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Senckenbergiana biologica | 87 | 2 | 213­–217 | 3­figs. | FrankfurtamMain,17. xii.2007

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A new species of worm salamander (genus Oedipina) from Fortuna, western central Panama

(Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae)

Gunther Köhler, Marcos Ponce & abel batista

Abstract

Wedescribeanewspeciesofwormsalamander(Oedipina(Oedopinola) fortunensis, holotypemale inSenckenberg,FrankfurtamMain) fromFortuna,west-centralPanama.ThenewspeciesappearstobemostsimilartoO. savagei,aspeciesfromsoutheasternCostaRica.ItdiffersfromO. savageiinhavingagreaternumberofmaxillaryteeth,alesselongatethirdtoe,asinglelargepremaxillarytooththatisdistinctlyoffset,agreaterratiotaillength/SVL,andincoloration.

K e y w o r d s :Amphibia;Caudata;Plethodontidae;Oedipina; Oedopinola;newspecies;Panama

Eine neue Wurmsalamanderart (Gattung Oedipina) aus Fortuna, westlich-zentrales Panama (Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae)

Z u s a m m e n f a s s u n g :WirbeschreibeneineneueWurmsalamanderart(Oedipina(Oedo­pinola) fortunensis, HolotypusmännlichinSenckenberg,FrankfurtamMain) ausFortuna,west-lich-zentralesPanama.DieneueArtähneltammeistenO. savagei,einerArtausdemsüdöstlichenCostaRica.SieunterscheidetsichvonO. savageidurcheinegrößereAnzahlMaxillarzähne,einewenigerstarkverlängertedritteZehe,eineneinzelnengroßenPrämaxillarzahn,derdeutlichnachvorneversetztist,einerelativgrößereSchwanzlängesowieinderFärbung.

Introduction

WesternPanama supports a rich salamander faunawithcloseto20speciesofthegeneraBolitoglossa and Oedipinaknown tooccur in that region (YounG et al.1996,hanKenetal.,2005,WaKeetal.2005).InJanuary2006wespentfourweeksinthefield,collectingatsev-erallocationsintheprovincesofChiriquíandBocasdelToro.Amongother salamanders,wecollectedaspeci-menof relatively short-tailedOedipina.Comparisonswith theknownspeciesofOedipina fromPanamaand

CostaRicademonstrated that this specimenrepresentsanundescribedspecies.Thepurposeofthepresentpaperistodescribethisnewspecies.

Materialsandmethods

Comparitivedata for the speciesof the subgenusOedo­pinola fromLowerCentralAmericaare taken fromtaYlor (1954), braMe (1968), García-París & WaKe (2000), and

Authors’addresses:Dr.Gunther Köhler,ForschungsinstitutundNaturmuseumSenckenberg,Senckenberganlage25,D-603­25FrankfurtamMain,Germany;gkoehler@senckenberg.de MarcosPonce & Abel batista, InstitutodeCienciasAmbietalesyDesarrolloSostenible,UniversidadAutónomadeChiriquí,David,Panamá.

©E.Schweizerbart’scheVerlagsbuchhandlung(Nägeleu.Obermiller),2007,ISSN003­7–2102

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savaGe (2002).Abbreviations formuseumcollections followthoseoflevitonetal.(1985).Allmeasurementsweremadeus-ingprecisioncalipersandwereroundedtothenearest0.1mm.AbbreviationsusedareSVL(snout-ventlength,tipofsnouttoposteriorangleofvent),TL(taillength),HL(headlength,tipofsnouttogularfold),HW(greatestheadwidth),HLL(hind

limblength),HAW(handwidth),andHFW(hindfootwidth).Maxillaryandvomerine toothcountsarebothsidessummedifnototherwiseindicated.Someinformationonosteologyhasbeenderivedfromradiographsoftheholotype.Thecapitalizedcolorsandcolorcodes(the latter inparentheses)are thoseofsMithe(1975–1981).

Fig.1.HolotypeofOedipina fortunensis(SMF85064)inlife,SVL3­3­.5mm.

