ON SOME NOTEWORTHY SNAKE SPECIMENS DEPOSITED IN THE COLLECTIONS OF EASTERN REGIONAL STATION OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA

The collection of snakes deposited in the Eastern Regional Station of the Zoological Survey of India, Shillong, (below referred to as ZSIlERS) holds 303 specimens (as on December 1 st, 2002). This collection was dealt with by Mathew (1983). Most specimens originating from the State of Meghalaya were also cited by Mathew. (1995) in an in-depth survey of the herpetofauna of this state, which was shown to hold 56 snake species. Although the herpetological survey of this state is far from complete, especially in hilly tracts, this state is herpetologically rich. Besides specimens from Meghalaya, the collection of the ZSIIERS contains also a good number specimens from other States of Northeast India, especially from Arunachal Pradesh.


INTRODUCTION
The collection of snakes deposited in the Eastern Regional Station of the Zoological Survey of India, Shillong, (below referred to as ZSIlERS) holds 303 specimens (as on December 1 st, 2002).
This collection was dealt with by Mathew (1983).Most specimens originating from the State of Meghalaya were also cited by Mathew. (1995) in an in-depth survey of the herpetofauna of this state, which was shown to hold 56 snake species.Although the herpetological survey of this state is far from complete, especially in hilly tracts, this state is herpetologically rich.Besides specimens from Meghalaya, the collection of the ZSIIERS contains also a good number specimens from other States of Northeast India, especially from Arunachal Pradesh.
A recent re-examination of the snake collection by the authors revealed a few inaccuracies in the detennination of some specimens reported by Mathew (1983Mathew ( , 1995)), or the occurrence of specimens in Meghalaya and other states of India which were not in the recorded works cited, but which are of taxonomical and biogeographical importance.In the present paper, these additional/ missing specimens are discussed, their identification corrected where necessary and most importantly they are adequately described.

Abbreviations are as follows :
Morphology: SVL : snout-vent length; TaL: tail length; TL : Total length; TaL/TL : ratio tail length/total length (all measures being in millimeters).
The ZSIlERS collection holds nine specimens of Amphiesma parallelum.While working on a revision of several subgroups of the genus Amphiesma, the senior author examined four specimens, which proved to be typical specimens of Amphiesl1za parallelunz.As detailed descriptions of specimens of Amphiesma paralleluln are not well known, we give in Table 1 the major morphological features of the specimens under discussion.It is noteworthy to mention that specimen ZSIIERS 9070 is by far the longest known individual, with a record total length of 737 mm.The maximal size cited by Smith (1943), who did not distinguish Amphiesnla paralleluln from Alnphiesnla bitaeniatum, was 635 mm.
The specimen ZSIlERS 3077 and some others from the Khasi Hills deposited in the ZSIIERS collection have a rather pale background colour, very light beige brown, with a well-defined light, black-edged dorsolateral stripe, whereas the three other specimens cited above, as well as most of those from the Eastern Himalaya regions are quite dark, with a more subdued dorsolateral pattern (David et al., in prep.).All ZSIIERS specimens show the prominent black lateral stripe interrupted at the level of the neck, (Wall (19.25)), and in three of the specimens for which the dental formula was examined, the diastema between the two enlarged posterior maxillary teeth and other teeth was clearly visible.Kroon, 1973 1973.Boiga ocellata Kroon, Copeia, 1973(3) : 581; Figs.1-2.

Boiga oeellata
Material exalnined : ZSIIERS 8135, Nampong, Arunachal Pradesh; male.This species was described by Kroon (1973) to accommodate northern populations previously referred to as Boiga cynodon (Boie, 1827), restricted to Indonesia, West Malaysia and South Thailand, with a northern limit located in provinces of Phang Nga and Prachuap Khiri Khan, on the Isthmus of Kra (Pauwels et at., unpublished).As a consequence, Indian populations of "Boiga cynodon" cited by previous authors (for example Smith, 1943;Das, 1996) should be referred to

