Afrotyphlops congestus ( Duméril & Bibron, 1844 )

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 : 123-124

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5202.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BF4831D2-D98B-4265-9138-03DB8607B826
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7293525
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scientific name	Afrotyphlops congestus ( Duméril & Bibron, 1844 )
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Afrotyphlops congestus ( Duméril & Bibron, 1844) View in CoL

Figure 31A–B View FIGURE 31

Onychocephalus congestus Duméril & Bibron, 1844: 334 View in CoL . Type locality: unknown.

Onychophis barrowii Gray, 1845: 133 View in CoL . Type locality: “ India?” (in error fide Hahn 1980: 68).

Typhlops crassatus Peters, 1881c: 50 View in CoL . Type locality: “Chinchoxo, durch die africanische Gesellschaft” (= Cabinda, Angola).

Rhinotyphlops congestus ( Duméril & Bibron, 1844) : Broadley & Wallach 2000: 167.

Afrotyphlops congestus ( Duméril & Bibron, 1844) View in CoL : Broadley & Wallach 2009: 46 View Cited Treatment .

Distribution. It extends from southeastern Nigeria to the West of Uganda, southward to the Republic of the Congo. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded in Bioko at Basilé ( Bocage 1895a; Bocage 1903; Roux-Estève 1974) and Moka ( Mertens 1964a), and in Río Muni at Monte Alén National Park ( Lasso et al. 2002) ( Map 36A View MAPS 36 ).

Comments. Afrotyphlops congestus was formerly considered by some authors as a subspecies of A. punctatus ( Leach, 1819) ( Werner 1913; Roux-Estève 1974; see Broadley & Wallach 2009). Some molecular works that included samples of both taxa, supported their independent species status ( Vidal et al. 2010; Hedges et al. 2014; Pyron & Wallach 2014; Nagy et al. 2015). In Wallach et al ’s. (2014) catalogue, A. punctatus is included in the fauna of Bioko, maybe as a result of a mistake coming from the previous status of A. congestus as a subspecies of A. punctatus . Taking into account (1) the high morphological similarity shown by A. punctatus and A. congestus , and (2) the ecology of these two species, in which A. punctatus usually occurs in savannah environments ( Trape & Baldé 2014) whereas A. congestus exclusively inhabits forests, we follow Roux-Estève (1974) in considering all the populations from Equatorial Guinea (both Bioko and Río Muni) as A. congestus , excluding A. punctatus from the reptile list of the country. Afrotyphlops congestus , like some other related species [e.g. A. punctatus , A. liberiensis (Hallowell, 1848) ], presents two phenotypes, a “marbled” form and a “striped” form, the first one being more common in A. congestus ( Roux-Estève 1974) . Mertens (1964) reported the striped phenotype of A. congestus in Moka, Bioko. We found both phenotypes among the examined specimens either from Río Muni or Bioko: MNCN23354, MNCN23355, MNCN23357, EBD 20801, 27520, 24963 depict a marbled pattern, whereas MNCN23356 and EBD 2843 show a striped pattern. The pholidosis traits of the examined specimens fall within the variability of the species [midbody scale rows: 28 (MNCN23356), 31 (MNCN23357), and 30 (MNCN23354, MNCN23355); number of dorsal longitudinal scales: 332 (MNCN23356), 333 (MNCN23357), 383 (MNCN23355), 394 (MNCN23354)]. The examined specimens from Río Muni present a greater number of dorsal longitudinal scales (383–394) than the Biokoan examined specimens (332–333).

There is a taxonomic question dealing with the striped phenotype, pending resolution until more data are available. Some putative undescribed species of Afrotyphlops are shown by Chirio & LeBreton (2007). For example, the one named “ Rhinotyphlops sp.3 ”, is morphologically similar to some striped specimens of A. congestus . These authors noted the same pholidotic pattern in their undescribed form “ Rhinotyphlops sp.3 ” and in A. congestus . A molecular phylogeography including both the “marbled” and “striped” phenotypes of A. congestus , together with samples of specimens assignable to the putative new taxa depicted by Chirio & LeBreton (2007) will be required in order to resolve this taxonomic conundrum. With the data at hand, we tentatively consider all the examined striped specimens as A. congestus .

Specimens examined. Eight specimens. Río Muni: without specific locality, 1885 ( MNCN 23354–23355 About MNCN ) . Nvom (road from Aconibe to Asoc), 08April 1987 ( EBD 24963) . Miboman (road from Movo to Niefang), September 1987 ( EBD 27520) . Miboman (Km 27, road from Bata to Movo), 02 June 1986 ( EBD 20801) . Enuc , 12 April 1965 ( EBD 2843 View Materials ) . Bioko : without specific locality, 1876–1877 ( MNCN 23356–23357 About MNCN ) .

