Tropidophorus boehmei Nguyen, Nguyen, Schmitz, Orlov & Ziegler, 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Nguyen, Truong Quang
name: Nguyen, Tao Thien
name: Schmitz, Andreas
name: Orlov, Nikolai L.
name: Ziegler, Thomas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Scincidae
Tropidophorus
Tropidophorus boehmei

description: Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov.
(Figs. 2, 3)
Holotype. VNMN 822, adult male, collected on 10 June 2009 by Nguyen Thien Tao and Nguyen Van Quang in the forest of Hoang Lien Mountain, near Ban Khoang (22o24’N and 103o47’E), Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam, at an altitude of 1200–1300 m a.s.l.
Paratypes. IEBR A.0922 (adult male), IEBR A.0923 (adult female), VNMN 820 (adult female), VNMN 909 (adult male), MHNG 2721.49 (adult male), ZFMK 89136 (adult male), ZFMK 89137 (adult female), the same data as the holotype; ZISP 25745 (adult female) collected on 6 May 2004 by Nikolai Orlov in the forest of Hoang Lien Mountain, near Na Nheo (21o59’N, 104o20’E), Khanh Yen Ha Commune, Van Ban District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, at an altitude of 1000 m a.s.l.; and VNUH S.162 (Bourret’s collection in Hanoi), collected from “Chapa, Tonkin ” (now Sa Pa, Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam).
Diagnosis. Size large, maximum SVL up to 103.5 mm; upper head scales smooth; frontonasal undivided; prefrontals small, widely separated from each other; nuchals 1–4; supralabials 6; supraciliaries 7–8, supraciliary row completed along the entire length of the lateral edge of supraoculars; external ear opening present, tympanum diameter smaller than eye length; midbody scale rows 30–32; dorsal and lateral scales smooth; paravertebral scales 60–69, not widened; ventral scales 56–66; scale rows at position of tenth subcaudal 17–18; medial subcaudals divided from first to fifth, remaining ones approximately 1.5 times wider than neighboring scales; limbs well developed, dorsal surface covered by smooth scales; lamellae smooth, 16–19 under fourth toe; dorsum and tail base dark grey with light transverse bands and two dorsolateral rows of white dots from neck to tail base; body sides dark grey with small white dots from behind the eye to tail base.
Description of holotype. Size large (SVL 99.1 mm, TaL 138.8 mm), for further measurements see Table 2; head longer than wide; upper head scales smooth; snout obtuse, rounded anteriorly; rostral wider than high, visible from above; supranasals absent; frontonasal as long as wide, in contact with rostral, nasals, anterior loreals, frontal, and prefrontals; prefrontals very small, widely separated from each other; frontal narrowing posteriorly, 1.5 times longer than the distance to the snout, in contact with frontonasal, prefrontals, first to third supraoculars, and frontoparietals; frontoparietals in contact anteriorly, and bordered by frontal, third and fourth supraoculars, parietals and interparietal; interparietal small, without small transparent spot; parietals in contact posteriorly, posterolateral border surrounded by 4 scales on each side; nuchal scales in 2 pairs; nostril in centre of nasal; loreals 2, anterior loreal higher but narrower than posterior one; anterior loreal undivided, posterior loreal in contact with anterior loreal, prefrontal, first supraciliary, preocular, upper presubocular, and second supralabial; preoculars 2; presuboculars 2, anterior large, posterior one in contact with third and fourth supralabials; supraciliaries 8, first largest, supraciliary row completed along the entire length of the lateral edge of the supraoculars; supraoculars 4, second widest, followed by a small postsupraocular; postocular single; pretemporal single; postsuboculars 4, lower one in contact with fourth and fifth supralabials; primary temporals 2, lower one in contact with fifth and sixth supralabials; secondary temporals 3, upper one very large and in contact with parietal; lower eyelid moveable, with four enlarged opaque scales, separated from supralabials by two rows of small scales; supralabials 6, fourth largest and below the eye; a shallow groove on loreal-labial border, from posterior corner of nasal across subocular obliquely downward to the end of fourth supralabial; external ear opening ovoid, without lobules; tympanum superficial, tympanum diameter much smaller than eye length; mental wider than long, rounded anteriorly, in contact with first infralabial on each side and postmental; infralabials 5, first longest; postmental undivided, in contact with mental, first infralabial on both sides, and anterior pair of chinshields; chinshields in 3 pairs, first pair in contact anteriorly, second pair separated by a gular scale, third pair very small and separated by three scales; first and second pairs of chinshields in contact with infralabials, third pair separated from infralabials by small scales.
Midbody scales in 30 rows; dorsal scales smooth, subequal to lateral and ventral scales, in 8 rows across the back; paravertebral scales 64, not widened; lateral scales smooth; ventral scales smooth, in 65 rows; precloacals 2+2, inner precloacals overlapping outer ones, central two enlarged, right one overlapped by left one; partially everted hemipenis bifurcated apically; tail thick at base, 17 scale rows at position of tenth subcaudal; medial subcaudals divided from first to third, remaining ones about 1.5 timer wider than neighboring scales.
