Letheobia erythraea (Scortecci)

(Fig 9 C)

Eritrean gracile blind-snake

Typhlos (sic) erythraeus Scortecci 1928, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 67: 291, Fig. 1. Type locality: Saganeiti, Eritrea (15°04’N, 39°12’E, elevation 2200 m), collected by Captain L. Fossati, holotype MSNM 3353 (ex-MSNM 2015).

Rhinotyphlops somalicus – (not Boulenger) Roux-Estève 1974: 200 & 1975: 445 (part); Hahn 1980: 35 (part). Rhinotyphlops erythraeus – Largen 1978: 57, 1997: 86; Largen & Rasmussen 1993: 320; McDiarmid et al. 1999: 79; Franzen & Wallach 2002: 181; Wallach & Lanza 2004: 81.

Description. Snout obtusely pointed in both dorsal and lateral profiles. Rostral cuneiform, broad below, terminating in a conical point, frontal subtrapezoid; supraoculat transverse, its lateral apex between preocular and ocular; eye invisible; nasal divided, inferior suture arising from second labial; ocular divided into subequal dorsal ocular and ventral subocular; SIP X (N1, P, S, S); MSR 20, reduction A/B 4–6, B/C 0; MD 443– 462; L/D ratio 68–72; tail without a terminal spine. Brown above and gold below.

Size. Largest specimen (NMW 16949 – Gheleb) 245 mm in total length.

Habitat. Eritrean montane grassland and woodland.

Distribution. Endemic to the Eritrean highlands, 1800–2200 m (Fig. 13).

Localities. ERITREA. Gheleb NMW 16949; Saganeiti MSNM 3353 (holotype).