Naja (Boulengerina) peroescobari Ceríaco et al., 2017

Wüster, Wolfgang, Chirio, Laurent, Trape, Jean-François, Ineich, Ivan, Jackson, Kate, Greenbaum, Eli, Barron, Cesar, Kusamba, Chifundera, Nagy, Zoltán T., Storey, Richard, Hall, Cara, Wüster, Catharine E., Barlow, Axel & Broadley, Donald G., 2018, Integration of nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences and morphology reveals unexpected diversity in the forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca) species complex in Central and West Africa (Serpentes: Elapidae), Zootaxa 4455 (1) : -

Naja (Boulengerina) peroescobari Ceríaco et al., 2017

Diagnosis. IN thE OrigiNAl dEscriptiON, Naja peroescobari wAs diAgNOsEd frOm thE OthEr mEmbErs Of thE N. melanoleuca grOup thrOugh A lAck Of whitE vENtrAls pOstEriOr tO vENtrAl 22, A lAck Of lightEr mArkiNgs ON thE dOrsum, ANd thE sEpArAtiON Of thE pOstEriOr chiN shiElds. Our sAmplE dOEs NOt fully suppOrt thE diAgNOstic vAluE Of thEsE chArActErs: At lEAst ONE spEcimEN (BMNH 1906.3.30.80) hAs thE pOstEriOr chiN shiElds iN cONtAct, ANd discrEtE dArk bANds sEpArAtEd by lightEr bANds (AlthOugh OftEN suffusEd with dArk brOwN pigmENt) ExtENd As fAr bAck As vENtrAls 45 ANd 55, rEspEctivEly, iN BMNH 1906.3.30.80 ANd MBL 1954. Naja peroescobari is distiNct frOm N. subfulva iN NEvEr hAviNg A brOwN fOrEbOdy Or A light pOstEriOr vENtEr ANd iN lAckiNg dArk spEckliNg Or spOttiNg ON thE fOrEbOdy. It displAys grEAtly rEducEd vENtrAl bANdiNg cOmpArEd tO N. melanoleuca ANd N. savannula , ANd, uNlikE N. guineensis , NEvEr hAs 17 midbOdy dOrsAl scAlE rOws.

ThE spEciEs is AlsO diAgNOsAblE thrOugh uNiquE mitOchONdriAl hAplOtypEs (CEríAcO et al., 2017; cyt b: GENBANk MH337634 ; ND4: MH337440 ) ANd A uNiquE PRLR hAplOtypE ( MH337499 )

Variation. SEE TAblE 8 ANd CEríAcO et al. (2017) fOr vAriAtiON iN scAlE cOuNts ANd vENtrAl bANdiNg iN this spEciEs.

Distribution. REstrictEd tO thE vOlcANic islANd Of SãO TOmé iN thE Gulf Of GuiNEA, whErE it sEEms tO iNhAbit primArily thE fOrEstEd pArts Of thE cENtrE ANd sOuth Of thE islANd, whErEAs it sEEms tO bE missiNg frOm thE mOrE OpEN NOrthEAst (CEríAcO et al., 2017).