Letheobia somalica (Boulenger)

Wallach, Van, 2007, A review of East and Central African species of Letheobia Cope, revived from the synonymy of Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger, with descriptions of five new species (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), Zootaxa 1515, pp. 31-68 : 58-60

Letheobia somalica (Boulenger)

( Fig 9 B)

Ethiopian gracile blind-snake

Typhlops somalicus Boulenger 1895 , Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1895: 536, Pl. 30, Fig. 1 . Type locality: Beearso, Galla or Western Somali-land [= Bio Asse River, eastern Ethiopia] (06°53’N, 42°18’E, elevation 600 m), collected by A. Donaldson-Smith, 19 December 1894, holotype BMNH 1946.1.11.54 (ex-BMNH 1895.6.11.5); Boulenger 1896a: 216, 1896b: 589; Calabresi 1918: 123; Werner 1921: 324; Parker 1949: 22.

Typhlops acutirostris Mocquard 1905 , Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 11: 77. Type locality: Choa, Abyssinie [= Shoa Province, Ethiopia], syntypes MNHN 1904.603-04, collected by M. Didier; Werner 1921: 317; Calabresi 1925: 104. Rhinotyphlops somalicus – Roux-Estève 1974: 200, Fig. 140, 1975: 445 (part); Largen 1978: 55; Hahn 1980: 35 (part); Meirte 1992: 20; Largen & Rasmussen 1993: 321; McDiarmid et al. 1999: 87; Franzen & Wallach 2002: 181; Wallach & Lanza 2004: 80.

Description. Snout pointed, acutely angular in lateral profile. Rostral broad above and below, oval in dorsal view; frontal subtrapezoid; supraocular transverse, its lateral apex between preocular and ocular; eye invisible; nasal divided, its inferior suture arising from first labial; SIP II (P) (N1, N2, P/O, O), one specimen (MCZ 126236) with SIP X (N1, N2, P, O) on one side of head; MSR 24–30, reduction A/B 0–2, B/C 0; MD 510– 696; vertebrae 301–391; MD/V ratio 1.68–1.84; L/D ratio 54–66. Colourless.

Size. Longest specimen ( Largen 1978) 550 mm in total length.

Habitat. Ethiopian montane grassland and woodland, but entering Somali Acacia-Commiphora bushland and thicket along eastern drainage lines.

Distribution. Highlands of Ethiopia, 1800–2200 m, but with the type specimen from Beearso in the Ogaden at 600 m, presumably in a riparian habitat ( Fig. 13 ).

Localities. ETHIOPIA. Addis Ababa MCZ 126236; Ambo (Parker 1949); Beearso BMNH 95.6.11.5 (holotype); Bonga ( Largen 1978) NMZB 15653; Buyo, Dangila, Ghimbi ( Largen 1978); Gelib to Margherita ( Calabresi 1918); Dintorni di Gondar ( Calabresi 1925); Jimma ( Largen 1978); Kerio hamlet, Derba NMZB 17100; Mizan Teferi NMK 1944; Sheikh Hussein ( Boulenger 1896a) ANSP 4692-93; Shoa Province MNHN 1904.603-04 (syntypes of T. acutirostris ); Sokoro, Zegie ( Largen 1978).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Histograms showing number of specimens in each 1 cm size class for Letheobia species. The vertical units shown for L. wittei indicate single specimens.

FIGURE 9. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of head of: A. L. uluguruensis (MCZ 23081, paratype – Nyange, Tanzania, after Roux-Estève 1974: Fig. 23); B. L. somalica (MNHN 1904.603, syntype of Typhlops acutirostris Mocquard – Shoa Province, Ethiopia, after Roux-Estève 1974: Fig. 140); C. L. erythraea (NMW 16949 – Gheleb, Eritrea, D. G. Broadley illustration). The lines indicate 1 mm to scale.

FIGURE 13. Distribution of the Letheobia somalica complex in Ethiopia and Eritrea.