Results

Oedipina (Oedopinola) fortunensis sp.n.

H o l o t y p e ♂:SMF85064 (Figs.1–3­), an adultmalefromReservaForestalFortuna,nearFincadeGustavoSan-tamaría,8°43­‘52“N,82°15‘3­5“W,1270m,Chiriquí,Panama;collectedon17.i. 2006byG.Köhler, a. batista andM.Ponce.OriginalfieldnumberGK-1459.Incoll.Senckenberg,FrankfurtamMain.―Noparatypes.

E t y m o l o g y : The name fortunensis is derived fromReservaForestalFortunawheretheholotypeofthespecieswascollected,andtheLatinsuffix-ensis(denotingplaceorlocality).

D i a g n o s i s :Asmall(3­3­.5mmSVL),robustmem-berofOedipina (Oedopinola) withanarrowheadandarelativelyshort, roundedsnout. ItdiffersfromallotherspeciesinthesubgenusOedopinolafromlowerCentralAmerica exceptO. complex (Dunn 1924)by itshighnumberofmaxillaryteeth(27versusfewerthan20).Itcanbefurtherdistinguishedfromtheotherspeciesinthe

subgenusOedopinola from lowerCentralAmericabythefollowingcharacteristics(conditionsforO. fortunen­sis inparentheses):Oedipina alleni taYlor1954:adultmales 42–58mm inSVL (3­3­.5mm); hands and feetbroaderwithmoreelongatedigits (narrowerwith lesselongatedigits);headcreamwhite (brownwithcreamblotches);dorsumcream,heavilyspeckledwithbrownpigment (brownwithwhite flecks); no dorsolateralcreamcoloredstripe (sucha stripepresent).Oedipina carablanca braMe 1968:10–12vomerine teeth (14);adultmales47–54mminSVL(3­3­.5mm);very robusthabitus (less robust).Oedipina complex: ratioSVL/taillength0.89 (0.72); ratioSVL/headwidth10.2 (8.6);adults to45.6mminSVL(3­3­.5mm);bluntly roundedsnout(lessbluntlyrounded).Oedipina maritima García-París & WaKe 2000: adultmales 3­8–46mm inSVL(3­3­.5mm);ratioSVL/taillength0.59(0.72);ratioSVL/head length6.7–7.1 (5.2).Oedipina parvipes (Peters

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1879):paleventralcoloration(darkventralcoloration).Oedipina savagei García-París & WaKe 2000:moreelongate third toe (less elongate); premaxillary teethsmallandusuallynotoffset(asinglelargepremaxillarytooththatisdistinctlyoffset);ratiotaillength/SVL0.65(0.72); head creamwhite (brownwith creamblotch-es);dorsumbrownwithpalestripe (brownwithwhiteflecks); nodorsolateral creamcolored stripe (such astripepresent);gular regionwhite (cream);undersidesoftailpalerthanventer(samecolorasventer);irisblackwithsilverypingment(bronce).

D e s c r i p t i o n o f h o l o t y p e (70%ethanol):Anadultmaleasindicatedbyoffsetpremaxillarytoothandthepresenceofpapillae in thecloacawith the follow-ingmeasurementsandproportions:SVL3­3­.5mm;TL46,5mm;SVL/TL0,72;HL6,5mm;SVL/HL5,2;HW3­,9mm;SVL/HW8,6;HHL4,3­mm;SVL/HHL7,8;HAW1,2mm;SVL/HAW27,9;HFW1,7mm;SVL/

HFW19,7.Theheadismoderateinwidth,thesnoutisshortandblunt(Fig.2).Nostrilsaresmallandsituatednear the tipof thesnout.Swollen labialprotuberancesarepresent.Eyesareofmoderatesizeandstandoutfromthehead, extending laterallybeyond the limitsof thehead,visiblebeyondmarginof jawwhenviewedfrombelow.Theshallowpostorbitalgrooveextendsposteri-orly fromeyebeforebifurcatingat levelofgular fold;onebranch turnssharplyventrally toconnectwith thegular fold, theotherbranchreachesacrossdorsalneckandconnectswiththebranchoftheotherside.Anotherventralbranch splits from thepostorbitalgroove justposteriortomandible,extendingirregularlyacrossthroatanterior togular fold.Thedistinct nasolabial grooveextends fromlowerposteriormarginofeachnostril tolip.Asinglelargepremaxillarytoothisdistinctlyoffset,almostpiercing the lip.Nomentalgland isevident.13­(right)–14(left)maxillaryteeth.7(right)–7(left)vomer-

