Achalinus zugorum Miller, Davis, Luong, Do, Pham, Ziegler, Lee, De Queiroz, Reynolds & Nguyen, 2020

Achalinus zugorum Miller, Davis, Luong, Do, Pham, Ziegler, Lee, De Queiroz, Reynolds & Nguyen, 2020 View in CoL

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KIZ 2025021 ; individualCount: 1; lifeStage: female; occurrenceID: 6FDFDF55-9CDF-58F2-9D9F-20777DE37831; Taxon: scientificName: Achalinus zugorum ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan; locality: Yunling Village, Xiajinchang Township, Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture ; verbatimElevation: 1450 m; verbatimCoordinates: 23°9'53"N 104°50'44"E; Event: eventRemarks: collected on 12 April 2025 by locals; Record Level: basisOfRecord: preserved specime GoogleMaps

Description of the specimen from China

Body size small, cylindrical (SVL 268 mm, TotalL 331 mm), tail moderately long (TailL / TotalL 0.19); head small, elongated (HeadL / SVL 0.03, HeadW / HeadL 0.58), slightly distinct from neck; snout long (SnL / HeadL 0.37), narrow (SnW / HeadW 0.43), tip obtuse; eye quite small (EyeD / HeadL 0.12), pupils vertically elliptical; nostrils orientated laterally.

Rostral small, approximately triangular, slightly invisible from above; nasal divided into two halves; internasals two, prefrontals two, internasal suture longer than prefrontal suture (InternasalSL / PrefrontalSL 2.13); frontal pentagonal, short (FrontalL / FrontalW 0.85); supraocular one on each side, short; parietals two, large, elongate, parietal suture almost two times of frontal (ParietalSL / FrontalL 1.95); loreal fused with prefrontal, in contact with 3 rd – 4 th supralabials on each side; preocular and postocular absent; supralabials six on each side, 4 th – 5 th entering orbit on each side, last one largest; anterior temporal two on each side, entering orbit; posterior temporals two on each side; mental small, horizontally elongate; infralabials six on each side, first pair in contact with each other after mental, 1 st – 3 rd in contact with anterior chin shield; chin shield two pairs; mental groove absent (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ).

Dorsal scales in 25-23 - 23 rows, all strongly keeled, diamond-shaped, except for outermost rows distinctly enlarged into approximately triangular shape; ventrals 170, including five preventrals; subcaudals 61, unpaired; precloacal plate undivided.

Colouration in life

Dorsal surface of head black, dorsal surface of body and tail greyish-black, chin region purplish-black, ventral surface of body and tail greyish-black with posterior margin of each ventral scale greyish-white, strong iridescence present (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ).

Updated diagnosis

Body size small, total length 331–458 mm; tail length to total length ratio 0.19–0.23; dorsal scales in 25-23 - 23 rows, all strongly keeled, outermost rows distinctly enlarged; ventrals 170–173, including preventrals; subcaudals 61–70, unpaired; preocular and postocular absent; loreal fused with prefrontal; internasal suture distinctly longer than prefrontal suture; 6–7 supralabials, 6–7 infralabials; mental very thin, separated from anterior chin shields; two anterior temporals entering orbit, two posterior temporals; maxillary teeth 28, all curved and equal in size; dorsal surface greyish-black to jet black, ventral surface greyish-black with posterior margin of each ventral scale greyish-white, scales iridescent in light.

Distribution

This species is currently known to be only distributed in Bac Me District, Ha Giang Province, northern Vietnam and Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture, south-eastern Yunnan Province, China (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ).

Suggested Chinese common name

According to the type locality Ha Giang Province, Vietnam, we recommend 河江脊蛇 (Pinyin: hé jiāng jǐ shé) as the Chinese common name of this species.