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Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021
| Time | Event | ||||||
| 7:52a | [Crustacea • 2021] Geothelphusa boreas • A New Montane Freshwater Crab (Decapoda: Potamidae: Potamiscinae) from northeastern Taiwan, and the Identity of G. hirsuta Tan & Liu, 1998
Abstract A new freshwater crab is described from the montane area in northeastern Taiwan based on morphological and molecular evidence. Geothelphusa boreas sp. nov., from the Fushan Botanical Garden situated around New Taipei City and Yilan County, is distinct from similar congeners by the structure of the male first gonopod and the proportions of the male thoracic sternites. In addition, after comparing the holotypes of G. takuan and G. hirsuta Tan & Liu, 1998, no substantial difference could be found. Molecular evidence from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I also supports the recognition of the new species and the conspecificity of G. hirsuta with G. takuan. Key words: Crustacea, Potamidae, freshwater crab, new species, Geothelphusa boreas, Geothelphusa hirsuta, Geothelphusa takuan, Taiwan, mitochondrial. DNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit   
Family Potamidae Ortmann, 1896 Subfamily Potamiscinae Ortmann, 1896 (sensu Yeo & Ng 2003) Genus Geothelphusa Stimpson, 1858 Geothelphusa boreas sp. nov. Diagnosis. Carapace length, width 1.7-, 2.3-times carapace height, respectively. Anterolateral margins distinct, lined with inconspicuous granules, without epibranchial tooth. Subterminal segment of G1 (Fig. 3A–C) curving inwards, outer proximal margin without tooth; terminal segment slightly curving outwards to almost straight; total length of G1 5.8 times terminal segment. Etymology. The species is derived from the Greek “boreas” (for north), alluding to the northernmost distribution of this species in the Central Range. Jhy-Yun Shy, Hsi-Te Shih and Jean-Jay Mao. 2021. Geothelphusa boreas, A New Montane Freshwater Crab (Crustacea: Potamidae: Geothelphusa) from northeastern Taiwan, and the Identity of G. hirsuta Tan & Liu, 1998. Zootaxa. 5060(1); 93-104. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5060.1.4 | ||||||
| 8:29a | [Botany • 2021] Asplenium pahli (Polypodiales, Aspleniaceae) • A New Species from Leyte, Philippines — [Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Notes on Philippine Ferns. IV]
Abstract Asplenium pahli, a new species from Leyte, Philippines, is described. Morphological and distribution range differences between A. pahli, A. anisodontum, A. caudatum, A. falcatum, A. gueinzianum, and A. planicaule are discussed. The habitat and climate of Eastern Leyte is described. Keywords: Philippine pteridophyte taxonomy, Philippine new species, Pteridophytes
Asplenium pahli Salgado, sp. nov. Diagnosis:—Asplenium pahli and A. anisodontum have a proliferous rachis but differ in the pinna shape and serration. A. pahli differs from A. caudatum, A. falcatum, A. gueinzianum, A. planicaule and A. polyodon in the proliferous rachis, the pinna margins being irregularly serrate, sinuses of different depth and width, fewer sori distant from the costa, not contiguous, and straight or slightly falcate. Distribution and ecology:— Island of Leyte, Central-Eastern Philippines. A terrestrial species growing on the eastern slopes of the Leyte Cordillera, at 500 m elevation, in lowland tropical evergreen rainforest. Climate warm and humid; rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year (Pagasa 2020). Etymology:— The species epithet honors Brother George Pahl, FSC, Ph.D., an American biologist and university professor who taught, mentored, and inspired thousands of students in the United States and the Philippines during his teaching career spanning more than 50 years. Arthur Edward Salgado. 2021. Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Notes on Philippine Ferns. IV. Asplenium pahli (Polypodiales, Aspleniineae, Aspleniaceae), A New Species from Leyte, Philippines. Phytotaxa. 524(2); 71-84. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.524.2.1 | ||||||
| 9:50a | [Herpetology • 2021] Cyrtodactylus hamidyi • Another New Bent-toed Gecko, Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray 1837 (Squamata: Gekkonidae), from Borneo
