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Nidirana guangxiensis sp. nov., a new music frog species, is proposed, based on a series of specimens collected from Mt Daming, Guangxi, southern China. The new species is close to N. yeae, N. daunchina, N. yaoica, and N. chapaensis from southwestern and south-central China and northern Indochina, while the relationships among these species remain unresolved. Nidirana guangxiensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all known congeners by the genetic divergences in the mitochondrial 16S and COI genes, the behavior of nest construction, the advertisement call containing 6-11 rapidly repeated regular notes, and a combination of morphological characteristics. Furthermore, the Nidirana populations recorded in Guangxi are clarified in this work, providing valuable new information on the knowledge of the genus Nidirana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of colubrid snake, Lycodon cathaya sp. nov., is described based on two adult male specimens collected from Huaping Nature Reserve, Guangxi, southern China. In a phylogenetic analyses, the new species is shown to be a sister taxon to the clade composed of L. futsingensis and L. namdongensis with low statistical support, and can be distinguished from all known congeners by the significant genetic divergence in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene fragment (p-distance = 7.9%), and morphologically by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scales in 17-17-15 rows, smooth throughout; (2) supralabials eight, third to fifth in contact with eye, infralabials nine; (3) ventral scales 199-200 (plus two preventral scales), subcaudals 78; (4) loreal single, elongated, in contact with eye or not, not in contact with internasals; (5) a single preocular not in contact with frontal, supraocular in contact with prefrontal, two postoculars; (6) maxillary teeth 10 (4+2+2+2); (7) two anterior temporals, three posterior temporals; (8) precloacal plate entire; (9) ground color from head to tail brownish black, with 31-35 dusty rose bands on body trunk, 13- 16 on tail; (10) bands in 1-2 vertebral scales broad in minimum width; (11) bands separate ground color into brownish black ellipse patches arranged in a row along the top of body and tail; (12) elliptical patches in 3-6 scales of the vertebral row in maximum width; (13) ventral surface of body with wide brownish black strip, margined with a pair of continuous narrow greyish white ventrolateral lines. With the description of the new species, 64 congeners are currently known in the genus Lycodon, with 16 species occurring in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent phylogenetic analysis encompassing multilocus nuclear-gene and matrilineal mtDNA genealogy has revealed a series of cryptic species of the subgenus Panophrys within genus Megophrys from southern and eastern China. This study demonstrates that the Panophrys specimens from the hilly areas among Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan can be morphologically distinguished from all recognized congeners, thereby providing additional supports for the recognitions of four new species of Panophrys, namely Megophrys (Panophrys) mirabilis Lyu, Wang & Zhao, sp. nov. from northeastern Guangxi, Megophrys (Panophrys) shimentaina Lyu, Liu & Wang, sp. nov. from northern Guangdong, and Megophrys (Panophrys) xiangnanensis Lyu, Zeng & Wang, sp. nov. and Megophrys (Panophrys) yangmingensis Lyu, Zeng & Wang, sp. nov. from southern Hunan. The descriptions of these species take the number of Megophrys species to 101, 46 of which belong to the subgenus Panophrys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Curvularia strains isolated from diseased leaves of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) in Guangxi Province, China, were examined. NCBI-Blast searches of ITS sequences suggested a high degree of similarity (99-100%) to Curvularia akaii, C. akaiiensis, C. bothriochloae, C. heteropogonis and C. sichuanensis. To accurately identify these strains, we further analysed their morphology and phylogenetic relationships based on combinations of ITS, GAPDH, and tef1 gene sequences. Morphological observations indicated that the key character differing from similar species was conidial size, whereas phylogenetic analyses indicated that the five strains represent one species that is also distinct from C. akaii, C. akaiiensis and C. bothriochloae by conidial size and conidiophore length. Thus, the strains examined are found to represent a new species described herein as Curvularia nanningensis. The pathogenicity test on the host and detached leaves confirmed the new species to be pathogenic on Cymbopogon citratus leaves. Standardised requirements for reliable identification of Curvularia pathogens are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomic status of the previous record of Opisthotropis maculosa Stuart & Chuaynkern, 2007 from Guangdong and Guangxi, southern China, is revised based on the comparison of morphological and molecular data collected from the Chinese specimens and the holotype of O. maculosa from Thailand and O. haihaensis Ziegler, Pham, Nguyen, Nguyen, Wang, Wang, Stuart & Le, 2019 from Vietnam. Results reveal that the population from Shiwandashan Nature Reserve in southern Guangxi, China belongs to O. haihaensis, and represents the first national record for China; the populations from western Guangdong and southeastern Guangxi are described as a new species, Opisthotropis hungtai sp. nov. We suggest that O. maculosa should be removed from the Chinese herpetofauna checklist. The new national record of O. haihaensis and the description of the new species bring the total number of Opisthotropis to 13 in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Music frogs, Nidirana yaoica sp. nov. is described based on a series of adult male specimens collected from Mt Dayao, Guangxi, southern China, providing valuable new information on the phylogeny, bioacoustics, and biogeography of related species within the genus Nidirana. The new species forms the sister taxon to N. daunchina from western China and together the sister taxon to N. chapaensis from northern Vietnam. Nidirana yaoica sp. nov. can be distinguished from all known congeners by a significant genetic divergence in the mitochondrial 16S and CO1 genes, the advertisement call containing 1-3 rapidly repeated regular notes, and the combination of morphological characteristics including a medium-sized body with SVL 40.4-45.9 mm in adult males; lateroventral grooves on every digit, not meeting at the tip of disk; tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the nostril; the presence of a pair of subgular vocal sacs in males; and one single developed nuptial pad on dorsal surface of first finger in males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two cryptic species, which were previously reported as Amolops ricketti, are revealed on the basis of significant morphological and genetic divergences. Amolops sinensis sp. n. from central Guangdong, northeastern Guangxi and southwestern Hunan can be distinguished by the longitudinal glandular folds on the skin of the shoulders and other character combinations. Amolops yatseni sp. n. from the coastal hills of west Guangdong can be distinguished by the dense tiny round translucent, or white, spines on the dorsal skin of the body, dorsal and dorsolateral skin of the limbs, and other character combinations. The phylogenetic interrelationships of the A. ricketti group have been inferred as (A. wuyiensis + A. ricketti) + (A. yunkaiensis + (A. albispinus + (A. sinensis sp. n. + A. yatseni sp. n.))). This work indicates that the current records of A. ricketti might be a species complex composed of multiple species, and further work is needed to figure out this puzzle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]