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A new species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from Goa, India
No full textBhatta, Gopalakrishna (2007): A new species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from Goa, India. Zootaxa 1409: 51-59, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17555
FIGURE 3 in A new species of Nyctibatrachus Boulenger (Amphibia: Anura: Nyctibatrachidae) from the surroundings of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India
No full textFIGURE 3. Lateral view of holotype of N. dattatreyaensis sp. nov. (ZSI/WGFRS/V/A/646). DTF (1-3), dorsal transverse folds; DLF (1-3), dorsal lateral folds.Published as part of Bhatta, Gopalakrishna, 2008, A new species of Nyctibatrachus Boulenger (Amphibia: Anura: Nyctibatrachidae) from the surroundings of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India, pp. 45-56 in Zootaxa 1914 on page 47, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.27455
Gegeneophis goaensis Bhatta, 2007, sp. nov.
No full textGegeneophis goaensis sp. nov. (Figs. 1, 2, Table 1) Holotype: Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India (BNHS) 4594. A mature female, collected at Ganv Kond locality - 15 o 36.80 'N latitude 74 o 04.46' E longitude (Keri Village, Sattari Taluk, North Goa district, Goa), September 2004. Paratypes: BNHS 4595. A juvenile, same collection data as for the holotype. Zoological Survey of India, Calicut (ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/ 608), mature male, collected at Ghoteli locality - 15 o 36.44 ' N latitude and 74 o 03.82' E longitude (Keri Village, Sattari Taluk, North Goa district, Goa), July 2006. Diagnosis: A Gegeneophis differing from all other species in having a combination of more than 120 primary annuli, more than 75 of which are marked with secondary annular grooves. G. goaensis is a more slender species (length> 40 times greater than midbody width) than the only other Gegeneophis that have more than 50 secondary annuli (G. danieli, G. nadkarnii). Description of the holotype: Some morphometric and meristic data are given in Table 1. The specimen is a mature female. It is in good condition generally, but the skin throughout much of the body is slightly roughened due to dehydration. There is an artefactual ridge on the dorsal surface, commencing c. 58 mm from the snout tip. A midventral longitudinal groove of 145 mm length extends between the third nuchal groove and the vent. There is an 18 mm long midventral incision into the body cavity beginning 40 mm in front of the vent. Another incision of 12 mm is present commencing c. 85 mm from the snout tip. There are a few small scratches on the skin on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces (made during the search for scales). The body in life is sub-cylindrical and slightly dorsoventrally compressed. The specimen measures 185 mm in length and 14 mm in circumference at midbody. The body is almost uniform in its width throughout the length. In the preserved specimen the body is 3.6 mm wide at the first annular groove and 4.3 mm at midbody in the broadest part. Thereafter the body gradually decreases in width to 3.0 mm just in front of the vent. In dorsal view, the head tapers strongly from the level of the occiput to the tentacular apertures. Anteriorly, the head tapers and terminates in a bluntly rounded but narrow snout tip. The posterior region of the head at jaw angle is slightly narrower than the nuchal region. Laterally the top of the head is straight and without any strong bulges. The margin of the upper lip slightly arched. The snout projects 0.6 mm beyond the mouth. The distance between the jaw angle and the top of the head (1.5 mm) is less than the distance between the jaw angle and the ventral surface of the lower jaw (1.6 mm). In ventral view, the anterior margin of the lower jaw is more broadly rounded than the anterior margin of the snout. The minute sub-circular nostrils are slightly closer to the level of the snout tip (0.4 mm). The nostrils are 1.0 mm apart, visible dorsally and laterally but not ventrally. They are surrounded by a narrow whitish rim. In life, the tentacles are globular. The tentacular apertures are lateral in position and 2.5 mm apart. They are situated at a distance of 1.4 mm from the tip of the snout and 0.8 mm from the nostrils. The slightly raised tentacular apertures are visible in both dorsal and ventral views. They are much closer to the margin of the upper lip (0.3 mm) than to the top of the head (0.7 mm). The eyes that are situated under bone are visible to the naked eye (and clearly visible in photographs) in life but not in the preserved specimen. We counted 18 premaxillary-maxillary, 19 vomeropalatine, 17 dentary, and 4 splenial teeth. The teeth in all four series are recurved and monocusped. They are smaller posteriorly than anteriorly. The posteriormost teeth of the premaxillary-maxillary and vomeropalatine series are almost parallel. The vomeropalatine series lacks diastemata. Both in the upper and lower jaw the teeth of the outer rows are markedly larger than those of the inner rows. The premaxillary-maxillary and vomeropalatine tooth rows clearly extend posterior to the choanae. When viewed anteriorly, the dentary teeth appear largest, followed by the premaxillary-maxillary and vomeropalatine teeth in decreasing order of the size. The splenials are the smallest. The choanae are small, sub-circular and are separated by a distance of approximately two times the width of each choana. The tongue is broadly rounded in dorsal view and unattached anteriorly. The anterior end of which, lies close to the splenial teeth. It is separated by a groove from the gingivae. The narial plugs are situated far anterolaterally close to the edge of the tongue and have encircling grooves. The posterior part of the dorsal surface of the tongue behind the narial plugs and the anterior surface to it is uniform whitish colour. The nuchal region is broader and higher than the adjacent parts of the