Atractus potschi Fernandes 1995
Creators: name: Passos, Paulo
name: Fernandes, Ronaldo
name: Bérnils, Renato S.
name: De Moura-Leite, Julio C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Dipsadidae
Atractus
Atractus potschi

description: Atractus potschi Fernandes, 1995   
Figs. 8C, 13A  
 Atractus potschi Fernandes, 1995; J. Herpetol. 29:417.   
 Holotype: Adult male, IBSP 48438, collected on 19 July 1985 by A. J. Santos, municipality of Maceió (09º40’S, 35º43’W, sea level), state of Alagoas, Brazil, (specimen examined).   
 Paratypes: Eleven specimens all from state of Sergipe: adult female (MZUSP 7196) and adult males (MZUSP 7001, 7165, 7197) collected on 29 April 1978 by E. M. X. Freire; adult males (MZUSP 7275–76, 7278, 7280–81) and females (MZUSP 7277, 7279) collected between September and November 1978 by E. M. X. Freire, all from municipality of Salgado (11º02’S, 37º28’W, ca. 150 m).   
 Diagnosis: Atractus potschi is distinguished from all congeners by the combination of the following characters: (1) 15/15/15, smooth dorsal scale rows; (2) two postoculars; (3) loreal long; (4) temporals 1+2; (5) seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; (6) seven infralabials, first four contacting chinshields; (7) seven maxillary teeth; (8) three gular scale rows; (9) three preventrals; (10) 153–165 ventrals in females, 141–150 in males; (11) 22–25 subcaudals in females, 27–32 in males; (12) dorsal ground colour creamish yellow, with black collar and black dots, occasionally merged to form blotches or crossbands; (13) venter immaculate creamish white; (14) moderate body size, females reaching 370 mm SVL, males 312 mm SVL; (15) tail short in females (8.6–11.4% SVL) and short to moderate (8.8–15.6% SVL) in males; (16) slightly bilobed, semicapitate, and semicalyculate hemipenis.   
 Comparisons: Among all congeners, A. potschi shares 15 dorsal scale rows, seven or eight maxillary teeth, dorsal colour pattern creamish yellow or beige with black spots or blotches, and venter predominantly creamish white only with A. insipidus and A. punctiventris. Atractus potschi differs from A. insipidus by having a black collar, dorsal blotches forming thin crossbands, two postdiastemal teeth, and retracted hemipenis as long as 10 subcaudal scales (vs. black collar absent, dorsal colour pattern uniformly scattered with small black dots, single postdiastemal teeth, retracted hemipenis six subcaudal scales long); from A. punctiventris by having venter immaculate, creamish white (vs. venter with round dark brown blotches on the middle of ventrals, forming a conspicuous median stripe).   
 Description: Head twice longer than wide, slightly arched in lateral view, sub-triangular in dorsal view; snout truncate in lateral view, round in dorsal view; cervical constriction indistinct; rostral wider than high, sub-triangular in frontal view, poorly visible in dorsal view; internasal as long as wide; internasal suture sinistral with respect to prefrontal suture; prefrontal as long as wide; supraocular sub-trapezoidal, twice as long as wide; frontal sub-pentagonal or sub-triangular, broader than long; parietal twice as long as wide; nasal divided; nostril located between prenasal and postnasal; prenasal and postnasal twice as high as long; loreal moderate, contacting second and third supralabials; pupil round; generally two postoculars of similar size; upper postocular occasionally slightly longer than lower and lower postocular higher than upper; temporals 1+2; anterior temporal twice as long as high; upper posterior temporal elongate, three times longer than wide; seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; second supralabial higher than first and smaller than third; sixth higher and seventh longer than remaining supralabials; symphisial sub-triangular, twice as broad as long; seven infralabials, first four contacting chinshields; first pair of infralabials in contact behind symphisial, preventing symphisial/chinshields contact; chinshields twice as long as wide; three gular scale rows; generally three preventrals; 15/15/15 smooth dorsal scale rows; dorsals lacking apical pits, supra-anal tubercles, and keels; caudal spine moderate, conical, robust, and acuminate.   
 Maxillary arch: Arched in dorsal view, with five or six prediastemal and two postdiastemal teeth; prediastemal teeth large, moderately spaced, curved and decreasing gradually in size posteriorly, angular in cross section, robust at base, and narrower on the apices; maxillary diastema moderate; postdiastemal teeth slightly smaller than last prediastemal tooth; lateral process moderately developed, lacking posterior projection.   
