Panaspis annobonensis ( Fuhn, 1972 )

Soares, Leonor B., P, Luis M., Ceríaco, Marques, Mariana P., Bastos-, Cristiane, Silveira, Scheinberg, Lauren A., James, D., Harris, and, António Brehm & Jesus, José, 2018, Review of the leaf-litter skinks (Scincidae: Panaspis) from the Gulf of Guinea Oceanic Islands, with the description of a new species, African Journal of Herpetology 67 (2), pp. 132-159 : 149-151

Panaspis annobonensis ( Fuhn, 1972)

( Fig. 7 )

Lygossoma africanum ( Bocage 1903: 59; Boulenger 1906: 206)

Panaspis africana annobonensis ( Fuhn 1972: 262; Jesus et al. 2003: 20)

Panaspis annobonensis ( Perret 1973: 605)

Leptosiaphos annobonensis ( Haft 1993: 59)

Similar to all other Annobon endemics, little is known about P. annobonensis . Because of the isolation of the island and difficulty of access, few specimens of this species exist in collections. The first record of this species, at the time considered by Bocage (1903) as conspecific to africana , was collected in the late 1880s by Francisco Newton, whose specimens were then deposited in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Lisbon. These specimens were lost in the fire that destroyed the collections of Museu Bocage in 1978. Some years later, during his expedition to the Gulf of Guinea and West Coast of Africa, Leonardo Fea collected additional specimens, also classified by Boulenger (1906) as africana , which were deposited in both the British Museum of Natural History ( England) and the Museo Civico di Istoria Naturale di Genova ( Italy). Alfred Stauch in 1963 and Roger Taufflieb in 1964 collected 21 and 5 specimens, respectively, of annobonensis , which they deposited in the collections of the Muséum national d ’ Histoire Naturelle in Paris ( France), and were later used by Fuhn (1972) to describe the subspecies (plus two specimens from Fea collection, housed in the British Museum). More recently, a team from the University of Madeira, led by D.J. Harris, visited the island in 2002 ( Jesus et al. 2003) and collected several specimens n = 12), currently housed in the collections of MUHNAC.

P. annobonensis belongs to the same clade as P. africana and P. cabindae , and are both sister to other Panaspis from central, eastern and southern Africa ( Medina et al. 2016). This explains the morphological similarity between the species. According to the original description ( Fuhn 1972), the main characters that distinguish P. annobonensis from africana sensu lato (including P. thomensis ) are its longer limbs, which touch each other when adpressed along the midbody, an higher number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth finger and fourth toe, the presence of a large first loreal scale, darker coloration, a well marked dark subocular band, and a black speckled throat speckled. In the majority of the specimens of the type series (16 out of 26) the frontonasals are not in contact, whereas in a smaller number the frontonasals are in contact at a single point.

Given its rarity and the lack of data regarding the species, we present here a diagnosis to the species and data concerning the specimens currently deposited in MUHNAC collections.

P. annobonensis are small to medium-sized skinks (SVL 28 – 37.3 mm) with a robust smoothly tapered tail. Head wide and not much acuminate (HW /HL 60%), approximately 20% of SVL. Prefrontals separated or in contact. Supraciliaries separated or in contact, usually 5 and rarely 6; 4 supralabials anterior to subocular; wide subocular in direct contact with the lip and not reduced basally by the intrusion of adjacent supralabials. Midbody scale rows 24 – 27, paravertebral scales 52 – 59, and paraventral scales 25 – 40. Lamellae beneath the fourth finger 9 – 12, beneath the fourth toe 13 – 17. All examined specimens have faded colouration resulting from preservation, although some patterns are visible in all specimens, such as a well-marked dark subocular band and a black speckled throat. General colouration is orange-brown, with dorsal surfaces of the head being much more homogeneous than the other two species. A distinctive dark dorsolateral band starts near the tympanum and runs along the entire dorsum to the anterior half of the tail, with some irregular dark-brown lines in the dorsum, between the two dorsolateral bands.

Distribution — Endemic to Annobon Island, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, West Africa.

Habitat and natural history notes — According to Jesus et al. (2003), the species has a restricted distribution in the island, usually found among leaf litter in the forest, and very rarely in dry places or near the coast. However, according to the authors, the species is abundant and present in relatively high densities in the areas where it occurs.

Figures

Figure 7. Specimen (MUHNAC/MB03-001104) of Panaspis annobonensis (Fuhn, 1972) (Photograph: Luis Ceríaco).