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Melanesian blindsnakes of the genus Gerrhopilus have been little collected or researched. I examined specimens assigned in museums to Gerrhopilus inornatus and found considerable morphological diversity among them that indicates the presence of multiple species. I redescribe G. inornatus (Boulenger) based on the holotype and one additional specimen, and I describe six new species among specimens currently subsumed under that name from Papua New Guinea: Gerrhopilus flavinotatus sp. nov., Gerrhopilus lorealis sp. nov., Gerrhopilus papuanorum sp. nov., Gerrhopilus polyadenus sp. nov., Gerrhopilus slapcinskyi sp. nov., and Gerrhopilus wallachi sp. nov. Each species is currently known from only 1–3 specimens, and all but two are known only from single localities. In addition to traditional information on scale counts, habitus, and color patterns, I found the numbers and distributions of epidermal glands among the head shields to be especially useful for discriminating among species. The number of recognized Melanesian Gerrhopilus has increased tremendously in recent years, but the region has been poorly sampled for these snakes, and it is to be expected that additional species will be identified at such time as surveys can more effectively target these cryptic snakes.
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This content will become publicly available on April 4, 2026
New species of snakes of the genus Dendrelaphis (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Milne Bay Islands, Papua New Guinea
Australo-Papuan snakes of the genus Dendrelaphis have historically been a taxonomically confusing group, with 28 nomina applied to snakes in this region. Recent taxonomic revision has established the presence of nine valid species in this area, though few specimens were examined from across most of the large island of New Guinea. This lacuna, along with unreliable application of names to Melanesian Dendrelaphis in museum collections, means that the ranges of each species remain to be properly resolved on New Guinea and islands immediately to the east. Herein I examine the taxonomic status of Dendrelaphis specimens from outlying large islands in Milne Bay Province, off the southeastern tip of New Guinea, and I find that each of the three large islands of the Louisiade Archipelago, as well as Woodlark Island, contain their own endemic species. Based on hemipenial morphology, three of these species (D. anthracina sp. nov., D. melanarkys sp. nov., D. roseni sp. nov.) belong to the D. papuensis group and the last (D. atra sp. nov.) to the D. punctulatus group. Identification of the first three species requires reassessment and rediagnosis of D. papuensis. Two of the new species are characterized by ontogenetic melanization of animals, and a third is also uniformly black with a white chin when adult, though juveniles are unavailable to determine whether melanization also occurs ontogenetically in that species. Melanesian species of Dendrelaphis are largely diagnosed by unique color-pattern features, and this work identifies additional diagnostic features of color pattern for these species and confirms the critical importance of hemipenial differences in distinguishing among similar-appearing species in this region.
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- PAR ID:
- 10639261
- Publisher / Repository:
- Zootaxa
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Zootaxa
- Volume:
- 5618
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1175-5326
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 451 to 480
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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