body. The two nuchal collars are marked clearly by three nuchal grooves. The nuchal region at the first nuchal groove (3.6 mm) is slightly broader than the back of the head at the jaw angle (3.4 mm) but the width of the body at the first annular groove (3.6 mm) is equal to the width at the first nuchal groove. The first collar (1.2 mm) is shorter than the second (2.0 mm) laterally. The nuchal grooves are complete around the nuchal region with the exception of the third nuchal groove, which is incomplete midventrally. The first collar bears one short transverse groove middorsally. The second collar also bears a middorsal transverse groove that extends almost fully across the dorsal surface. Although the nuchal and annular grooves are mostly perpendicular to the long axis of the body, the third nuchal groove and the posterior grooves of the first two primary annuli are slightly angulate anterodorsally. On the ventrolateral surface, the free ends of the third nuchal groove bend slightly posteriorly. The annuli are marked by whitish coloured grooves, which are more conspicuous posteriorly. There are 125 primary annuli. Primary annular grooves are complete middorsally on the 1 st and 2 nd primary annuli, and from the 39 th primary onwards, but they are incomplete middorsally on primary annuli 3 to 38. The secondary annular groove appears for the first time on right side of the 48 th primary annulus dorsolaterally, but it is not seen in the 49 th primary annulus. The secondary grooves are middorsal from 50 th to 55 th primary annuli with the exception of 51 and 53 where secondary annular grooves are not seen. 56 th primary annulus also is without secondary annular groove. From 57 to 115, secondary annular grooves are middorsal in position extending gradually on both sides. The secondary grooves extend across the midline on the ventral surface and become complete from the 116 th primary annulus up to the sub-circular disc surrounding the vent. The sub-circular disc is 1.0 mm wide, 0.7 mm long. The rounded terminus ends in a cap that is completely demarcated by the last primary annular groove. The transverse vent is 0.4 mm wide. The vent is surrounded by eight denticles. Nine secondary grooves in front of the vent are complete. There are 78 primary annuli with secondary grooves. Scales were sought at three different points along the body both dorsally and ventrally. No scales were found anterior to the 50 th primary annulus. On the 60 th primary annulus oval scales were found only on the dorsal surface in four rows. On the posterior primary annulus, where the secondary annular grooves become complete ventrally, scales occur in four rows on the dorsal and two rows on the ventral surface. In life, the holotype was a fleshy-brown on its anterior two thirds of the body, which gradually merged with the dark brown of the posterior one third. The colour of the body was almost uniform on both dorsal and ventral surfaces. The annuli were more prominent in the posterior one-third, comparatively less prominent in the anterior one third and moderate in the middle of the body. The head was pinkish brown in colour. A creamy white patch extends from behind the eyes to just in front of the tentacular apertures. The rims of both upper and lower jaws were lighter than the dorsum of the head. The skin contains whitish glands throughout the body which were more prominent on the posterior one third. In preservation, the body is blackish grey on the dorsal surface which merges gradually with the light grey on the ventral surface. The annular grooves are of whitish colouration and more prominent laterally. The entire dorsal surface of the head including the snout tip is light cream coloured. The under surface of the lower jaw is yellowish white in colour up to the second nuchal groove. The disc surrounding the vent is whitish both in life and preservation. Paratypes: Morphometric and meristic data for the type series are given in Table 1. The paratypes are very similar to the holotype. The paratypes are in good condition generally. Specimens range in size from 133 mm (BNHS 4595) to 220 mm (ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/ 608) in length and 9 to 15 mm in circumference respectively at midbody. Sex was determined by examining gonads. Both the paratypes resemble the holotype in the pattern of nuchal grooves; width of disc surrounding vent; width of vent; in number of denticles surrounding the vent; recurved and monocusped teeth in all four series; lacking diastemata. In having markedly larger outer rows of teeth in both upper and lower jaws than the inner rows; largest dentary teeth followed by the premaxillarymaxillary and vomeropalatine teeth in decreasing order of the size and smallest splenials, the paratypes are similar to the holotype. Distance between jaw angle and ventral surface of lower jaw 1.6 1.2 1.5 Total number of primary annuli with secondary grooves 78 82 89 Paratype BNHS 4595 is an immature specimen (neither ova nor testes could be identified), dorsolaterally compressed with an artefactual 105 mm long midventral groove, beginning c. 8 mm from tip of the ventral surface of the lower jaw. There is a 9 mm long midventral incision in to the body cavity beginning 60 mm in front of the vent. In preserved specimen body is 2.6 mm at the first annular groove and 3.3 mm at midbody in the broadest part and width at the level of vent is 1.9 mm. There are 126 primary annuli and 82 of these have secondary grooves. Primary grooves are incomplete dorsally only on the 4 th and 5 th primary annuli and are middorsally complete from 1 st to 3 rd and from 6 th primary annulus onwards. Secondary grooves ‘start’ dorsolaterally on both sides from the 45 th primary annulus and continue middorsally from 48 th primary annulus back along the body. The secondary grooves extend across the midline on the ventral surface and become complete from the 116 th primary annulus onward. Nine secondary annular grooves in front of the vent are complete. We counted 17 premaxillary-maxillary, 