广西猫儿山发现云开脊蛇

云开脊蛇(Achalinus yunkaiensis)系2019年描述的新物种,目前仅知其分布于广东西南地区。2014年8月,本文作者在广西桂林猫儿山国家级自然保护区采集到1号脊蛇标本,因故未详细定种,2019年12月经形态学检视和线粒体COI基因序列重建分子系统关系,确定该标本为云开脊蛇,这是广西蛇类新分布记录种。

First Record of the Achalinus yunkaiensis from Maoershan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China

The Achalinus yunkaiensis was firstly described as a new species in 2019. It is only known to be located in the south-west of Guangdong Province. A snake of Achalinus was collected in Maoershan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, in August, 2014. The specimen was preserved in 75% ethanol for permanent storage after liver tissues was taken and preserved in 100% ethanol. Genomic DNA was extracted from liver tissue using OMEGA Kit, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) was targeted and amplified using primers Chmf4 and Chmr4. The sequence length of 615 bp was obtained and deposited in GenBank (MT365525). Bayesian inference (BI) analysis was performed in MrBayes 3.2.2. Based on morphological characteristics (Fig. 1) and molecular phylogenetic relationship of mitochondrial COI gene sequence (Fig. 2), this specimen is identified as A. yunkaiensis, which is a new record in Guangxi. The new discovery extends the geographical distribution of A.yunkaiensis to more than 600 kilometers northward.