Abstract To reveal the diversity of Indonesian bent-toed geckos, we pay attention to Kalimantan (Borneo)—an island which has received less attention than other Indonesian islands such as Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, and the Lesser Sunda archipelagos. About 30 years after Hikida (1990) described three new Cyrtodactylus from Borneo, four more species were described, namely C. limajalur and C. muluensis in 2019, and C. hantu and C. miriensis in 2021, all by Davis et al. Through examination of the collection at MZB and three addition specimens collected from Tawau, we found several undescribed species, one of which we describe here. This new species is easily differentiated from all other congeners by the combination of the following characters: maximum SVL of at least 65.8 mm; no tubercles on dorsal surface of upper arm; tubercles present in the ventrolateral body folds; 28–30 paravertebral tubercles; 17–20 longitudinal dorsal tubercle rows; 39–46 ventral scale rows at midbody; 17–19 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; precloacal pit with 5–7 pores in males arranged in a wide Λ-shape but absent in females; no enlarged transverse median subcaudals; paired dark brown semilunar-shaped markings on the upper nape. Further study is needed to reveal its molecular phylogenetic position and biogeographical history. Keywords: Reptilia, Cyrtodactylus, new species, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sabah    Awal Riyanto, Muhammad Alif Fauzi, Irvan Sidik, Mumpuni, Mohammad Irham, Nia Kurniawan, Hidetoshi Ota, Taku Okamoto, Tsutomu Hikida and L. Lee Grismer. 2021. Another New Bent-toed Gecko, Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray 1837 (Squamata: Gekkonidae), from Borneo. Zootaxa. 5026(2); 286-300. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5026.2.8 Straight outta Borneo: New gecko species just dropped | ||||||
| 10:40a | [Herpetology • 2021] Oligodon churahensis • A New Species of Snake of the Genus Oligodon Boie in Fitzinger, 1826 (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Western Himalayas
Abstract A new species of Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 is described based on specimens collected from Churah Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The new species is related to O. arnensis based on molecular as well as morphological data, however differs from it in several aspects. The new species shows a pairwise sequence divergence of 6–20% from congeners for mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Lack of pterygoid and palatine teeth of the new species suggests that the diet may largely comprise of eggs. Discovery of the new species is not surprising, as the Western Himalayas has been poorly explored in terms of its herpetofaunal diversity. Considerable genetic divergence in the sampled sequence suggests Oligodon arnensis is a species complex, likely represents multiple species and a revision of the group would be desirable. Key Words: Colubridae, cytochrome b, Himachal Pradesh, Kukri snake, taxonomy 
Oligodon churahensis sp. nov. Diagnosis: A medium sized Oligodon (SVL 275 mm) with 17 dorsal scale rows at midbody. Seven supralabials, 3rd and 4th in contact with the eye. Loreal present. 170–175 ventrals, 46–47 subcaudals. Palatine and pterygoid teeth absent. Dorsal patterns consist of 1–2 dorsal scales wide black bands edged with yellow. Ventral scales white with brown smear along the width of each scale, the smear is darker on the lateral edges forming a blotch on each side. 48 to 54 bands in total on the body. Hemipenis forked and spinose throughout. Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the Churah Valley where the new species was collected. Suggested common name: Churah Valley Kukri Natural history notes: The holotype and the paratype were found actively moving along a mud road around 20:00 hours (Fig. 6b). Additionally, five more individuals (uncollected) of the species were encountered at the same locality between the last weeks of May to late June 2020. All the individuals were found near the village after dusk. Sympatric reptile species recorded at the locality include Cyrtodactylus chamba Agarwal, Khandekar & Bauer, 2018, Asymblepharus sp., Lycodon mackinnoni Wall, 1906, Gloydius himalayanus (Günther, 1864), Orthriophis hodgsonii (Günther, 1864), Laudakia sp. and Liopeltis sp. None of the observed individuals showed any sign of aggression nor did they try to bite except for the male paratype, which bit one of us upon capture.   Zeeshan A. Mirza, Virender Kumar Bhardwaj and Harshil Patel. 2021. A New Species of Snake of the Genus Oligodon Boie in Fitzinger, 1826 (Reptilia, Serpentes) from the Western Himalayas. Evolutionary Systematics. 5(2): 335-345. DOI: 10.3897/evolsyst.5.72564 |
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