18 vomeropalatine, 17 dentary and 4 splenial teeth. No scales could be found. Paratype ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/ 608 is a mature male, slightly dorsolaterally compressed with a sub-cylindrical body. There is an artefactual middorsal groove of 4 mm, beginning c. 4 mm behind the snout tip, and a midventral groove 148 mm long beginning c. 10 mm behind the tip of the ventral surface of the lower jaw. There is an 18 mm long midventral incision into the body cavity beginning 25 mm in front of the vent. There are 126 primary annuli, 89 of which have secondary annular grooves. Primary grooves are complete middorsally on the 1 st and 2 nd primary annuli and from 39 th primary annulus onwards, but incomplete middorsally from the 3 to 38. Secondary grooves ‘first appear’ dorsolaterally on the 38 th primary annulus on the left side. On the 39 th primary annulus secondary groove is on the right side dorsolaterally. Secondary grooves are not seen on 40 th and 41 st primary annuli. From 42 nd primary annulus onwards secondary grooves are middorsal. Secondary grooves extend across the midline on the ventral surface from the 112 th primary annulus to become complete. Eleven secondary annular grooves in front of the vent are complete. We counted 16 premaxillarymaxillary, 20 vomeropalatine, 16 dentary teeth and only 1 splenial tooth. No scales were observed at the 25 th or 40 th primary annulus. On each of the 50 th and 60 th primary annuli four dorsal rows of scales were found, but none were found ventrally. Where the secondary annular grooves become complete ventrally, scales occur in four rows on the dorsal and two rows on the ventral surface. Ecology and habitat: The holotype and smaller of the two paratypes were collected from rotting vegetation at the base of saplings c. 5 m from a small river (Kalti) in a mixed orchard of arecanut, banana, coconut, acacia and pepper. The locality is 32 m above sea level. The soil where the specimens were collected was black and rich in mixed compost and rotten waste, temperature 32 o C (at 30 cm depth), humidity 87 % and canopy cover around 55 %. The larger paratype was collected from underneath piles of rotting coconut leaves c. 20 m from a small rivulet (Angadiho Vahal) in a coconut orchard at 42 m above sea level. The soil was lateritic, mixed with clay, temperature 30 o C (at 30 cm depth), humidity 70 % and canopy cover around 30 %. Comparison with congeneric species: The numbers of primary and secondary annuli are important characters differentiating the species of Gegeneophis (e.g. Giri et al. 2003). G. goaensis differs from all other species of Gegeneophis except G. krishni and G. seshachari in having more than 120 primary annuli, but it is easily distinguished from these because the latter two have no (seshachari) or fewer than 20 (krishni) of their primaries bearing secondary grooves. Indeed, only G. goaensis, G. danieli and G. nadkarnii among the nine species of Gegeneophis have more than 50 primary annuli bearing secondary grooves. G. goaensis is readily distinguished from G. danieli and G. nadkarnii in being more slender (superficially earthworm-like). Additionally, the latter two species have some secondary grooves on the anteriormost primary annuli, whereas in G. goaensis they ‘begin’ no further forwards than the 40 th primary. G. danieli has more premaxillary-maxillary teeth (30 versus 18) than G. goaensis. We are convinced that these differences are sufficient to warrant description of the new species. As with many caecilians, several species of Gegeneophis are known from small samples and few localities and our very rudimentary understanding of intra-specific will probably need to improve as additional species are recognized. Etymology: The species is named after Goa where the type locality is situated.Published as part of Bhatta, Gopalakrishna, 2007, A new species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from Goa, India, pp. 51-59 in Zootaxa 1409 on pages 51-57, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17555
Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis Bhatta, 2008, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis</i> sp. nov. <p>(Figures 1, 2, 3 & 4; Table 1)</p> <p> <b>Holotype:</b> an adult male, 40.0 mm SVL, ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/ 646 (Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Field Research Station, Calicut), collected on 27th December 2006 at 19.00 hours by Dinesh, K.P. and M.L. Dilip Kumar along a slow flowing rivulet upstream of Manikyadhara falls (13 0 25’ N latitude; 75 0 46’ E longitude; altitude approx 1515 m above sea level), Dattatreya Peeta, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Chickmagalur district, Karnataka state, Southwestern India.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes:</b> Two females (ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/647, 648) and one male (ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/649) collected on 9th November 2006 by K.G. Emiliyamma and party from the type locality; two males (ZSI/ WGFRS /V/A/650, 651), collection data same as holotype.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis:</b> The new species is assigned to <i>Nyctibatrachus</i> due to the combination of following set of characters; contracted pupil rhomboidal; dorsum with fine set of folds; habitus short and squat; omosternum forked at base; vomerine teeth present; median lingual process absent; femoral glands present and widened finger and toe tips.</p> <p> <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> can easily be distinguished from all other species in the genus by the following combination of characters: head wider than long, snout slightly projecting beyond mouth; whole of dorsum corrugated with several transverse folds, the anterior three folds very prominent and with a longitudinal dorsolateral fold on either side; lateral part of the body with two longitudinal folds; a well defined supratympanic fold from posterior corner of eye to shoulder; a small fold from eye to the posterior corner of mouth commissure; fingers and toes with disks, circummarginal grooves restricted to toe discs; webbing on toes medium (3/ 4th); femoral glands and thumb pad very prominent in adult males; body, colored reddish-brown to blackishbrown dorsally with two yellowish dorsolateral bands and pale ventrally.