Plagiopholis styani (Boulenger, 1899)

Liu, Shuo, Luo, Zengyang, Xiao, Xi, Peng, Caichun, Zhang, Dongru & Li, Shize, 2025, Re-discovery and re-description of the true Plagiopholis styani (Boulenger, 1899) (Serpentes, Pseudoxenodontidae), with the taxonomic status of the populations previously considered as P. styani, Biodiversity Data Journal 13, pp. e 151488-e 151488 : e151488-

Plagiopholis styani (Boulenger, 1899)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KIZ 20180002 ; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: EAA5E66E-45F0-519A-9027-AB6E53EFF7DF; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Fujian; locality: Guadun, Tongmu Village, Xingcun Town, Wuyishan City ; verbatimElevation: 1550 m; verbatimCoordinates: 27°44′30″N, 117°38′46″E; Event: eventRemarks: collected by Shuo Liu on 14 May 2018; Record Level: basisOfRecord: preserved specime

Description of the topotypic specimen

Adult female; body relatively short, tail quite short, SVL 359 mm, TaL 47 mm, TaL / SVL 0.13; head small, not distinct from neck; snout blunt, rostral large, approximately triangular, visible from above; internasals wider than long; prefrontals polygonal; frontal shield-shaped, longer than wide; supraocular elongated rectangular; parietals large, gradually narrowing posteriorly, median suture approximately equal to length of frontal; nasal divided into two scales; no loreal; eye moderate, pupil round; preocular 1 / 1; postoculars 2 / 2; supralabials 6 / 6, first and second in contact with prenasal and postnasal, third and fourth entering orbit; anterior temporals 2 / 2, posterior temporals 2 / 2; mental elongate, wider than long; infralabials 6 / 6, first pair not contacting each other; two pairs of chin shields, anterior pairs longer than posterior; dorsal scales in 15 rows throughout, all smooth; ventral scales 119; subcaudal scales 25; precloacal plate undivided (Table 2 , Fig. 1 , Fig. 2 ).

Colouration of the topotypic specimen in life

Dorsal surface greyish-brown with some small black spots on dorsum; a broad, approximately rectangular-shaped blotch on dorsal neck; region behind nuchal blotch slightly yellowish; labials light yellow with some vertical black stripes; iris light brown; ventral surface of head and body yellowish-white; ventral surface of tail light yellow with many tiny black spots (Fig. 3 ).

Distribution

Plagiopholis styani is currently confirmed to be only distributed in Wuyishan Mountain, Wuyishan City, Fujian Province, China (Fig. 4 ). It is speculated that it may also be distributed in nearby Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces.

Ecology notes

The topotypic specimen was collected on the ground of a sunny hillside at approximately 10: 00 a. m. The slope of the collection site is approximately 30 °. The snake was hiding under the dead leaves and, when we passed by, it was disturbed and crawled out from under the dead leaves. The species is slow and easy to catch. No attack behaviour was observed. Nine other reptile species were found in the same habitats (Fig. 5 ) during the survey, namely Acanthosaura lepidogaster (Cuvier, 1829) , Boiga kraepelini Stejneger, 1902 , Lycodon flavozonatus (Pope, 1928) , Pareas formosensis (Van Denburgh, 1909) , Protobothrops mucrosquamatus (Cantor, 1839) , Pseudoxenodon stejnegeri Barbour, 1908 , Sphenomorphus indicus (Gray, 1853) , Viridovipera stejnegeri (Schmidt, 1925) and Xenochrophis flavipunctatus (Hallowell, 1860) .

Figures

Figure 1. Dorsal view (top) and ventral view (bottom) of the topotypic specimen of Plagiopholis styani in preservative.

Figure 2. Close-up views of the head of the topotypic specimen (KIZ 20180002) of Plagiopholis styani in preservative. A dorsal views; B ventral view; C right view; D left view.

Figure 3. The topotypic specimen (KIZ 20180002) of Plagiopholis styani in life.

Figure 4. Map showing the type locality of Plagiopholis styani in Fujian Province, China (red star) and the distribution of the potential new species of Plagiopholis in Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces, China (green dots). The elevation data were obtained from Geospatial Data Cloud (2024).

Figure 5. Distant view (top) and close view (bottom) of the habitat at the collection site of the topotypic specimen of Plagiopholis styani.