A New Species of Smithophis Giri et al. 2019 from the Indo-Burma Region

Abstract

The natricine snake genus Smithophis Giri, Gower, Das, Lalremsanga, Lalronunga, Captain, and Deepak, 2019, is represented by four species, three of which are distributed in northeast India and Bangladesh, and a single species in Yunnan and Myanmar. In the past, S. bicolor (Blyth, 1855) was said to be widespread across northeast India and Myanmar; however, recent studies have shown it to be a species complex. Here, we describe a new species of the complex from the Indian state of Mizoram that resembles S. bicolor. The new species differs in bearing a patterned dorsum, a darker venter, and moderately keeled sacral scales. Re-examination of types of S. arunachalensis Das, Deepak, Captain, Wade, and Gower, 2020, shows the presence of strongly keeled sacral keels in males, which is an important diagnostic character. A revised key to members of the genus is presented with notes on S. arunachalensis.