</p> <p> <b>Description of the holotype:</b> Some morphometric data are given in Table 1. The holotype is in good condition.</p> <p> A medium sized species of <i>Nyctibatrachus</i> (SVL 40.0 mm); body mode compact and squat; head wider (HW 15.2 mm) than long (HL 12.2 mm; MN 10.2 mm; MFE 8.2 mm; MBE 4.2 mm), convex; snout slightly pointed (SL 7.0 mm), marginally protruding, its length longer than horizontal diameter of eye (EL 5.0 mm); canthus rostralis rounded; loreal region concave; interorbital space flat (IO 4.0 mm) and double the upper eyelid width (UEW 2.0 mm); maximum distance between the upper lids larger (IUE 9.2 mm), three times more than the internarial distance (IN 3.0 mm); distance between back of eyes (IBE 14.0 mm) is more than double the distance between front of eyes (IFE 6.0 mm); nostrils oval, without a flap of skin, nearer to eye (EN 2.8 mm) than to snout tip (NS 3.8 mm); eyes large (EL/HL= 0.40) protruding upside the head, its diameter more than eye to nostril distance (EL/EN=1.7); pupil rhomboidal black; tympanum indistinct; pineal ocellus absent; vomerine ridge present posterior to choanae bearing 3 sharp spinose teeth randomly on each ridge, ridges are close to each other than to choanae; symphysial knob ‘W’ shaped very prominent; tongue moderate, oval slightly emarginated, median lingual process absent; parotoid glands, cephalic ridges and co-ossified skin absent.</p> <p>Forelimbs (FLL 9.2 mm) strong and equal to hand (HAL 9.2 mm) length; Fingers thin, long, rounded (TFL 4.8 mm) without any dermal fringes and webbing absent; relative length of fingers, shortest to longest: I<II<IV<III; tips of fingers enlarged with disk, circum marginal groove absent, dorsal longitudinal groove present on all the finger disks; subarticular tubercles moderate, round, minute one each on finger I and II and two each on finger III and IV; prepollex and palmar tubercle indistinct.</p> <p> Parameters 646* 647# 650# 651# <b> mean <i>±</i> standard devia-</b> 648# 649# <b> mean <i>±</i> standard devia-</b> </p> <p> <b>tion (range) tion (range)</b></p> <p>Sex Male Male Male Male Female Female</p> <p>* Holotype; # Paratypes</p> <p>Hindlimbs moderately long; tibia length (TL 18.8 mm) more than two times longer than wide (TW 6.8 mm), longer than thigh length (FL 17.6 mm) and sub equal to the distance from base of inner metatarsal tubercle to tip of toe IV (FOL 18.2 mm); heels separate widely when the tibia are bent right angles to the body; toes thin and long; toe IV long (FTL 10.4 mm) more than double the distance from base of tarsus to tip of toe IV (TFOL 25.0 mm); relative length of toes, shortest to longest: I<II<V<III<IV; tips of toes with enlarged disks, disks with circummarginal grooves; webbing medium(3/4th) (I 0- 1 II 0- 1 III 0- 1 IV 1-0 V) (Fig. 4 b) (MTTF 11.2 mm; MTFF 11.8 mm; TFTF 5.8 mm; FFTF 5.4 mm); dermal fringe along toe V distinct; subarticular tubercles simple, moderate, oval all present; inner metatarsal tubercle short prominent, spade shaped; its length (IMT 3.2 mm) subequal to length of toe I (ITL 3.4 mm); inner tarsal ridge present; outer metatarsal tubercle, supernumerary tubercles and tarsal tubercles absent.</p> <p> <b>Male secondary sexual characters:</b> In life males have transparent vocal sacs in front of shoulders; a nuptial pad covering the entire dorsal surface of the first finger (Fig 4 a) and a pair of much raised glandular femoral glands which are two times more in length (FGL 7.6 mm) than width (FGW 3.4 mm), (is conspicuous both in life and preservative).</p> <p> <b>General skin fold pattern:</b> Skin is highly corrugated on the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the body, forelimbs and hind limbs with short longitudinal folds; snout with a ‘Y’ shaped fold from middle of upper lip, its arms bifurcating in-between the nares and running towards the orbit; eye lids finely vermiculated with short longitudinal folds; a horizontal fold of 3.0 mm at the interorbital space at the anterior corner of the eyes; a second horizontal fold of 6.0 mm at the posterior corner of the orbit 4.0 mm away from the former and a third horizontal fold of 7.0 mm on the dorsum above the shoulder 7.0 mm behind the second; supratympanic fold and a fold from posterior corner of eye to mouth commissure distinct; either side of the dorsum with a dorsolateral fold, lateral part of the body with two more lateral folds, together appearing as 3 parallel folds when viewed from the lateral angle (Fig 1); tarsus with few small pigmented spine like warts. Throat with dense glandular longitudinal folds and rest of the venter soft glandular without any folds; belly smooth; lower lip dotted with a single row of small discontinuous glandular folds; thigh ventrally smooth.</p> <p> <b>Colour in preservative</b> (Fig 2 a, 2b): The dorsal and lateral parts of the body mottled with rocky black and cream color, with a pair of white dorsolateral lines from the orbit of eye to the region of vent running paralelly with the lateral folds; a short white band from the middle of the dorsum to vent in between the two white dorsolateral bands; on the loreal region white spots just in front of eyes to the region of upper lip; white horizontal band between the eyes; a white line from the upper lip to inter-nostril space; white patch at the region of tympanum; upper lip barred; femoral glands cream white; dorsal parts of limbs: forelimbs, thigh, shank and foot up to the tip of fingers and toes barred with rocky black cross bars; throat pale brown; lower lip dotted with white spots; chest, belly and thigh whitish, soft; undersurface of forelimbs mottled with brown; hind limbs speckled with brown; femoral glands granular, white in color (Fig 2 b).