Acrocephalus baeticatus suahelicus Grote, 1926: 145

Frahnert, Sylke, Turner, Donald A. & Bracker, Cordula, 2023, Type specimens and type localities of birds (Aves) collected by Gustav Adolf Fischer (1848 - 1886) in East Africa, Zootaxa 5334 (1), pp. 1-84 : 35

Acrocephalus baeticatus suahelicus Grote, 1926: 145 .

Now: Acrocephalus scirpaceus suahelicus ( Grote, 1926) ; but see Mayr et al. (1986: 64).

Holotype: ZMB 48.10 ( Fischer no. 497), skin, male, collected on “ Sansibar ”, 05.06.[18]81.

Paratype: ZMB 66.526 ( Fischer no. 507), skin, female, collected on “ Sansibar ”, [21.07.1881] .

Paratype: ZMB 26048 (B 16822, Fischer no. 453), skin, former mount, female, collected on “ Sansibar ”, 18.06.[1881] .

Paratype: ZMB 28068 ( Stuhlmann no. 442), skin, male, collected on “ Sansibar ”, 26.11.1888 .

Paratype: ZMB 28069 ( Stuhlmann no. 443), skin, male, collected on “ Sansibar ”, 26.11.1888 .

Paratype: ZMB 2000.32544 (B 18999, Fischer no. 501), skin, female, collected on “ Sansibar ”, 13.07.[18]81 .

Type locality: “Sansibar” [ Zanzibar, Tanzania], from the original description as well as locality of the holotype.

Remarks: In the original description ZMB 48.10 was chosen as the “Typus” and is therefore the holotype of this species. Grote (1926) commented that he had measured six Acrocephalus baeticatus (Vieillot, L.J.P.) from “ Sansibar ” which were at the ZMB. As the above listed specimens from Zanzibar were available at the ZMB in 1926, these specimens are regarded as paratypes. There are further Fischer skins of juvenile A. s. suahelicus from Zanzibar (ZMB 2000.40605, ZMB 2000.40606 and ZMB 2000.40607). However, these are not included as paratypes as they were not explicitly included in the original description.

Taxonomy of the Acrocephalus scirpaceus / baeticatus complex remains a subject of much debate. It is regarded as one species A. scirpaceus by Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett (1987), Dickinson & Christidis (2014) and Gill et al. (2023) while A. baeticatus is regarded as a separate species by del Hoyo & Collar (2016).