Letheobia unitaeniata (Peters)

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 : 55

Letheobia unitaeniata (Peters)

( Fig 8 A)

Yellow-striped blind-snake

Typhlops (Letheobia) unitaeniatus Peters 1878 , Mber. Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1878: 205, Pl. 2, Fig. 5 . Type locality: Taita [Hills, Kenya] (ca. 03°25’S, 38°25’E), collected by J. M. Hildenbrandt, holotype ZMB 9246.

Typhlops unitaeniatus – Boulenger 1893: 55, 1896: 590, 1909: 309, 1912: 331, 1915b: 616; Tornier 1896: 66; Sternfeld 1908b: 242; Werner 1921: 331 (part); Calabresi 1923: 160 (part); Scortecci 1930: 15 (part); Gans & Laurent 1965: 59; Gans & Taub 1965: 107.

Typhlops unitaeniatus unitaeniatus – Loveridge 1936: 227, 1942: 258, 1957: 243.

Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus – Roux-Estève 1974: 241, Fig. 180 (part), 1975: 445 (part); Spawls 1978: 2; Hahn 1980: 36 (part); Hoevers & Johnson 1982: 183; Lanza 1983: 219, 1990: 430 (part); Lambert 1985: 66 (part); Largen & Rasmussen 1993: 322; Wallach 1994: 219; Flemming & Bates 1999: 420; McDiarmid et al. 1999: 88; Spawls et al. 2006: 91.

Description. Snout very prominent, with an acutely angular horizontal keratinised edge on rostral, rostral very large, longer than broad and extending well beyond the lovel of the eyes, ventrally rostral more than half width of head at level of nostrils; frontal crescentic, separated from the nasal by two supraoculars, the lower with its lateral apex between nasal and preocular; eye visible beneath the upper anterior edge of the nasal; nasal suture arising from the second labial; SIP X (N1, P, O, O). Scale rows usually 26-24-24; MD 467–586 (mean 501.26). L/D ratio 38–77. Dark brown to black dorsally, slightly lighter below, with a bright yellow vertebral stripe, three to five scales wide, running from the back of the head to about 1 cm before the tail tip.

Size. Largest specimen (MZUF 27528 –– Balad, Somalia) 435 mm in total length.

Habitat. Mainly Acacia- Commiphora deciduous bushland and thicket, but also entering coastal mosaic. Sympatric with Letheobia ataeniata on the sandy levees on the west bank of the Juba River ( Hoevers & Johnson 1982).

Distribution. Southern Somalia, eastern Kenya and northeastern Tanzania, 20–1600 m. ( Fig. 12).

Localities. SOMALIA. Alessandra Island, Gelib MZUF 2222; Balad MZUF 27528; Dinsor MZUF 24678-79; Gelib to Bidi NHCL 1535, MSNM 1960 ( Calabresi 1923); Lugh Ferrandi BMNH 98.1.28.13; Mareri (Juba Sugar Project: Hoevers & Johnson 1982) CAS 151202, 225263-65; MZUF 27167-70; Merca [Marka] ( Scortecci 1930) MZUT 1744. KENYA. Garissa & Garsen ( Spawls 1978); Gede NMK 2266; Ithumba BMNH 1963.433-34; Jombeni USNM 22091; Kibwezi BMNH 93.11.21.42; MCZ 18175; Kinna, Lali Hills & Makueni ( Spawls 1978); Malindi MCZ 40081; NMK 2677; Mombasa BMNH 90.1.20.2; Namanga NMZB 17116; Saka BMNH 1952.1.6.46; Taita ZMB 9246 (holotype); Taru BMNH 97.11.17.18; Voi MCZ 40079-80; Watamu ( Spawls et al. 2002, photo). TANZANIA. Amboni Estate MCZ 48058; Maji Kunuinua Mtn, Mkomazi Game Res. ( Flemming & Bates 1999) NMBO 7941; Tanga BMNH 1960.1.6.29; MNHN 1895.132.

Figures

FIGURE 5. The Letheobia rufescens complex: dorsal, lateral and ventral views of head of: A. L. largeni sp. nov. (BMNH 1974.5162, holotype – Gambela, Ethiopia, after Largen, 1978: Fig. 7); B. L. wittei (IRSNB 2511, holotype – Vandia-poshe, Democratic Republic of Congo, after Roux-Estève, 1974: Fig. 179); C. L. rufescens (MNHN 1916.262, holotype – Haut Oubangui, Central African Republic, after Roux-Estève, 1974: Fig. 167). The lines indicate 1 mm to scale.

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.