</p> <p> <i>Colour in life</i> (Fig 1): Iris golden yellow in its upper part, pupil rhomboidal, black in color. Sides of head mottled with blackish brown, lighter in tympanic region. A yellow horizontal band connecting the anterior corner of eye, a yellow line at the region of canthus rostralis starting from the tip of the upper lip and continuing on with the dorsolateral band breaking at the region of orbit. Mid-dorsum reddish black or stone black; arm mottled with blackish brown; a light yellow nuptial pad on the first finger of the male; hind legs barred; sides of the body yellow mottled with a network of folds bearing white spots on the raised edges of the folds. Throat translucent with brown glandular spots. Chest, belly and anterior part of thighs translucent, where internal organs can be clearly seen. Posterior part of thigh with raised glossy light yellow femoral gland in males.</p> <p> <b>Etymology:</b> The specific epithet is derived from the divinity, Lord “Dattatreya”, a shrine, worshiped by people at Dattatreya Peeta, the type locality of the species under description here.</p> <p> <b>Additional information from paratypes and variations:</b> Morphological data are given in Table 1. Paratypes range from 36.2 mm to 41.0 mm in SVL; in all the external morphological characters they are similar to holotype. All the smaller young ones observed with SVL 20.0 mm to 22.0 mm in the field possess all the above mentioned skin fold patterns, even the young ones of this species can be identified on field just by the dorsal fold patterns and the two white dorsolateral bands.</p> <p> <b>Ecological notes:</b> The paratypes were collected between 13.30 to 14.30 hrs in the slow moving stream of Manikyadhara falls in the hill ranges of Dattatreya Peeta. Day time activity was found to be less when compared to the evening and night time activity between 19.00 hrs to 22.00 hrs during the collection of holotype. At day time, specimens were located by turning the small boulders upside down and locating them in water was finding difficult because of their reddish brown dorsum camouflaging with the ferruginous substratum. The hill ranges at type locality was historically known as ‘Chandra Drona Parvatha’ and this species is expected to found along this hill ranges. As nothing is known of its biology; we recommend the conservation status currently should be considered as data deficient.</p> <p> <b>Comparisons:</b> We compared <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> with all the valid 15 species of <i>Nyctibatrachus</i> based on the original descriptions and examination of available types. The possession of three prominent transverse folds on the anterior dorsum - a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds as well as the highly corrugated skin is unique to <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i> in this group. In addition to the fold patterns <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i> sp. nov differs from, <i>N. beddomii</i> (Boulenger) (up to 15.6 mm SVL); <i>N. kempholeyensis</i> (Rao) (up to 18.0 mm SVL); <i>N. anamallaiensis</i> (Myers) (up to 15.7 mm SVL); <i>N. minor</i> Inger, Shaffer, Koshy and Bakde (up to 21.5 mm SVL); <i>N. deccanensis</i> Dubois (up to 23.1 mm SVL); <i>N. sholai</i> Radhakrishnan, Dinesh and Ravichandran (up to 22.1 mm SVL) and <i>N. minimus</i> Biju, Bocxlaer, Giri, Roelants, Nagaraju and Bossuyt (up to 14.9 mm SVL) in having large adult size (up to 41.0 mm SVL) at sexual maturity.</p> <p>For the other medium to large sized (33.0 mm to 84.0 mm SVL) congeners we compare the new species, listing only diagnostic characters of the respective species.</p> <p> <i>N. humayuni</i> Bhaduri and Kripalani, adult size up to 48.0 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); dorsum with very small vermiculated folds (Fig 5a, b & c) (dorsum corrugated with three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); nostrils midway between the snout tip and anterior corner of eyes (nostrils nearer to orbit than to snout tip in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); vomerine patches with 6-8 teeth (vomerine ridge with 3 sharp spinose teeth in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); snout nearly equal to diameter of the eye (SL/EL=1.18) (snout length more than eye diameter (SL/EL=1.40) in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); tips of fingers and toes very well dilated in to disks with circummarginal groves (fingers and toes with disks but not well dilated in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. petraeus</i> Das and Kunte, adult size up to 43.2 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); skin with close set of folds without any specific pattern (Fig 6a, b & c) (skin corrugated with distinct pattern of three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); body with a relatively narrow waist (width behind shoulders and at waist sub equal in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); finger and toe tips with well developed disks with circummarginal grooves (finger and toe disks not well developed only toe disks with circummarginal grooves in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. karnatakaensis</i> Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Reddy and Gururaja, adult size up to 84.0 mm, largest species of the genus (adult size up to 41.0 mm in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); skin highly vermiculated with close set of glandular folds, no specific pattern (Fig 7a, b & c) (skin folds corrugated but not glandular, but with a distinct pattern of three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); subarticular tubercles on toes distinct and oval (subarticular tubercles on toes simple, moderate and oval in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. major</i> Boulenger, adult size up to 36.0 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm SVL