Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalis, Reichenow, 1894

Frahnert, Sylke, Turner, Donald A. & Bracker, Cordula, 2023, Type specimens and type localities of birds (Aves) collected by Gustav Adolf Fischer (1848 - 1886) in East Africa, Zootaxa 5334 (1), pp. 1-84 : 54-55

Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalis . Reichenow, 1894: 188.

Now: Vidua chalybeata centralis ( Statius Müller, 1776) . See Blake et al. (1968: 392).

Lectotype (herein designated, see below for explanation): ZMB 2000.38775 (Fischer no. 158), skin, male, collected at “Kagehi”, 24.11.[1885].

Paralectotype: ZMB 30115 , skin, male, collected by Emin Pasha & F. Stuhlmann at Bukoba, 13.04.[18]92 .

Paralectotype: ZMB 30141 , skin, male, collected by Emin Pasha & F. Stuhlmann at Bukoba, 07.04.[18]92 .

Excluded Paralectotype ( Vidua funerea nigerrima ): ZMB 2000.38796 , skin, male, collected by Emin Pasha at Bukoba, 30.11.[18]90 .

Excluded Paralectotype ( Vidua funerea nigerrima ): ZMB 2000.38797 (B 19569, Böhm no. 1138), skin, male, collected by R. Böhm at Karema, 04.03.[1883] .

Excluded Paralectotype ( Vidua funerea nigerrima ): ZMB 2000.38798 (Böhm no. 1174), skin, male, collected by R. Böhm at Karema, 04.[1883] .

Type locality: “Paregebirge” [South Pare Mts, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania], Arusha [Arusha, Arusha Region, Tanzania], Nguruman [Nguruman Escarpment, Kajiado County, Kenya], Karéma [Karema, Katavi Region, Tanzania], Kagéyi [Kayenzi, Mwanza Region, Tanzania], Bukóba [Bukoba, Kagera Region, Tanzania], from the original description, while “Kagehi” [Kayenzi, Mwanza Region, Tanzania] is given in the lectotype designation (below).

Remarks: In the original description no type was chosen, and there were no inventory numbers for specimens provided, but several localities were listed as the distribution of this subspecies. Since 1894 the ZMB has held three Vidua chalybeata centralis from the listed localities, so these are included in the type series. Reichenow (1894) also listed the locality Karema for Hypochera purpurascens Reichenow. Reichenow (1904b) gave Hypochera amauropteryx Sharpe as a synonym for Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalis but only the localities Arusha, Nguruman, Pare and “Kagehi” of Fischer. Those from Karema (IV, Böhm) and Bukoba (IV, XI, Stuhlmann) were determined to be Hypochera funerea de Tarragon and Karema (III, Böhm) as Vidua serena (Linnaeus) ( Reichenow 1904b) . Thus it cannot be determined without doubt which individuals from Bukoba and Karema were used to describe Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalis . ZMB 2000.38796, ZMB 2000.38797 and ZMB 2000.38798 were collected at Bukoba and Karema but are now considered to be Vidua funerea nigerrima Sharpe and are therefore not included in (or excluded from) the type series, even though ZMB 2000.38796 has an historical label indicating it is a type specimen of Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalis . Fischer (1884) listed for Hypochaera nitens var. ultramarina (Gmelin) the localities Pare, Arusha and Nguruman, but without specimen numbers. Therefore, it is possible that they were observations rather than collected specimens from these localities.

Due to the confusion concerning assignment to the type series, and the fact that the specimens are not satisfactorily identifiable without further information concerning coloration of bill and legs, we designate ZMB 2000.38775 as a lectotype. This specimen is the only one Reichenow included in different publications ( Reichenow 1894, 1904b) relating to this taxon, and is the only Vidua from Kagehi in the ZMB collection. The specimen is deep black lacking gloss (bill brownish-white, feet pale orange, iris brown, wing length 64 mm, tail length 46 mm).

The name Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalis Reichenow, 1894 is preoccupied by Vidua paradisea orientalis Heuglin ( ICZN 1999) .