Afronatrix, Rossman & Eberle, 1977

Cadle, John E., 2011, Hemipenial morphology in the North American snake genus Phyllorhynchus (Serpentes: Colubridae), with a review of and comparisons with natricid hemipenes, Zootaxa 3092 (1), pp. 1-25 : 8

Afronatrix

Afronatrix anoscopus (Cope) (CAS 230205; Fig. 4A ). Hemipenis with a very shallow and short pair of apical lobes. Sulcus spermaticus simple, deviating left as it approaches the apex (sinistral). Sulcus groove extends across the left side of the apical nude surface (i.e., the groove is distinct within the nude area), ending at the dimple toward the asulcate side of the apex where the retractor muscle inserts. Entire distal apical surface nude, set off by a ring of thick, fleshy, nude tissue that completely encircles the apex except where the sulcus groove crosses it. The apical nude area has some scattered rugosities, which become more numerous at the lateral edges where the retractor branches insert; here there are fine rugosities that grade abruptly into the spines of the hemipenial body.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Everted hemipenes of natricids in sulcate view. A, Afronatrix anoscopus (CAS 230205). B, Amphiesma bitaeniatum (CAS 215037) (detail of apex shown in Fig. 5A). C, Natrix tessellata (CAS 183115) (detail of apex shown in Fig. 5D).