Letheobia ataeniata (Boulenger)

Wallach, Van, 2007, A review of East and Central African species of Letheobia Cope, revived from the synonymy of Rhinotyphlops Fitzinger, with descriptions of five new species (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), Zootaxa 1515, pp. 31-68 : 56

Letheobia ataeniata (Boulenger)

( Fig 8 B)

Somali blind-snake

Typhlops unitaeniatus var. ataeniatus Boulenger 1912 , Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, 5: 331. Type locality: Dolo, la frontiera Italo-Etiopica [= Somalia] ( 04°11’N, 42°05’E, elevation 200 m), collected by Captain C. Citerni, syntypes BMNH 1946.1.10.78 (ex-BMNH 1912.6.6.12) & MSNG ( 2 specimens); Boulenger 1915b: 616; Werner 1921: 331; Calabresi 1923: 160, 1927: 31 & 51; Scortecci 1930: 15.

Typhlops somalicus , – (not Boulenger) Calabresi 1918: 123.

Typhlops unitaeniatus ataeniatus – Scortecci 1939: 264; Parker 1949: 22; Battersby 1954: 246; Largen 1978: 59.

Typhlops ataeniatus – Gans & Laurent 1965: 59; Gans & Taub 1965: 107.

Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus – (not Peters) Roux-Estève 1974: 241, 1975: 445 (part); Hahn 1980: 36 (part); Lanza 1983: 219, 1990: 430 (part); Lambert 1985: 66 (part); Largen & Rasmussen 1993: 322.

Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus ataeniatus – Largen 1978: 59.

Rhinotyphlops ataeniatus – Wallach 1994: 219; McDiarmid et al. 1999: 78; Spawls et al. 2006: 92.

Description. Head shape and shield pattern similar to L. unitaeniata . Scale rows usually 26-24-24; MD 443– 531 (mean 487.83). L/D ratio 34–72. Uniform yellow-brown to black, top of head with a short median orange or yellow stripe.

Size. Largest specimen (MZUF 27171 – Mareri, Somalia) 455 mm in total length. This species seems to average a little larger than Letheobia unitaeniata ( Fig. 1 ).

Habitat. Somali Acacia-Commiphora bushland and thicket. Sympatric with L. unitaeniata on the sandy levees on the west bank of the Juba River ( Hoevers & Johnson, 1982).

Distribution. Somalia, eastern Ethiopia (Ogaden) and just entering northeastern Kenya, 25–1000 m ( Fig. 12).

Localities. ETHIOPIA. Callafo AAU/H863-64. SOMALIA. Afgoi ( Scortecci 1930) MZUF 1080-81; MZUT 1765 (2); Beidos MZUF 2467; Chisimaio MZUF 6920; Dolo BMNH 1946.1.10.78 ( holotype); Gelib to Margherita MZUF 976; Haud BMNH 1949.2.1.1 ( 08°26'N, 46°00’E), 1949.1.1.2 ( 08°26'N, 45°43'E), 1949.1.1.3 ( 08°29'N, 45°34'E), 1949.1.1.4 ( 08°10'N, 46°30'E); Lower Shebeli NHCL 1534; Mareri (Juba Sugar Project: Hoevers & Johnson 1982) CAS 151200, 225266-70; MZUF 27171-78; 33660; Totungas to Obbia MZUF 1123; Zona basso Uebi ( Calabresi 1923). KENYA. Malka Murri (Daua River: Battersby 1954) BMNH 1952.1.8.88.

Remarks. The holotype was collected near the Ethiopia-Somalia border at Dolo. Largen & Rasmussen (1993) list the coordinates for Dolo as 04°11’N, 42°05’E, placing it in Somalia. The Operational Navigation Charts ONC L-5 and L-6 show Dolo at 04°11’N, 42°03’E, placing it in Ethiopia, noting however that the “administration boundary is in dispute.”

Figures

FIGURE 1. Histograms showing number of specimens in each 1 cm size class for Letheobia species. The vertical units shown for L. wittei indicate single specimens.

FIGURE 8. The Letheobia unitaeniata complex: dorsal, lateral and ventral views of A. L. unitaeniata (MCZ 48058 – Amboni Estate, Tanzania, after Roux-Estève 1974, Fig. 180); B. L. ataeniata (CAS 151200 – Mareri, Juba River, Somalia, J. Boundy illustration); C. L. scorteccii (MCZ 74455, holotype – Afgoi, Somalia, after Roux-Estève 1974: Fig. 184). The lines indicate 1 mm to scale.