A New Species of Chthonerpeton Peters 1880 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae) from the State of Piauí, Northeastern Brazil

Adriano O. Maciel; João M. Leite; Roberta R. S. Leite; José R. S. A. Leite; Paulo Cascon

doi:10.1670/13-067

Article Contents

Abstract
Materials and Methods
Discussion
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
Appendix I

Editorial Type:

Article Category: Other

Online Publication Date: 01 Jun 2015

A New Species of Chthonerpeton Peters 1880 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae) from the State of Piauí, Northeastern Brazil

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Page Range: 308 – 313

DOI: 10.1670/13-067

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Abstract

Gymnophionan amphibians are characterized mainly by having elongated bodies and lack of limbs and are poorly known because of their secretive life habits. Most species are fossorial, although some are aquatic or semiaquatic. We describe a new species of semiaquatic caecilian, genus Chthonerpeton, from a transition area between the Caatinga and Cerrado biomes, along the coastal vegetation of the State of Piauí, northeastern Brazil. The new species is very similar to Chthonerpeton perissodus and Chthonerpeton noctinectes in annular counts but differs in number of cloacal denticles, color pattern, position of tentacle aperture, and number of teeth.

Fig . 1.

Holotype of Chthonerpeton tremembe sp. nov. (MPEG 35526). Left: dorsal (above), lateral (middle), and ventral (below) view of head and anterior body. Right: dorsal (above), lateral (middle), and ventral (below) view of terminal region of body.

Fig . 2.

Type series of Chthonerpeton tremembe sp. nov. Left: ventral view; Right: dorsal view. (A) holotype MPEG 35526, (B) MPEG 35527, (C) MPEG 35528, and (D) CZDP 38.

Fig . 3.

Ventral view of the terminal region of the holotype (MPEG 35526) and of a paratype (MPEG 35528) of Chthonerpeton tremembe sp. nov.

Fig . 4.

Map of the distribution of the Chthonerpeton spp. with the exception of Chthonerpeton braestrupi and Chthonerpeton exile (known from imprecise type localities with no new records since their description). Chthonerpeton onorei (square), Chthonerpeton tremembe sp. nov. (star), Chthonerpeton arii (crosses), Chthonerpeton noctinectes (triangle), Chthonerpeton perissodus (pentagon), Chthonerpeton indistinctum (circle), and Chthonerpeton viviparum (asterisk). Locality data from Nussbaum (1986), Gudynas et al. (1988), Cascon and Lima-Verde (1994), Silva et al. (2003), and Maciel et al. (2013).

Fig . 5.

Type locality of Chthonerpeton tremembe sp. nov. The arrow indicates the lake where the holotype and paratypes were captured, in an urban area in the municipality of Ilha Grande, State of Piauí, Brazil.

Contributor Notes

² Corresponding Author.

Accepted: 09 Jul 2014

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Image and text by William W. Lamar

The Gibba Toad-headed Turtle (Mesoclemmys gibba) is a wide-ranging South American species in the lowlands of the Orinoco and Amazon Basins. A relatively small-bodied species with carapace length rarely exceeding 35 cm, the nocturnal M. gibba inhabits rainforest streams, hardpan pools of shallow water in gallery forests, and Mauritia palm swamps. Diet consists primarily of small invertebrates and mollusks. Owing in part to their foul-smelling defensive musk, they are not used as food by local populations of people. Photograph taken in Avispas Cocha, Río Tigre, Loreto, Peru.