in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); dorsum corrugated with numerous short irregular folds without any uniform pattern in adults, juveniles with less corrugations (Fig 8 a & c). (dorsum with short irregular corrugations, with distinct three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in adults, juveniles with distinct fold pattern in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); throat marbled with brownish grey or sepia (Fig 8 b) (throat creamish white without any marblings in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); snout rounded (snout slightly pointed in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); web formula I 1- 2 II 1-2½ III 1-2 ½ IV 2 ½- 1 V (web formula I 0- 1 II 0- 1 III 0- 1 IV 1-0 V in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. sylvaticus</i> Rao, adult size up to 42.0 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm SVL in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); skin on the dorsum with tubercles and short glandular folds (dorsum with short irregular corrugations with, distinct three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); head as long as broad or slightly longer (head wider than long in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); snout not longer than diameter of eye (snout longer than diameter of eye in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); canthus rostralis angular, well marked (canthus rostralis rounded in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. sanctipalustris</i> Rao, adult size up to 39.0 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm SVL in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); skin nearly smooth in the young but covered by short semicircular folds on the back and the sides, in the adult (skin corrugated in the young ones with distinct folds and adults with three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); canthus rostralis absent (canthus rostralis rounded in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); snout length equals to diameter of eye (snout length more than the diameter of the eye in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); nostrils equidistant between eye and tip of snout (nostrils nearer to eye in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. aliciae</i> Inger, Shaffer, Koshy and Bakde, adult size up to 33.5 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); dorsum with irregular series of short ridges (Fig 9 a & c) (dorsum corrugated with folds with distinct three transverse folds, a dorsolateral fold and two lateral folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); snout rounded, canthus rostralis absent (snout slightly pointed, canthus rostralis rounded in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); finger and toe disks with circummarginal grooves (only toe disks with circummarginal grooves in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); femoral glands weak (Fig 9 b) (femoral gland distinct in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p> <p> <i>N. vasanthi</i> Ravichandran, adult size up to 39.0 mm SVL (adult size up to 41.0 mm SVL in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); dorsum in the mid-dorsal region from eye to groin without wrinkles, skin of belly and throat smooth (Fig 10 a, b & c). (dorsum corrugated with distinct pattern of folds, skin on throat with glandular longitudinal folds in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); snout length nearly as long as the diameter of the eye (snout length more than the diameter of the eye in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); canthus rostralis indistinct (canthus rostralis rounded in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>); tibia relatively long (TL/SVL=0.50 to 0.81) (tibia relatively short (TL/SVL=0.46 to 0.49) in <i>N. dattatreyaensis</i>).</p>Published as part of <i>Bhatta, Gopalakrishna, 2008, A new species of Nyctibatrachus Boulenger (Amphibia: Anura: Nyctibatrachidae) from the surroundings of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India, pp. 45-56 in Zootaxa 1914</i> on pages 46-54, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/274551">10.5281/zenodo.274551</a>
Gegeneophis madhavai Bhatta & Srinivasa, 2004, sp. nov.
No full textGegeneophis madhavai sp. nov. (Figs. 1, 2, Table 1) Holotype: Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India (BNHS 4235). A mature male, collected at Doddinaguli locality (Mudur Village, Kundapura Taluk, Udupi District, Karnataka State) in August 2001. The village is situated adjacent to the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Western Ghats. Paratype: Zoological Survey of India, Calicut (ZSI, Calicut: V/A/ 574). A mature male, with collection data as for the holotype. Diagnosis: A large Gegeneophis differing from all other species in having ‘visible eyes in life’, fewer than 100 primary annuli and more than 25 secondary annuli that are confined to the posterior of the body. These features are found in other species, but not in this unique combination. holotype paratype Distance between jaw angle and ventral surface of lower jaw 2.9 3.0 Distance between jaw angle and snout tip 7.0 6.1 Distance between jaw angle and tip of lower jaw 5.9 5.1 Distance between nostrils 2.0 1.8 Distance between nostril and snout tip 0.8 1.0 Distance between tentacles 3.8 3.7 Distance between tentacle and snout tip 2.8 2.5 Distance between tentacle and jaw angle 4.1 3.7 Distance between tentacle and nostril 1.4 1.4 Distance between tentacle and margin of upper lip 0.5 0.6 Distance between tentacle and top of head 1.2 0.9 Width at 1 st nuchal groove 7.8 7.8 Width at 2 nd nuchal groove 8.5 8.6 Width at 3 rd nuchal groove 9.2 8.3 Length of 1 st nuchal collar (laterally) 2.0 2.2 Length of 2 nd nuchal collar (laterally) 2.5 2.9 Distance between snout tip and 1 st nuchal groove 9.1 7.5 Distance between snout tip and 2 nd nuchal groove 11.1 9.7 Distance between snout tip and 3 rd nuchal groove 13.6 12.6 Total number of primary