Boiga ocellata.
The collection of the ZSIIERS contains one specimen from India.As the examples of Boiga ocellata are rarely reported from India, a full and detailed account of the species is presented below.TL 1579 mm, SVL 1201 mm, TaL 378 mm.Ratio TaLffL : 0.239.DSR : 23-23-15, all smooth.
The background colour of the body and tail is brownish grey, with a complex and intricate pattern made up of dark oblique crossbars on the anterior part of body, turning as dark blotches posteriorly, separated by light, diffuse, interrupted irregular blotches; dark blotches at mid-height of flanks and conspicuous white ocelli on half of the underside.The top of the head and temporal regions are dark grayish-brown, strongly vermiculated with brown; supralabials and lower sides of head are rusty brown; a very well defined black postocular streak extends from the eye to the angle of the mouth.
The chin, throat and anterior part of the underside are lead grey and paler posteriorly.
The specimen agrees perfectly with the description given by Kroon (1973).Xizang Province, People's Republic of China, was confirmed by David et al., (2002a).The first definitely known locality in India is Gandhigram village (also known as Shidi), at 27°26'27" N, 96°54'55", in Changlang district, state of Arunachal Pradesh.Literature records this species from northern Myanmar and China.The specimen under discussion is, therefore, certainly the second record from India.
VEN 146 (plus 2 preventrals), SC 61, all pai{ed : anal shield entire.Rostral wider than high; nasals entire, subrectangular; 1 pair of enlarged InN, separated each from another by 2 small scales; scales on upper snout surface smooth, juxtaposed, distinctly enlarged; III triangular loreal between upper preocular and nasal; 2/2 PoO; 1 entire SpO on each side, short and broad, wider than InN; 8 Cep in a line between SpO, small, irregular, juxtaposed, smooth and flat; occipital scales flat, slightly keeled backward; temporals large, unequal, in 3 rows, smooth, DAVID & MATHEW: Notes on some noteworthy snake specimens deposited etc. 87 the lower row much larger than others; one thin, elongated, crescent-like subocular; 9/9 SL, 1 st SL, short, totally separated from the nasal, 2 nd SL high, forming the anterior border of loreal pit, 3 rd SL larger than the other SL, high and long, in contact with subocular on both sides, 4th SL as high as 3rd, in contact with subocular on both sides; 10/10 IL, those of the first pair in contact with each other, the first three pairs in contact with the chin shield.
The overall colour is uniformly dark green; a well defined bicoloured ventrolateral stripe extends from the angle of the mouth to the base of the tail; on the first and second dorsal scale rows, rusty red on its lower half, mainly on lower half of 1st dorsal scale row, whitish-yellow above, on upper half of 1 st and lower third of second dorsal scale rows.The tail surface is same coloured as dorsum, with the whole length of its upper part irregularly marked with reddish-brown.
The top of the head and temporal regions are of the same colours as the dorsum; no postocular streak; supralabials paler than upper head surface.
The belly, chin and throat are green but slightly lighter than the dorsum.
The present specimen extends the known range of Trimeresurus medoensis by about 350 airline kilometers southwestwards froln Medog and about 375 airline km westwards from the previously known Indian locality.It is likely to occur in other parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Bhutan as well.This specimen was reported by Mathew (1995) as Trinleresurus stejnegeri.David et at., (2002b) described Trimeresurus gumprechti from northern Thailand, a species closely related to Trilneresurus stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925.These authors suggested that the populations from India and Myanmar referred in literature to Tri111eresurus stejnegeri or Trinleresurus yunllanensis with 21 MSR, cited for example, by Smith (1943), should in fact be referred to Trilneresurus gumprechti.The examination of the ZSI/ERS specimen, a typical specimen of Trilneresurus gunlprechti, undistinguishable from Thai specimens, confirms the occurrence of Trimeresurus gUlnprechti both in the state of Meghalaya and in India.The species is described below :
Hemipenis short and strongly spinose, extending in situ up to 15 th SC (presence of spines checked by dissection).

Table 1 .
; Main morphological characters found in four specimens of Amphiesma parallelum.