19 



which must be corrected. Accordingly, the subspecific name must be written Trimeresurus monticola 



zayuensis. 



Subsequently, this taxon was given a specific rank by ZHAO (1995a), as Ovophis zayuensis, because 



of important morphological differences with O. monticola. According to this author, the differences 



between O. monticola and O. zayuensis are as follows (unmodified from ZHAO's article): 



[11]: Figure 1, located on page 67, is made of line drawings depicting respectively: 

 drawing 1: close-up view from the top of the head, 

 drawing 2: close-up view from the underneath of the head, 

 drawing 3: close-up lateral view of the head. 



[12]: A cotype is now considered as a paratype. We retained the terminology adopted by the authors. 



[13]: Namely Ovophis monticola proper. 



[14]: This statement is obviously incorrect, as the largest supralabial is also the third in the nominal 

 subspecies, Ovophis monticola monticola (Gunther, 1864), fi-om India, Nepal and Myanmar and 

 extreme west of Yunnan Province, and Ovophis monticola convictus (Stoliczka, 1870), the southern 

 subspecies. The largest supralabial is the fourth in the Chinese subspecies Ovophis monticola 

 makazayazaya (Takahashi, 1922), from continental China and Taiwan, and in Ovophis tonkinensis 

 (Bourret, 1934), from Vietnam and Hainan Island. 



[15]: They are also single in Ovophis tonkinensis. Both this latter species and O. zayuensis have single 

 subcaudal scales, whereas all are paired (or paired except a few single scales in some specimens) in 

 all other other subspecies of O. monticola. 



Trimeresurus xiangchengensis 



[16]: This short article, which has no English summary, gives a brief description of three new snake 

 species: Opisthotropis guangxiensis, Plagiopholis unipostoculahs, two colubrid snakes, and 

 Trimeresurus xiangchengensis. 



[17]: Authorship of separate species description is not given; so we consider that the authorship of T 

 xiangchengensis include all three authors. 



[18]: A name meaning "Xiangcheng iron-head snake"; see note [9]. 



[19]: A species endemic to the Yaeyama archipelago, southern Ruykyus Archipelago, Japan. The authors 

 did not compare their new species with Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus, a species widely distributed 

 in China to which it is closely related. 



[20]: The literal translation of the Chinese title should read as "A new species of Laotietou snake fi-om 

 Sichuan". 



