Mehelya Csiki, 1903

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 340-341

Genus Mehelya Csiki, 1903

Mehelya poensis (Smith, 1847) WESTERN FOREST FILE SNAKE

Heterolepis poensis Smith 1847a : page 2 of 2 unnumbered pages accompanying plate 55 [ Heterolepis capensis ]. Holotype, BMNH 1946.1.14.20 (formerly BMNH 47.4.4.? fide BMNH register) (collectors T. Vogel and J. Ansel [ Niger Expedition ]). Type locality: “ Fernando Po ” [= Bioko], Gulf of Guinea, Equatorial

Guinea. Heterolepis bicarinatus : Bocage (1866a:49). Heterolepis poensis : Ferreira (1906:168). Simocephalus poensis : Monard (1937b:111). Mehelya poënsis : Hellmich (1957b:61). Mehelya poensis : Loveridge (1939:145, 1957:253),

Laurent (1950a:8), Thys van den Audenaerde

(1966:32), Spawls et al. (2004:332), Broadley and Cotterill (2004:48), Chippaux (2006:84),

Chirio and LeBreton (2007:482), Broadley et al.

(2018:6). Gonionotophis poensis : Kelly et al. (2011:425),

Branch and Conradie (2015:200), Wallach et al.

(2014: 426).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated.

Global distribution: The species is known from Guinea-Bissau east to South Sudan and south to the southern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Angola.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 301): The species occurs in northern regions of Angola, including the Cabinda enclave. Cabinda: MAP 301. Distribution of Mehelya poensis in Angola. “ Cabinda ” [-5.55000, 12.18333] ( Loveridge 1939:146). Lunda Norte: “Dundo” [-7.36667, 20.83333] ( Thys van den Audenaerde 1966:32); “Carumbo” [-7.75294, 19.95672] (Branch and Conradie 2015:200); “Muita (Luembe E)” [-7.80000, 21.45000] ( Laurent 1950a:8). Bengo: “Cabicula (Cazengo)” [-9.16667, 13.56667] ( Ferreira 1906:168; Monard 1937b:113, Loveridge 1939:146). Kwanza Norte: “Piri-Dembos” [-8.56667, 14.50000] ( Hellmich 1957b:61).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Broadley et al. (2018) recently used molecular and morphological data to revise the African file snakes, splitting the genus Gonionotophis and resurrecting Mehelya , with poensis as its type species.