Dasypeltis confusa Trape and Mané, 2006

Conradie, Werner, Baptista, Ninda L., Verburgt, Luke, Keates, Chad, Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2021, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes), Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 292) 15 (2), pp. 244-278 : 256

Dasypeltis confusa Trape and Mané, 2006

Confusing Egg Eater ( Fig. 9 , Map 8)

Material: PEM R 23272, Cuanavale River source, Moxico Province, -13.09033° 18.89396°, 1,356 m asl; PEM R 27745, Lake Hundo, Moxico Province, -14.9700° 21.6314°, 1,106 m asl. Description: Dorsal scales strongly keeled and in 25 and 26 rows at midbody; 196 and 209 ventrals; 63 paired subcaudals; 1 preocular; 2 postoculars; 2 temporals; 7 supralabials, with 3 rd –5 th entering the orbit; 7 and 8 infralabials, with first three in contact with the anterior chin shield; cloacal scale entire. Largest male: 396 + 78 mm ( PEM R 27745). Habitat and natural history notes: PEM R 23272 exhibited the typical threat display by rubbing its scales and opening its mouth to show the black interior (https://www. facebook.com/pemherp/videos/1083042281853751/).

Comment: A new lower range for the number of ventral scales is provided. Records of Dasypeltis spp. are known from all over Angola, from western to central and eastern Angola ( Marques et al. 2018), but species identification to date has been confused. This widespread distribution includes a range of habitats, such as coastal floodplains and the central plateau. Unpublished barcoding results of the Cuanavale River source specimen confirms the identification of the species as D. confusa . This represents the first genetically confirmed record of this recently described species for Angola. Other material from Cangandala ( Ceríaco et al. 2016b, as D. scabra ; see Branch 2018) and from the Humpata Plateau (PEM R22056; field number NB0738; Baptista et al. 2018) can be assigned to this species as they all exhibit the typical ‘5L’ color pattern ( Gans 1959; Trape and Mané 2006). We also tentatively assign an unpatterend reddish-orange specimen photographed ( Fig. 10 ) at the Cuando River to this species.

Figures

Fig. 9. Dasypeltis confusa from Cuito River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.

Fig. 10. Dasypeltis cf. confusa from Cuando River. Photo by Götz Neef.