Philothamnus nitidus (Günther, 1863)

Figure 19C

Ahaetulla nitida Günther, 1863c: 286 . Type locality: “ Demerara ” Guyana (in error), corrected to “ Lagos ”, Nigeria by Boulenger (1894).

Ahaetulla lagoensis Günther, 1872: 26 . Type locality: “ Lagos ”, Nigeria.

Philothamnus nitidus (Günther, 1863): Boulenger 1894: 100.

Philothamnus nitidus loveridgei Laurent, 1960: 40 . Type locality: Itula, Shabunda, Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Distribution. This species extends from Sierra Leone and Guinea to Congo, and southward to Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded in Bioko at San Carlos de Luba [as P. semivariegatus (Bocage 1895 a, 1903; Loveridge 1958)] and in Río Muni at Monte Alén National Park (Lasso et al. 2002). Loveridge (1958) suggested that Bocage’s (1895a) record of P. semivariegatus probably belongs to P. s. nitidus (currently P. nitidus) (Map 22B).

Comments. Previous reports on P. semivariegatus in Bioko are herein treated as P. nitidus following Loveridge’s (1958) assumption on the identity of the Biokoan population [“ Fernando Po: San Carlos (Bocage, 1895a: more probably s. nitidus)” fide Loveridge (1958): 119]. Philothamnus nitidus is the sister taxon to P. angolensis, and both are nested within the paraphyletic assemblage of P. semivariegatus (Engelbrecht et al. 2019) .

Specimens examined. Ten specimens. Río Muni: Miboman, 1985–1986 (EBD 20931, EBD 20789) , December 1987 (EBD 27734, EBD 27774); Miboman (road from Movo to Niefang), August 1987 (EBD 27536) ; Miboman (Km 27, road from Bata to Movo), 29 July 1985 (EBD 20791) ; Miboman (30 km from Niefang), 25 February 1987 (EBD 25021) ; Colegio La Salle, Bata, 1967 (B2859, without EBD number); San Joaquín de Ndyiacon (road to Bata), 28 July 1987 (EBD 27534) ; San Joaquín de Ndyiacom, 1990 (B 9580, without EBD number) .