Parasuta spectabilis ssp. bushi (Bush's Hooded Snake)

[surroundx]

Only known from five specimens collected near Scaddan, Western Australia. At least one subsequent search has failed to rediscover the subspecies and it is probably extinct.

members.iinet.net.au/~bush/bushi.html

[RSN]

Suta spectabilis bushi (STORR 1988)

Comments

May be extinct already (based on B. Bush’s web site).

Synonyms

Rhinoplocephalus spectabilis bushi STORR 1988
Parasuta bushi BUSH 2003

reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Suta&species=spectabilis&search_param=%28%28taxon%3D%27Elapidae%27%29%29

[surroundx]

The preserved holotype can be seen here.

[surroundx]

The original scientific description is available online:

Storr, G. M. (1988). A new Rhinoplocephalus (Serpentes: Elapidae) from Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 14(1): 137-138.

[Peter]

First collected in 1982 and described to science in 1988; only five specimens known from a small remnant of wheatbelt bushland. Recent searches for it have been unsuccessful possibly because the locality has been cleared of bush. Specimens collected in 1982 (1), 1985 (1) & 1986 (3), but not seen since, even though several attempts to find it have been undertaken. A nocturnal, live-bearing, lizard-eating elapid that probably grows to no more than 40 cm (16 inches).

Reference: Storr, G.M. 1988. A new Rhinoplocephalus (Serpentes: Elapidae) from Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 14 (1): 137-138.

Brian Bush. Bush's Hooded Snake (Parasuta bushi) holotype from Scaddan, Western Australia. Downloaded from members.iinet.net.au/~bush/bushi.html on 1 January 2017.

[Peter]

Oct 15, 2011 4:21:54 GMT RSN said:

Suta spectabilis bushi (STORR 1988)

Comments

May be extinct already (based on B. Bush’s web site).

Synonyms

Rhinoplocephalus spectabilis bushi STORR 1988
Parasuta bushi BUSH 2003

reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Suta&species=spectabilis&search_param=%28%28taxon%3D%27Elapidae%27%29%29

Now as Parasuta spectabilis bushi (STORR 1988) in The Reptile Database.

Synonym:
Suta spectabilis bushi (STORR 1988)
Rhinoplocephalus spectabilis bushi STORR 1988
Parasuta bushi — BUSH 2003 (on web site)
Parasuta spectabilis bushi — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 494

[Sebbe]

Unpublished genetic analyses suggest that P. s. bushi is actually conspecific with S. gouldii (Chapple et al., 2019).

Source
- Chapple, D., Tingley, R., Mitchell, N., Macdonald, S., Keogh, J. S., Shea, G. M., ... Woinarski, J. C. Z. (2019). The action plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes 2017. Australia: CSIRO Publishing. www.publish.csiro.au/book/7823/.