Ramphotyphlops multilineatus ( Schlegel, 1839 )

Karin, Benjamin R., Stubbs, Alexander L., Arifin, Umilaela, Bloch, Luke M., Ramadhan, G., Iskandar, Djoko T., Arida, Evy, Reilly, Sean B., Kusnadi, Agus & Mcguire, Jimmy A., 2018, The herpetofauna of the Kei Islands (Maluku, Indonesia): Comprehensive report on new and historical collections, biogeographic patterns, conservation concerns, and an annotated checklist of species from Kei Kecil, Kei Besar, Tam, and Kur, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 66, pp. 704-738 : 732

Ramphotyphlops multilineatus ( Schlegel, 1839)

Type locality. New Guinea .

Distribution in the Kei Islands. Originally described from New Guinea, three specimens were reported from Elat, Kei Besar by Roux (1910) and later reported by Boulenger (1893, p. 50). We did not collect any specimens during our survey.

Natural history. A larger, presumably fossorial blind snake.

Field identification. Another small blind snake from the Kei Islands, differentiated from Malayotyphlops kraalii by possessing a preocular in contact with the second and third labials. According to specimens examined by Boulenger (1893, p. 50), “snout very prominent, with sharp cutting edge and inferior nostrils; rostral very large, extending to between the eyes, the portion visible from below as broad as long; nasal nearly completely divided, the cleft proceeding from the first labial; preocular present, nearly as broad as the ocular, in contact with the second and third labials; eyes distinct; prefrontal, supraoculars, and parietals much broader than the scales on the body; four upper labials; diameter of body [1/50 to 1/60] of the total length; tail nearly twice as long as broad, ending in a spine; 20 scales round the body; greyish, with dark brown longitudinal lines corresponding with the series of scales; total length 370 mm.”