Hemerophis socotrae ( Günther, 1881 ), Gunther, 1881

Razzetti, Edoardo, Sindaco, Roberto, Grieco, Cristina, Pella, Francesca, Ziliani, Ugo, Pupin, Fabio, Riservato, Elisa, Pellitteri-Rosa, Daniele, Butikofer, Luca, Suleiman, Ahmed Saeed & Al-Aseily, Badar Awadh, 2011, Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia), Zootaxa 2826, pp. 1-44 : 18-19

Hemerophis socotrae ( Günther, 1881)

Zamenis socotrae Günther, 1881: 463 , Pl. 41—Locus typicus: “ Socotra ”. Zamenis socotrae .— Peters, 1882b: 46.

Zamenis sokotrae [sic].— Steindachner, 1903: 14.

Coluber socotrae .— Parker, 1949: 44.

Coluber socotranus [sic].— Balletto, 1968: 212 (lapsus calami). Coluber socotrae .— Schätti & Wilson, 1986: 399.

Coluber socotrae .— Joger, 2000: 343.

Coluber cf. socotrae .— Joger, 2000: 343.

Hemerophis socotrae . — Schätti & Utiger, 2001: 926. Hemerophis socotrae . — Rösler & Wranik, 2004: 528, pl. 42–43.

This snake is known from several localities spread over the whole of Socotra Island, from sea level to about 900 m at Dihaal Pass in upper Wadi Qishn ( Schätti & Desvoignes, 1999); it is also known from “the Brothers” (Darsa and Samha).

Habitat. We observed the species in sparse shrublands ( Limonium, Suaeda , Croton, Euphorbia ), on sandy and stony ground, inside the sinkhole near Gubbah, from near sea level up to 696 m a.s.l in the Ma’alah Plateau.

Original data. Fig. 32. Socotra Island: NE Coast, Homhil, Qa'arah area, Qabheten area, Shu'ab area, Ma'alah plateau, Ghubbah area, Mori West, Terr Ditrur, Mouri plain, Hadiboh plain, Di Lishah area. Darsa Island (shedded skins).

Bibliographic data. Steindachner (1903), Parker (1949), Corkill & Cochrane (1966), Showler (1994), Wranik (1998b), Schätti & Desvoignes (1999), Schätti & Utiger (2001), Rösler & Wranik (2004).

General distribution. Endemic to the Socotran Archipelago: Samha, Darsa and Socotra Islands.

Remarks. This species, originally described as Zamenis socotrae , was assigned by Schätti & Utiger (2001) to the new monotypic genus Hemerophis on the basis of morphology and mitochondrial gene sequences. According to these authors the species “ branched off from a hypotetical ancestral stock prior to the radiation leading to recent Old World racer genera ” and “ there is reason to believe that H. socotrae is phylogenetically closest to Afrotropical, and possibily Malagasy, colubrids”. These results have been confirmed by subsequent studies by Nagy et al. (2003, 2004) and Schätti & Monsch (2004).

Probably H. socotrae belongs to an ancient lineage of Gondwanan elements now extinct in the continents, and surviving only in remote and isolated islands such as Socotra and Madagascar.