Leptosiaphos cf. vigintiserierum ( Sjöstedt, 1897 )

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta & Riva, Ignacio De La, 2022, Synopsis of the terrestrial Reptiles of Equatorial Guinea, Zootaxa 5202 (1), pp. 1-197 : 47

Leptosiaphos cf. vigintiserierum ( Sjöstedt, 1897)

Lygosoma vigintiserierum Sjöstedt, 1897: 56 . Type locality: “Kamerungebirge, Mapanja, etwa 3000 Fuss”. Mount Cameroun, Mapanja, 1000 m a.s.l.

Riopa vigintiserierum ( Sjöstedt, 1897) : Mertens 1964: 224.

Panaspis vingintiserierum ( Sjöstedt, 1897) : Fuhn 1972: 265.

Leptosiaphos vigintiserierum ( Sjöstedt, 1897) : Schmitz et al. 2005: 18.

Distribution. It occurs in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. In Equatorial Guinea it has been only recorded in Bioko ( Smith 1937) at Moka ( Mertens 1964a) and between Moka and Malabo ( Schmitz et al. 2005) ( Map 11C ).

Comments. This taxon represents a species complex ( Schmitz et al. 2005). The identities of the populations of Leptosiaphos from Bioko are currently unknown. Smith (1937) and Mertens (1964) identified the Biokoan specimens as L. vigintiserierum . However, in the molecular analysis by Schmitz et al. (2005), the populations included of this taxon showed a marked genetic structure. The Biokoan population and a specimen from Cameroon (Mt. Nlonako) form a clade sister to the rest of the populations of L. vigintiserierum . As a result, the population from Bioko remained as Leptosiaphos sp. ( Schmitz et al. 2005; Jesus et al. 2007) and is herein tentatively treated as Leptosiaphos cf. vigintiserierum until a detailed taxonomic study is published. Specimens of L. cf. vigintiserierum from Río Muni are housed in the Yale Peabody Museum (Connecticut) and in the Natural History Museum (London) (not examined by us). These specimens represent the first records of this taxon from Río Muni.

Specimens examined. No specimens of this species have been found in the examined collections.

Figures

MAPS 11 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Lacertaspis reichenowii; (B) Lacertaspis rohdei; (C) Leptosiaphos cf. vigintiserierum.