Bachia flavescens species complex

Bachia flavescens (Bonnaterre, 1789) Type-locality. Unknown.

Bachia cophias (Schneider, 1801)

Type-locality. Unknown.

Bachia tridactylus (Daudin, 1802)

Type-locality. Unknown.

Bachia monodactylus (Daudin, 1802)

Type-locality. “Amérique Meridionale”.

Bachia schlegeli (Duméril & Bibron, 1839)

Type-locality. “Calcutta” (in error by Brongersma 1946b).

Bachia boettgeri (Boulenger, 1887)

Type-locality. “ Central America?”.

Bachia parkeri Ruthven, 1925

Type-locality. Chenapowu River, on the upper Potaro River, British Guiana. Pertinent taxonomic references. Bonnaterre (1789), Schneider (1801), Daudin (1802), Merrem (1820), Gray

(1845), Peters (1872), Boettger (1883), Boulenger (1885, 1887), Garman (1892), Ruthven (1925), Brongersma

(1946 b), Cunha (1958, 1961), Vanzolini (1961a), Thomas (1965), Peters & Donoso-Barros (1970), Dixon (1973),

Brygoo (1989), Ávila-Pires (1995), Kizirian & McDiarmid (1998), Pellegrino et al. (2001), Castoe et al. (2004),

Kohlsdorf & Wagner (2006), Galis et al. (2010), Kohlsdorf et al. (2010), Freitas (2011), Teixeira et al. (2013b),

Colli et al. (2015), Goicoechea et al. (2016), Ribeiro-Júnior et al. (2016).

Taxonomic remarks. Bachia flavescens, as we currently know, comprises five described species, according to Dixon (1973), and seven described species, according to Ávila-Pires (1995), in its synonymy. Despite Ávila-Pires (1995) had considered B. monodactylus and B. flavescens as synonym, Freitas (2011), in her comprehensive study of the Bachia species, followed Dixon (1973) and considered B. flavescens and B. monodactylus as distinct taxa.

The author also suggested that most of B. flavescens records in Amazonia are actually B. monodactylus records. Based on 249 examined specimens of B. flavescens (sensu Ávila-Pires 1995) and the remarkable variation in their morphology, we suspect that some of the names placed in the synonymy of it represent valid species, and until a taxonomic revision of B. flavescens is not made, we recommend that Bachia flavescens be regarded as a species complex, following Kizirian & McDiarmid (1998).

Distribution and habitat. Bachia flavescens species complex is endemic to, and widespread in, Amazonia, occurring in Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana (Fig. 6). Rivas et al. (2012) also reported it from Venezuela. In Brazil, it is known from the states of Amapá, Pará, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia, and Mato Grosso. Bachia flavescens species complex is fossorial/semi-fossorial and diurnal, inhabits primary terra firme forest (Martins 1991b), flooded forest (Pantoja & Fraga 2012), secondary forest (Gasc 1981; Ávila-Pires 1995; Vitt et al. 2008), and perianthropic situations (Hoogmoed & Lescure 1975), where it is found in the forest floor (found by Beebe 1945 at about 30 cm deep), under logs and stones, in the leaf litter, and among roots of trees and palms (Dixo 1973; Hoogmoed 1973; Martins 1991b; Ávila-Pires 1995; Vitt et al. 2008).