Geotrypetes seraphini (Duméril, 1859)

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta, Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago & De, Ignacio, 2020, Synopsis of the Amphibians of Equatorial Guinea based upon the Authors’ Field Work and Spanish Natural History Collections, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 66 (8), pp. 137-230 : 172

Geotrypetes seraphini (Duméril, 1859)

TYPE LOCALITY.— “ Gabon ” .

DISTRIBUTION.— This species ranges over Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Ivory Coast to Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, expanding southwards to Gabon, Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. In Equatorial Guinea, it has been recorded from Río Muni at Monte Alén National Park ( Lasso et al. 2002). There is a dubious record from Bioko (see comments) ( Map 28A ).

COMMENTS.— The reliability of some records of caecilians from Equatorial Guinea has been highly problematic (Nussbaum and Pfrender 1998). The record of G. seraphini from Bioko is based on a single specimen, the holotype of Schistometopum garzonheydti Taylor and Salvador, 1978. This taxon was synonymized with G. seraphini by Nussbaum and Pfrender (1998), who suggested that the presence of this species on Bioko is dubious as the locality may be in error. Thus, these authors suggest removing the taxon Geotripetes seraphini from the faunal list of Bioko until additional specimens are found. We follow the suggestion provided by Nussbaum and Pfrender (1998) of not considering the species as part of the fauna of the island.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED.— One specimen [the following locality of the label may be in error]: Fernando Poo ( =Bioko ), <1885 (MNCN 1239): holotype of Schistometopum garzonheydti Taylor and Salvador, 1978 (synonym of Geotrypetes seraphini ).

Figures

MAPS 28A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Geotripetes seraphini; (B) Herpele squalostoma (the insular record of Elobey Island is not showed).