Scolecomorphus kirkii Boulenger, 1883

Bittencourt-Silva, Gabriela B., Bayliss, Julian & Conradie, Werner, 2020, First herpetological surveys of Mount Lico and Mount Socone, Mozambique, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 247) 14 (2), pp. 198-217 : 207

Scolecomorphus kirkii Boulenger, 1883

Kirk’s Caecilian

Material. MOUNT SOCONE (top): BMNH 2018.2559–60, PEM A13734. Identification. Specimens were identified as belonging to the genus Scolecomorphus on the basis of their relatively large tentacles, which are situated closer to the nostril than to the eye socket, and having only primary annuli ( Fig. 3R ), and specifically as S. kirkii because the dark dorsal coloration covers more than half the body ( Nussbaum 1985). Comments. Two of the specimens were found active on the surface around the camp shortly after the tent sites were cleared, while the third specimen was found in one of the pitfall traps after a night of heavy rain. Scolecomorphus is an East African caecilian genus also found in Tanzania and Malawi ( Poynton and Broadley 1985) and on other mountains in northern Mozambique ( Conradie et al. 2016), and it may occur as far south as the Chimanimani Mountains in Zimbabwe (see Loveridge 1953, p. 333).

Figures

Fig. 3. Amphibians from Mount Lico and Mount Socone, northern Mozambique. (A) Arthroleptis aff. francei; (B) Arthroleptis sp.; (C) A. stenodactylus (mountain form); (D) A. stenodactylus (lowland form); (E) A. xenodactyloides; (F) Leptopelis broadleyi; (G) L. flavomaculatus; (H) Breviceps sp.; (I) Mertensophryne cf. loveridgei; (J) Sclerophrys gutturalis; (K) Hemisus marmoratus; (L) Hyperolius marmoratus albofasciatus; (M–O) H. substriatus; (P) H. tuberilinguis; (Q) Nothophryne sp.; (R) Scolecomorphus kirkii.