References

Bocage, J. V. B. (1895 a) Subsidios para a fauna da Ilha de Fernao do Po. Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas, Physicas e Naturaes, Segunda Serie, 4 (13), 1 - 15.

Bocage, J. V. B. (1903 a) Contribution a la faune des quatre iles du Golfe de Guinee. Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas, Physicas e Naturaes, Segunda Serie, 7, 25 - 59.

Broadley, D. G. & Wallach, V. (2009) A review of the eastern and southern African blind-snakes (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), excluding Letheobia Cope, with the description of two new genera and a new species. Zootaxa, 2255 (1), 1 - 100. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 2255.1.1

Chirio, L. & LeBreton, M. (2007) Atlas des Reptiles du Cameroun. Paris: Collection Patrimoines Naturels, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle & IRD Editions, Paris, 688 pp.

Dumeril, A. M. C. & Bibron, G. (1844) Erpetologie Generale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete des Reptiles. Vol. 6. Librairie Encyclopedique de Roret, Paris, xii + 609 pp.

Gray, J. E. (1845) Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum, London, 289 pp.

Hahn, D. E. (1980) Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien: Anomalepididae, Leptotyphlopidae, Typhlopidae. Das Tierreich, Berlin, 101, i - xii + 1 - 93.

Hedges, S. B., Marion, A. B., Lipp, K. M., Marin, J. & Vidal, N. (2014) A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology, 49, 1 - 61. https: // doi. org / 10.31611 / ch. 49

Lasso, C. A., Rial, A. I., Castroviejo, J. & De la Riva, I. (2002) Herpetofauna del Parque Nacional de Monte Alen (Rio Muni, Guinea Ecuatorial). Graellsia, 58, 21 - 34. https: // doi. org / 10.3989 / graellsia. 2002. v 58. i 2.276

Leach, E. R. (1819) s. n. In: Bowdich, T. E. (Ed.), Mission from Cape Coast to Ashantee, London, 1819, pp. 493 - 496.

Mertens, R. (1964 a) Die Reptilien von Fernando Poo. Bonner zoologische Beitrage, 15, 211 - 238.

Nagy, Z. T., Marion, A. B., Glaw, F., Miralles, A., Nopper, J., Vences, M. & Hedges, S. B. (2015) Molecular systematics and undescribed diversity of Madagascan scolecophidian snakes (Squamata: Serpentes). Zootaxa, 4040 (1), 31 - 47. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4040.1.3

Peters, W. C. H. (1881 c) Uber das Vorkommen schildformiger Verbreiterungen der Dornfortsatze bei Schlangen und uber neue oder weniger bekannte Arten dieser Abtheilung der Reptilien. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin, 3, 49 - 52.

Pyron, R. A. & Wallach, V. (2014) Systematics of the blindsnakes (Serpentes: Scolecophidia: Typhlopoidea) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Zootaxa, 3829 (1), 1 - 81. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 3829.1.1

Roux-Esteve, R. (1974) Revision systematique des Typhlopidae d'Afrique, Reptilia-Serpentes. Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Serie A, 87, 1 - 313.

Trape, J. - F. & Balde, C. (2014) A checklist of the snake fauna of Guinea, with taxonomic changes in the genera Philothamnus and Dipsadoboa (Colubridae) and a comparison with the snake fauna of some other West African countries. Zootaxa, 3900 (3), 301 - 338. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 3900.3.1

Vidal, N., Marin, J., Morini, M., Donnellan, S., Branch, W. R., Thomas, R., Vences, M., Wynn, A., Cruaud, C. & Hedges, S. B. (2010) Blindsnake evolutionary tree reveals long history on Gondwana. Biology Letters, 6 (4), 558 - 561. https: // doi. org / 10.1098 / rsbl. 2010.0220

Werner, F. (1913) Neue oder seltene Reptilien und Frosche des Naturhistorischen Museums in Hamburg. Reptilien der Ostafrika- Expedition der Hamburger Geographischen Gesellschaft 1911 / 12. Leiter: Dr. E. Obst. Reptilien und Amphibien von Formosa. Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten, 30, 40 - 45.

Figures

FIGURE 31. From left to right: lateral, dorsal and ventral views of the head of: Afrotyphlops congestus “blotched phenotype” (A) (MNCN 23354), Afrotyphlops congestus “striped phenotype” (B) (EBD 31531), and Letheobia caeca (C) (in the EBD collection, without EBD number). Photos: AS-V.

MAPS 36 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Afrotyphlops congestus; (B) Indotyphlops braminus; (C) Letheobia caeca (question mark represents an imprecise record).