ALEXANDRE TEYNIÉ1, ANNE LOTTIER1, PATRICK DAVID*2, TRUONG QUANG NGUYEN3 & GERNOT VOGEL4 Société d'Histoire Naturelle Alcide d’Orbigny, 57 rue de Gergovie, F-63170 Aubière, France. E-mail: ateynie@shnao.net Reptiles & Amphibiens, UMR 7205 OSEB, Département Systématique et Évolution, CP 30, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. E-mail: pdavid@mnhn.fr 3 Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Hanoi, Vietnam Current address: Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Zoological Institute, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Strasse 47b, D-50674 Cologne, Germany. E-mail: nqt2@yahoo.com 4 Society for Southeast Asian Herpetology, Im Sand 3, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany. E-mail: gernot.vogel@t-online.de * corresponding author 1 2 Abstract Two specimens, a male and a female, of the genus Opisthotropis Günther, 1872 were collected in a karst formation of northern Louangphabang (or Luang Prabang) Province, North Laos. These specimens are assigned to the genus Opisthotropis on the basis of their morphology, dentition and cephalic scalation. However, they differ from all other known species of Opisthotropis by a combination of the following characters: (1) 21–19 scale rows on the fore part of the body, (2) 17 scale rows at midbody, (3) 22/23 maxillary teeth, (4) 177–181 ventrals, (5) 1 loreal on each side, in contact with internasal, (6) 7 supralabials, 4th entering orbit, (7) dorsum dark bronze-brown, with upper part of dorsum darker than lateral sides, without bands or crossbars, and (8) chin and throat blackish-brown with a sharp, transversal limit with the ventral colour crossing the posterior part of the throat. As a consequence, these specimens are here referred to a new species, Opisthotropis durandi spec. nov. The new species is compared with other species of the genus, especially the most similar species O. spenceri Smith, 1918 and O. atra Günther, 1872, the type species of the genus. An updated key to the genera Opisthotropis is provided. Opisthotropis durandi spec. nov. represents the first confirmed record of a species of Opisthotropis sensu stricto from Laos and it is the 108th snake species currently recorded from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Key words: Opisthotropis durandi spec. nov., morphology, taxonomy, distribution. Introduction Members of the genus Opisthotropis Günther, 1872 are highly aquatic snakes inhabiting mostly fast-flowing streams of hills and mountains of tropical and subtropical Asia. The genus is distributed across the mainland of Southeast Asia eastwards to the Philippines and the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan (see Ziegler et al. 2008; David et al. 2011). According to Boulenger (1893), Smith (1943), Stuart and Chuaynkern (2007), Murphy et al. (2008), Ziegler et al. (2008), David et al. (2011), and Yang et al. (2011, 2013), this rather homogeneous genus is defined by a series of the following characters: (1) head depressed, not or scarcely distinct from neck, (2) body rather stout, (3) eye moderate or small, with rounded or vertically elliptical pupil, (4) nostril directed upwards and outwards, piercing in the nasal placed in dorsal position on the snout, (5) prefrontal very broad, usually single, forming a long suture with the frontal, (6) scales smooth or keeled, without apical pits, in 15 to 19 dorsal rows at midbody (23 in O. laui Yang, Sung & Chan, 2013), (7) cloacal scale divided, (8) subcaudals paired, and (9) 20–40 upper maxillary teeth, small, and subequal. This genus is still imperfectly known. Not only the biology and ecology of numerous species are poorly Accepted by Z. Nagy: 8 Apr. 2013; published: 5 Mar. 2014 165 Research of T. Q. Nguyen in Germany is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung/Foundation (VIE 1143441). References Alcala, A.C. 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IEBR A.0861, ZFMK 94229, Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve, Son Dong District; Tonkin. NMW 22979.—Cambodia. No locality. NMW 22978:1–2. Opisthotropis cucae (n = 1). Vietnam. Kon Tum Province. IEBR A.0924 (Holotype), Chu Mom Ray National Park, Sa Thay District, (14°26.227'N, 107°43.268'E), 740 m. Opisthotropis daovantieni (n = 1). Vietnam. Kon Tum Province. ZISP 26073, Kon Plong Forest, Xa Hieu, Kon Plong District (14°41.447’N 108°22.376’E, 1,170 m). Opisthotropis guangxiensis (n = 3). China. Guangxi Province. CIB 9972–4, Dayao Shan (Mt. Dayao). Opisthotropis jacobi (n = 7). Vietnam. Lao Cai Province. IEBR 2910, Sa Pa; MNHN 1933.0010, MNHN 1935.0083, MNHN 1938.0126–0127, “Chapa, Tonkin”, now Sa Pa. Vinh Phuc Province. MNHN 1935.0457, CAS-SU 9147, Tam Dao. Opisthotropis lateralis (n = 3). Vietnam. Bac Giang Province. IEBR 3644–3645, Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve, Son Dong District. Quang Nam Province. IEBR 83, Tra My, Tra Don Commune, Mt. Ngoc Linh. Opisthotropis latouchii (n = 2). China. Jiangxi Province. NMW 26028: 1–2, “Pingshiang, Kiangsi Province”, now Pinjiang. Opisthotropis rugosa (n = 1). Indonesia. Sumatra. Province of Sumatera Barat. RMNH 4330 (Holotype), Kayutanam. Opisthotropis spenceri (n = 2). Thailand. Lampang Province. BMNH 1946.1.15.31, BMNH 1965.640, “Muang Ngow, N. Siam”, at present Ngao. Opisthotropis tamdaoensis (n = 1). Vietnam. Vinh Phuc Province. VNUH 010606, Tam Dao, ca. 195 m a.s.l. A NEW SPECIES OF OPISTHOTROPIS FROM NORTHERN LAOS Zootaxa 3774 (2) © 2013 Magnolia Press · 181