Letheobia erythraea (Scortecci)

Wallach, Van, 2007, A review of East and Central African species of Letheobia Cope, revived from the synonymy of Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger, with descriptions of five new species (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), Zootaxa 1515, pp. 31-68 : 61

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).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Histograms showing number of specimens in each 1 cm size class for Letheobia species. The vertical units shown for L. wittei indicate single specimens.

FIGURE 9. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of head of: A. L. uluguruensis (MCZ 23081, paratype – Nyange, Tanzania, after Roux-Estève 1974: Fig. 23); B. L. somalica (MNHN 1904.603, syntype of Typhlops acutirostris Mocquard – Shoa Province, Ethiopia, after Roux-Estève 1974: Fig. 140); C. L. erythraea (NMW 16949 – Gheleb, Eritrea, D. G. Broadley illustration). The lines indicate 1 mm to scale.

FIGURE 13. Distribution of the Letheobia somalica complex in Ethiopia and Eritrea.