 Colour in preservative: Dorsum of head brown to the middle of parietals; posterior region of parietals and temporal area creamish yellow; background of head brown to dorsal edges of supralabials; supralabials, except for dorsal margins, uniformly creamish yellow; mental region immaculate creamish white; venter and tail immaculate creamish white; dorsum of body with a black collar at neck on the third to sixth dorsal scale rows; region between end of parietals and black collar creamish yellow; occasionally there is a second black collar (three scales long) separated from the first by four creamish yellow scale rows; dorsal ground colour creamish yellow, uniformly scattered with small black dots (one scale wide/long); dots frequently arranged transversally, forming tiny (one scale wide) dorsal crossbands; bands extending above flanks to the level of fourth dorsal scale rows; bands occasionally constituting broad transversal blotches (one to three scales long), with size similar to interspaces anteriorly and decreasing posteriorly; first dorsal scale rows creamish white, second with small black dots (half scale wide) covering pale interspaces; dorsal dots or spots rarely merged, and arranged linearly along body (Fig. 8C).   
 Juvenile colouration in preservative: Juveniles and sub-adults with dorsal ground colour creamish yellow with narrow black dots (one scale long) usually merged into tiny crossbands.   
 Colour in life: Dorsum of head uniform brown to the level of anterior region of parietals; posterior portion of parietals and occipitals beige, forming a pale band; wide collar black; supralabials creamish yellow, except for brown dorsal margins of third and fourth scales; infralabials and mental region creamish yellow; venter and tail creamish yellow; dorsal ground colour of body reddish, uniformly scattered with small black dots (Fig. 13A).   
 Hemipenis morphology (everted organ, n = 1): Retracted organ bifurcates and extends to the level of seventh subcaudals. Organ slightly bilobed, semicapitate, and semicalyculate; lobes poorly distinct, restricted to distal portion of capitulum; lobes sub-cilyndrical with round apices, and smaller than remaining capitulum; lobes and capitulum uniformly covered with spinulate calyces; capitulum located just above sulcus spermaticus bifurcation; capitular groove poorly distinct on sulcate and well marked on the asulcate side of hemipenis; capitulum longer than hemipenial body on both sides of organ; sulcus spermaticus divides on basal third of hemipenial body; sulcus spermaticus branches with centrifugal orientation, running to tips of lobes; margins of sulcus spermaticus stout and moderately broad, bordered with spinules from the base to the end of lobes; hemipenial body sub-cylindrical as broad as capitulum, covered with moderate hooked spines; naked pocket absent; basal portion of hemipenial body with longitudinal plicae and diffuse spinules (Fig. 6D).   
 Variation: Largest male 312 mm SVL, 46 mm CL, largest female 370 mm SVL, 38 mm CL; tail 8.8– 15.6% (x¯ = 13.1; SD = 2.2; n = 11) SVL in males, 8.6–11.4% (x¯ = 10.2; SD = 1; n = 7) SVL in females; 141– 150 (x¯ = 145.3; SD = 3.7; n = 11) ventrals in males, 153–165 (x¯ = 157.7; SD = 4.9; n = 7) in females; 27–32 (x¯ = 29.4; SD = 1.5; n = 11) subcaudals in males, 22–25 (x¯ = 22.3; SD = 0.9; n = 7) in females; 7 (n = 35 sides) or 8 (n = 1 side) supralabials; 4 (n = 35 sides) or 5 (n = 1 side) infralabials contacting chinshields; 2 (n = 1), 3 (n = 4) or 4 (n = 1) preventrals; 8–10 (x¯ = 8.5; SD = 0.5; n = 12 sides) dorsal scale rows level with second subcaudal; 7 (n = 14 sides) or 8 (n = 4 sides) maxillary teeth; retracted hemipenis extends to level of 10 th subcaudal (n = 3).   
 Distribution: Northeastern Brazil, from São Cristovão (11º01’S, 37º12’W) in the state of Sergipe southwestward to Poções (14º32’S, 40º22’W) in the state of Bahia. Atractus potschi inhabits rainforest reminds in transitional areas amongst Lowland to Lower Montane Semi-deciduous Forest between 0–800 m elevation (Fig. 4).   
 Remarks: Fernandes (1995) described A. potschi on the basis of 12 specimens from the states of Alagoas and Sergipe, Brazil. Lima et al. (2000) extended species distribution southern to Feira de Santana, in the state of Bahia. We report herein nine additional specimens of A. potschi, extending the species range of distribution for five new localities on northeastern Brazil (see Fig. 4).
description: Published as part of Passos, Paulo, Fernandes, Ronaldo, Bérnils, Renato S. & De Moura-Leite, Julio C., 2010, Taxonomic revision of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Atractus (Reptilia: Serpentes: Dipsadidae) 2364, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 2364 (1) on pages 30-32, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2364.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5315506