Limbs well developed, pentadactyl; third and fourth fingers equal in length; scales on dorsal surface of basal digit IV in two rows and terminal three scales in single row; subdigital lamellae smooth, numbering 12/ 12 under fourth finger and 16/17 under fourth toe.
Coloration in alcohol. Dorsal head, back, and tail base dark grey with indistinct light transverse bands, faded from anterior to posterior: one between anterior corners of eye, two on neck, seven between limb insertions, three on tail base; dorsum with two rows of white dots from neck to the point above vent; body sides dark grey with irregular white dots from behind the eye to groin; supralabials and infralabials with light dots; limbs dorsally dark grey with white dots; chin and throat grey; venter and underside of tail base brownish cream; underside of tail tip dark grey. For coloration in life see Fig. 2.
Variation of paratypes. Measurements, pholidosis and color pattern of the paratypes are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. The specimen from Van Ban (ZISP 25745) has parietals separated by a small scale posteriorly, and midbody scales in 32 rows. Males are somewhat larger than females (SVL 89.7 ± 14.3 mm, n = 6 versus 72.9 ± 9.4 mm, n = 4, respectively).
Distribution. Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. is currently known only from Hoang Lien Mountain in Sa Pa and Van Ban districts, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam (Fig. 4).
Natural history. Specimens were collected in the late afternoon and in the evening (1600–2100 h) in and nearby rocky forest streams. When disturbed they disappeared in the water or in rock holes. The stomach content of the female (IEBR A.0923) contained remains of a spider (Arachnida). Stomachs were empty in VNMN 820, 909, and ZFMK 89137. The holotype had white testes (7.1 mm in length and 3.4 mm in diameter). The females contained small white follicles.
Etymology. We name this new species in honor of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Böhme, vice director of the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn, head of the Vertebrate Section and curator for herpetology, in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards lizard systematics and training of many herpetologist generations. For the common names we suggest Boehme’s Water Skink (English), Thằn lằn tai boê-me (Vietnamese), and Böhmes Wasserskink (German).
Comparisons. Based on data from the literature (e.g., Blyth 1853; Boulenger 1887; Smith 1919, 1923, 1935; Taylor 1963; Wen 1992; Ngo et al. 2000; Hikida et al. 2002; Greer & Biswas 2004; Chuaynkern et al. 2005; Ziegler et al. 2005, 2007; Bourret 2009; Nguyen et al. 2010) and specimen-based research (Appendix 1), we compare Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. in the following with congeners from the Indochinese Peninsula:
Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. differs from T. cocincinensis, T. hainanus, T. guangxiensis, T. microlepis, T. robisoni, T. sinicus, and T. thai by having smooth dorsal head scales (versus striated in latter species).
baviensis boehmei berdmorei hangnam laotus latiscutatus matsuii murphyi noggei
Frontonasal divided (2) 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 or undivided (1)
Prefontals in contact 1, rarely 0 0 0 or 1 1 0 or 1 0 1 1 1or 0 (1) or separated (0)
Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. differs from remaining water skink species, that also have smooth dorsal head scales (Table 4) as follows: from T. baviensis, T. hangnam, T. latiscutatus, T. matsuii, T. murphyi, and T. noggei in having smooth dorsal body scales (versus being keeled in the latter species). The new species further differs from T. baviensis, T. latiscutatus, T. matsuii, T. murphyi, and T. noggei by having a higher number of scale rows at position of tenth subcaudal (17–18 versus 9–15). Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. is most similar to Tropidophorus berdmorei and T. laotus due to the presence of smooth body scales. However, Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. differs from both latter species by having the supraciliary row completed along the entire length of the lateral edge of the supraoculars. The new species is further distinguished from T. berdmorei by having lower counts of midbody scale rows (30–32 versus 32–40 in T. berdmorei), lower counts of lamellae under the fourth toe (16–19 versus 22 in T. berdmorei), and a higher number of ventral scales (56– 66 versus 53 in T. berdmorei). Tropidophorus boehmei sp. nov. furthermore differs from T. laotus by having the tympanum diameter (1.7–2.9 mm) smaller than the eye length (3.6–5.2 mm) (versus tympanum as large as eye in T. laotus) and frontonasal undivided (versus frontonasal divided in T. laotus).
description: Published as part of Nguyen, Truong Quang, Nguyen, Tao Thien, Schmitz, Andreas, Orlov, Nikolai L. & Ziegler, Thomas, 2010, A new species of the genus Tropidophorus Duméril & Bibron, 1839 (Squamata: Sauria: Scincidae) from Vietnam, pp. 53-68 in Zootaxa 2439 on pages 57-65, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.194925