Leptotyphlops kafubi (Boulenger, 1919)

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 : 252

Leptotyphlops kafubi (Boulenger, 1919)

Shaba Thread Snake ( Fig. 3 , Map 1)

Material: PEM R 27372, Camp at tributary (Luandai River) of the Luanguinga River, Moxico Province, -13.70885° 21.26234°, 1,116 m asl. Description: Midbody scale rows 14; 223 middorsal scales; 21 subcaudals, 10 scales around tail; supraoculars separated from the rostral by a discrete prefrontal; anterior supralabial present; cloacal scale is heart-shaped. Size: 128 + 12 mm. Habitat and natural history notes: Collected in Miombo woodland. Comments: The new specimen is only the third record for the country. Laurent (1964) assigned two specimens from Moxico Province (Calundo and ‘Chutes de la Luisavo, Cabinda, Haut Zambeze’) to Leptotyphlops emini emini (Boulenger, 1890) . Later, Broadley and Watson (1976) re-assigned this material to Leptotyphlos nigricans nigricans (Schelgel, 1839) , but Broadley and Broadley (1999) subsequently transferred it to Leptotyphlops kafubi . Leptotyphlopid snakes show deep genetic divergences and comprise numerous cryptic taxa that still await formal description ( Adalsteinsson et al. 2009; Busschau et al. 2021). Cryptic diversity is expected among Angolan Leptotyphlopidae and warrants further studies.

Figures

Fig. 3. Leptotyphlops kafubi from the camp at a tributary (Luandai River) of the Luanguinga River. Photo by Werner Conradie.