Typhlops socotranus Boulenger, 1889

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 : 17-18

Typhlops socotranus Boulenger, 1889

Typhlops socotranus Boulenger, 1889: 362 —Locus typicus: “ Socotra ”. Typhlops sp.— Günther 1881: 462.

Typhlops socotranus .— Boulenger, 1893: 21, Pl. 2.2[a]–c.

This species is known from only few specimens: Steindachner (1903) reports it from Aqarhi [Hakari] in the southern plain (Noged), and an area North of Ras Shu’ab; Boulenger (1889) cites a specimen from Dahamis [in the Hadibu Plain]; Rösler & Wranik (2004) observed two additional individuals from Hasaant (South of Hajhir).

Habitat. We collected this species in stony highlands with Croton bushes, sparse shrubs with scattered stones, humid forest with deep soil, between 290 and 550 m a.s.l.

Original data. Fig. 30. Ma'alah plateau, Wadi Ayhaft, Rokeb area.

Bibliographic data. Boulenger (1889, 1893), Steindachner (1903), Parker (1949), Schätti & Desvoignes (1999), Rösler & Wranik (2004).

General distribution. Endemic to Socotra Island.

Remarks. Rösler & Wranik (2004) report that the species “ inhabits areas with little moisture and vegetation ”, our observation agree with them, as we also found two individuals in a very humid forested area at Wadi Ayhaft (290 m a.s.l.).