annuli 97 96 Total number of secondary annuli 35 27 Anteriormost primary annulus with secondary groove 63 rd 70 th Number of complete secondary annuli in front of vent 7 5 Description of the holotype: Morphometric and meristic data are given in Table 1. The specimen is in good condition. The holotype measures 256 mm in length and 34 mm in circumference at midbody. There are four artefactual transverse ridges on the dorsal surface, commencing c. 22 mm from the snout tip. A midventral longitudinal groove of 210 mm length extends between the third nuchal groove and the vent. There is a 44 mm long midventral incision into the body cavity beginning 41 mm in front of the vent. There are a few small scratches on the skin on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces (made during the search for scales). The body in life is subcylindrical and slightly dorsoventrally compressed. The body is not uniform in its width throughout the length. In the preserved specimen the body is 8.8 mm wide at the first annular groove and 11.7 mm at midbody in the broadest part. At 55 mm anterior to the terminus, i.e. just behind the broadest region, the body is 8.5 mm width. Thereafter the body gradually increases in width to 10.6 mm just in front of the vent. The body is 8.6 mm wide at the level of vent. In dorsal view, the head tapers strongly from the level of the occiput to the tentacular apertures. Anteriorly, the head tapers and terminates in a bluntly rounded but narrow snout tip. The posterior region of the head at jaw angle is slightly narrower than the nuchal region. Laterally the top of the head is straight and without any strong bulges. The margin of the upper lip slightly arched. The snout projects 1.0 mm beyond the mouth. The distance between the jaw angle and the top of the head (2.7 mm) is less than the distance between the jaw angle and the ventral surface of the lower jaw (2.9 mm). In ventral view, the anterior margin of the lower jaw is more broadly rounded than the anterior margin of the snout. The small subcircular nostrils are slightly closer to the level of the snout tip (0.8 mm) than to the anteriormost margin of the mouth (1.1 mm) in lateral view. The nostrils are 2.0 mm apart, visible dorsally and laterally but not ventrally. They are surrounded by a narrow whitish rim. In life, the tentacles are globular. The tentacular apertures are circular, lateral in position and 3.8 mm apart. They are situated at a distance of 2.8 mm from the tip of the snout and 1.4 mm from the nostrils. The slightly raised tentacular apertures are visible in both dorsal and ventral views. They are much closer to the margin of the upper lip (0.5 mm) than to the top of the head (1.2 mm). The eyes, which are scarcely visible in life, are not visible in the preserved specimen. We counted 25 premaxillarymaxillary (13 left, 12 right), 22 vomeropalatine, 19 dentary (9 left, 10 right) and 4 splenial teeth (including empty sockets). The vomeropalatine and splenial teeth occur in equal numbers on each side of the jaws. The teeth in all four series are generally recurved and are monocusped. They are smaller posteriorly than anteriorly. The posteriormost teeth of the premaxillarymaxillary and vomeropalatine series are not parallel, but lie closer together. The vomeropalatine series lacks diastemata. Both in the upper and lower jaw the teeth of the outer rows are markedly larger than those of the inner rows. The premaxillarymaxillary and vomeropalatine tooth rows clearly extend posterior to the choanae. When viewed anteriorly, the dentary teeth appear largest, followed by the premaxillarymaxillary and vomeropalatine teeth in decreasing order of the size. The splenials are the smallest. The choanae are small, circular and are separated by a distance of approximately two times the width of each choana. The tongue is broadly rounded in dorsal view and unattached anteriorly. It is separated by a groove from the gingivae. The raised narial plugs are situated far anterolaterally close to the edge of the tongue and are with encircling grooves. The posterior part of the dorsal surface of the tongue behind the narial plugs is darker than the anterior and it is marked by tiny longitudinal grooves. The nuchal region is broader and higher than the adjacent parts of the body. The two nuchal collars are marked clearly by three nuchal grooves. The nuchal region at the first nuchal groove (7.8 mm) is slightly broader than the back of the head at the jaw angle (6.5 mm) but it is less expanded than the body at the first annular groove (8.8 mm). The first collar (2.0 mm) is shorter than the second (2.5 mm) laterally. The nuchal grooves are complete around the nuchal region with the exception of the third nuchal groove, which is incomplete midventrally. The first collar bears one short transverse groove middorsally. The second collar also bears a middorsal transverse groove that extends almost fully across the dorsal surface. There is a small transverse groove on the ventral surface just in front of the first nuchal groove. Although the nuchal and annular grooves are mostly perpendicular to the long axis of the body, the transverse groove on the second collar, the third nuchal groove and the posterior grooves of the first three primary annuli are slightly angulate anterodorsally. On the ventrolateral surface, the free ends of the third nuchal groove bend slightly posteriorly. The annuli are marked by whitish coloured grooves, which are more conspicuous posteriorly. There are 97 primary annuli. Secondary annular grooves occur as far forward as middorsally on the 63 rd primary annulus. They are absent on the 64 th and 65 th primary annuli but present on all subsequent primary annuli. Between the 66 th and 73 rd primary, the secondary grooves are dorsolateral in position but often not on both sides. From 74 th primary annulus onwards, they are middorsal in position, gradually increasing in length up to the terminus. The secondary grooves extend across the midline on the ventral surface from the 90 