Letheobia swahilica, Wallach, Van, 2007

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 : 46-47

Letheobia swahilica sp. nov.

( Fig 4 B)

Swahili gracile blind-snake

Typhlops pallidus – (not Cope) Sternfeld 1908b: 242, 1910: 12 (part); Boulenger 1915: 616 (part); Loveridge 1916: 82 (part), 1924: 4 (part), 1936: 227; Werner 1921: 330 (part); Loveridge 1957: 244 (part); Broadley & Howell 1991: 21 (part).

Rhinotyphlops pallidus – Roux-Estève 1974: 217, 1975: 445 (part); Spawls 1978: 2; Hughes 1983: 354; Broadley & Broadley 1996: 45; Spawls et al. 2002: 295; Spawls et al. 2006: 92 (part).

Holotype. MCZ 40076, a male from old village of Ngatana, ca. one mile northwest from new village of Wema, in the lower Tana River, Coast Region, Kenya (02°30’S, 40°15’E, elevation 50 m), collected by A. Loveridge, 14 June 1934.

Paratypes. MCZ 40075, 40077-78 with the same data as the holotype; ZMB 21150, 62069 Takaungu, Kenya; NMK-S/3947 Mazeras, Kenya; ZMB 25866 Zanzibar Coast; NMZB 14290 Kwamarimba Forest Reserve, Tanzania.

Diagnosis. Closely related to Letheobia pallida , distinguished by its more robust build (length/diameter ratio 49–62 vs 62–82) and fewer middorsals (376–392 vs 418–433).

Description. Snout rounded, prominent. Rostral very broad, truncated posteriorly; frontal crescentic; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex between nasal and ocular, the latter separated from the lip by a large subocular; eye usually not visible, but visible beneath the nasal/ocular sulcus in NMZB 14290; nasal suture arising from second labial; SIP X (N1, P, O, O); scale rows 24-22-22; MD 376–392; vertebrae 235–260; MD/ V ratio 1.56–1.62; L/D ratio 49–62. Colourless.

Size. Largest specimen (ZMB 25866 – Zanzibar Coast) 190 mm in total length.

Etymology. Named for the Swahili people of the coastal strip opposite Zanzibar Island.

Habitat. Coastal forest and environs. The Ngatana series was taken “under vegetable debris heaped along banks of a rice swamp” ( Loveridge, 1936). NMZB 14290 was taken in scrub woodland (old shamba land) which was forested within the last 20 years ( Broadley & Broadley, 1996). One specimen collected under vegetation debris within 5 cm of the soil surface at the bottom of a valley filled with coconut palms, mangos, bananas, sugarcane, and Ficus trees. Although the slopes of the valley were covered with xeric vegetation, it had rained recently and the ground was moderately wet (D. J. Gower, pers. comm.).

Distribution. Coastal areas of Kenya and northern Tanzania, 0–50 m ( Fig. 10 ).

Localities. KENYA. Mazeras at Bonje village, Kilifi District NMK-S/3947; Mombasa ( Loveridge, 1916); Ngatana ( Loveridge, 1936) MCZ 40075-78; Takaungu (Sternfeld, 1908, 1910) ZMB 21150, 62029; Vipingo ( Spawls, 1978). TANZANIA. Kwamarimba Forest Reserve ( Broadley & Broadley, 1996) NMZB 14290; Zanzibar coast ( Sternfeld, 1910) ZMB 25866.

Figures

FIGURE 4. The Letheobia pallida complex: A. L. pallida (BMNH 68.2. 9.135 – Zanzibar, after Roux-Estève, 1974: Fig. 151); B. L. swahilica sp. nov. (MCZ 40076, holotype – Ngatana, Tana River, Kenya, J. Boundy illustration); C. L. toritensis sp. nov. (NMZB 16722, paratype – Torit, Sudan, J. Boundy illustration). The lines indicate 1 mm to scale.

FIGURE 10. Distribution of the East African species of Letheobia.