Fig.2.HolotypeofOedi­pina fortunensis(SMF85064).A)dorsalviewofhead;B)roofofmouth;C)dorsalviewofforefoot;D)dorsalviewofhindfoot.Scalebarsequal1.0mm.

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ineteeth,eachpatchinacurvedrow.Thereare17costalgroovesbetweenthelimbs,countingoneeachintheax-illaandthegroin.Limbsareofmoderatelengthforthissubgenus;8costalfoldsbetweenadpressedlimbs.Handsandfeetaresmallandaremoderatelybroadbutshort.Thedigitsaresyndactylous,andonlythetriangulartipsofthelongestcentraldigitsarefree.Fingers,inorderofdecreasing length,are3­-2-4-1; toesare3­-2-4-5-1.Thetailisround,narrowincrosssectionandrelativelyshort.Cloacalpapillaearepresent.

C o l o r a t i o n i n l i f e :Dorsalgroundcolorofhead,trunkandtailWarmSepia(color221AinsMithe 1975–1981)withadorsolateralTawny(3­8)longitudinalstripe;headwithBuff(124)blotches;dorsalsurfacesofupperforelegandthighChamois(123­D),oflowerfore-legandshankVandykeBrown(121);venterSepia(119)withDrab-Gray(119D)flecks;irisAntiqueBrown(3­7).

O s t e o l o g y :Thereare18 trunkvertebrae (17ofwhichbear ribs)and3­6caudalvertebrae (Fig.3­); theskull is relatively robust andwell articulated; a smalldiamond-shapedfontanelleispresentbetweenthefrontalandparietalbones;preorbitalprocessesonthevomerareevident;digitsareweaklydevelopedandbarelycount-able; thephalangeal formulasappear tobe0-1-2-1and0-1-2-2-1;tibialspursarenotevident.

D i s c u s s i o n :Mccranie(2006)commentedonthedifficultiesofcollectingspecimensof thesemifossorial

to fossorial salamandersof the subgenusOedopinola.Thefact thatwehaveencounteredanundescribedspe-ciesofthisgroupofsalamandersintherelativelywell-sampledareaofFortunasupportsthisview.Onlyinten-sive long-termcollectingeffortswill lead toa realisticunderstandingof theactualdiversity insucha tropicalenvironment.

Acknowledgments

CollectingandexportationpermitswereprovidedbyY.hiDalGo,AutoridadNacionaldelAmbiente(ANAM),PanamaCity,Panama.Q.D.FuenMaYor,PanamaCity,Panama,pro-videdvaluableassistancewithacquisitionofthesepermits.M.PiePenbrinG,BotanischesInstitutderJ.W.Goethe-Universität,FrankfurtamMain,Germany,andB.E.sanjur, InstitutodeCienciasNaturalesyExactasdelaUniversidadAutónomadeChiriquí(UNACHI),David,Panama,providedlogisticsupportforour studies inPanama.Thispaper isbasedonpartuponwork supportedby theDeutscherAkademischerAustausch-dienst(DAAD)throughthePartnershipProgrambetweentheJ.W.Goethe-UniversitätFrankfurt amMain,Germany, andtheFacultaddeCienciasNaturalesyExactasderUniversidadAutónomadeChiriquí(UNACHI),David,Panama.WethankC.birnbauM (SMF) forproviding thedrawingsused in thispaper.WearegratefultoJ.habersetzer(SMF)forprovidingthex-rayimageusedinthisstudy.

Fig.3­.X-rayoftheholotypeofOedipina fortunensis(SMF85064),SVL3­3­.5mm.

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Received:8.x.2007;accepted8.xi.2007

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