th primary annulus up to the subcircular disc surrounding the vent. The subcircular disc is 4.2 mm wide, 2.1 mm long and is interrupted by the 96 th primary and the 35 th secondary annular grooves. The rounded terminus ends in a cap that is completely demarcated by the last primary annular groove. The transverse vent is 3.3 mm wide. The vent is surrounded by ten denticles. Seven secondary grooves in front of the vent are complete. There are 35 secondary annuli. Scales were sought at five different points along the body both dorsally and ventrally. No scales were found on the 40 th primary annulus. On the 50 th and the 56 th primary annulus the oval scales are found only on the dorsal surface in two rows. On the 90 th primary annulus, where the secondary annular grooves become complete ventrally, scales occur in two rows both on the dorsal and the ventral surfaces. Behind this annulus, on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces, scales occur in three rows in each of the annular grooves. In life, the colour of the holotype in the anterior one third was pinkish grey, which gradually merged with the dark grey of the posterior two thirds of the body. The dorsal surface of the head was light pink and the ventral surface pinkish grey with a prominent inverted ‘V’ shaped light pink mark on the underneath of the lower jaw. The skin contains whitish glands throughout the body. In preservation, the body is dark grey on the dorsal surface, which merges gradually with the light grey on the ventral surface. The annular grooves are of whitish colouration and more prominent laterally. The entire dorsal surface of the head including the snout tip is light cream coloured. The under surface of the lower jaw is indistinguishable in colouration from the rest of the body behind it but it has a 2 mm wide light cream coloured border. The disc surrounding the vent is whitish both in life and preservation. Paratype: Morphometric and meristic data are given in Table 1. The paratype is very similar to the holotype. The paratype is in good condition. It measures 218 mm in length and 33 mm in circumference at midbody. There are four artefactual transverse ridges on the dorsal side, beginning c. 10 mm behind the snout. There is a 195 mm long midventral groove extending between the third nuchal groove and the vent. There is a 39 mm long midventral incision into the body cavity beginning 48 mm in front of the vent. In the preserved specimen the body is 8.5 mm wide at the first annular groove and 11.2 mm at midbody in the broadest part. At 55 mm anterior to the terminus, i.e. just behind the broadest region the body is 9.0 mm width. Thereafter the body gradually increases in width to 10.4 mm just in front of the vent. The body is 8.0 mm wide at the level of vent. The paratype is a paler grey than the holotype. It resembles the holotype in the pattern of nuchal grooves. There are 96 complete primary annular grooves in the paratype i.e. one less than the holotype. The paratype has 27 secondary annuli with the grooves appearing most anteriorly on either side of the middorsal line of the 70 th primary annulus. The 71 st primary annulus lacks a secondary groove. Between the 72 nd and 78 th primary, the secondary grooves are dorsolateral in position but often not on both sides. From 79 th primary annulus onwards, they are middorsal in position, gradually increasing in length up to the terminus. They extend across the midline on the ventral surface from the 92 nd primary annulus up to the subcircular disc surrounding the vent. The disc is 4.0 mm wide, 2.8 mm long and is interrupted by the grooves of the 96 th primary and 27 th secondary annular grooves. The transverse vent is 3.0 mm wide and surrounded by nine denticles. Five secondary annular grooves in front of the vent are complete. The paratype has 22 premaxillarymaxillary teeth, in equal numbers on both the sides and 15 dentary teeth of which seven are on the left side and eight on the right side of the jaw. The scalation pattern resembles that of the holotype although the exact number of the primary annulus where the scaling commences differs from the latter. Ecology and habitat: Both the holotype and paratype were collected from rotting vegetation at the base of saplings at a distance c. 5 m from a stream in an arecanut orchard. The locality is situated in the Western Ghats at approximately 80 m above sea level. The soil where the specimens were spotted was reddishblack in colour with pH 6.0, temperature 29 o C (at 30 cm depth) and 75 % canopy cover. Comparison with congeneric species: The presence or absence of secondary annuli and grooves, the number of primary and secondary annuli, the position of secondary annuli and the external visibility of eyes are important characters used for differentiating the species of Gegeneophis (Giri et al. 2003). G. madhavai differs from G. seshachari in having secondary annuli and from G. ramaswamii in having visible eyes in life. It differs from G. danieli and G. nadkarnii in having secondary annular grooves confined to the end of body, and from G. carnosus, G. seshachari, G. danieli, G. nadkarnii and G. krishni in having fewer than 100 primary annuli. G. madhavai is distinct from G. f u l l e r i in having more than 25 secondary annuli. Externally visible eyes, fewer than 100 primary and more than 25 secondary annuli are found in other species, but not in this unique combination. The above differences are substantial to consider G. madhavai as a new species. Etymology: The species is named for Madhava Bhat, Madhavarao Bhide, Madhava Anantha Pai and Madhava Gadgil for supporting the first author’s research into caecilians.Published as part of Bhatta, Gopalakrishna & Srinivasa, R., 2004, A new species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from the surroundings of Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India, pp. 1-8 in Zootaxa 644 on pages 2-7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15809
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