Mochlus fernandi ( Burton, 1836 )

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 : 50

Mochlus fernandi ( Burton, 1836)

Figure 12A

Tiliqua fernandi Burton, 1836: 62 . Type locality: “Fernando Po” ( Bioko , Equatorial Guinea).

Tiliqua nigriceps Kramer, 1979: 164 . Type locality: “Goldküste”, Gold Coast = Ghana .

Lygosoma fernandi ( Burton, 1836) : Boulenger 1887: 304.

Lepidothyris fernandi ( Burton, 1836) : Cope 1892a: 233.

Riopa fernandi ( Burton, 1836) : Loveridge 1936: 71.

Mochlus fernandi ( Burton, 1836) : Mittleman 1952: 9.

Plestiodon harlani Hallowell, 1845: 170 . Type locality: “ Liberia, West coast of Africa ”.

Distribution. It extends from Sierra Leone in West Africa to Cameroon and Gabon in Central Africa. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded in Bioko ( Burton 1836; Boulenger 1887) at Natividad (Hacienda Natividad) ( Bocage 1895 a, 1903), Punta Frailes ( Boulenger 1906), Musola ( Mertens 1941) and San Carlos ( Mertens 1964a) ( Map 12C ).

Comments. Wagner et al. (2009c) revised this species and their relatives as part of the “ Lygosoma fernandi species group” and designated a neotype (of Tiliqua fernandi Burton, 1836 ) from San Carlos, Bioko. This specimen, the current neotype, was previously recorded by Mertens (1964). It was included in the genus Mochlus by Freitas et al. (2019) while they synonymized the genus Lepidothyris Cope, 1892 with Mochlus . There are currently two recognized subspecies, M. fernandi harlani ( Hallowell, 1844) from West Africa (from Sierra Leone to Ghana) and the nominal one from West-Central Africa (from Nigeria to Gabon) ( Wagner et al. 2009c). We provide the only known record of M. fernandi for Río Muni, specifically at the airport of Bata. The other records of the genus Mochlus in Río Muni correspond to M. striatus .

Specimens examined. Two specimens. Bioko : Moka ( EBD 22170). Río Muni: Bata Airport, 9 November 1966 ( EBD 2841 ) .

Figures

FIGURE 12. From left to right: dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of: Mochlus fernandi (A) [(EBD 22170) (dorsal view) and EBD 2841 (lateral and ventral views)], Mochlus striatus (B) (EBD 20839), and Trachylepis affinis (C) (EBD 31521_ B-8497). Photos: AS-V.

MAPS 12 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Panaspis breviceps; (B) Panaspis annobonensis; (C) Mochlus fernandi.