Leptotyphlops reticulatus (Boulenger)

Published, First, 2007, A revision of the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae), Zootaxa 1408, pp. 1-78 : 17-18

Leptotyphlops reticulatus (Boulenger) ( Plate 6 , Fig. 2)

Reticulate worm-snake

Glauconia reticulata Boulenger, 1906 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) 18: 441. Type locality: Wagga, Golis Mts, near Berbera, Somalia (10°00’N, 45°30’E, 900–1200 m), holotype BMNH 1946.1.16.53 (formerly BMNH 1905.11.7.42), collected by G.W. Bury; Boulenger, 1915c: 643.

Leptotyphlops reticulata — Parker, 1949: 19.

Leptotyphlops reticulatus — Hahn, 1978: 479, 1980: 24; Lanza, 1983: 220, 1990: 431; Meirte, 1992: 15; Broadley & Wallach, 1996: 162; Wallach, 1996: 429; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 40.

Diagnosis. This species is distinguished from Leptotyphlops boulengeri by its high middorsal and subcaudal counts and from L. drewesi by its broad rostral shield and reticulate colour pattern. Skull robust, with fused parietal bones ( Plate 4 , Fig 2D).

Description. Body cylindrical, with head broadened, flattened and distinct from neck, the moderate tail tapers to a small conical terminal spine.

Snout rounded, rostral moderate (0.35 head width), wider than nasals anteriorly, barely reaching level of eyes posteriorly, a deep preoral groove present ventrally but rostral not beaked or extending below lip line in lateral view. Behind rostral, upper lip bordered by an infranasal (nostril midway between rostral and supralabial along nasal suture), moderate anterior supralabial subequal in size to infranasal with width along lip equal to that of infranasal, large ocular with eye near upper anterior edge, and moderate posterior supralabial. Supraoculars twice as long as wide, anteriorly wedged between supranasal and ocular, posteriorly wedged between a large hexagonal frontal and a small postfrontal, which is followed by a larger and wider interparietal and a long but narrow interoccipital, the next middorsal scale is as wide as the interparietal. Parietals transverse, subequal to the enlarged occipitals, in contact with the moderate posterior supralabials. Temporal single. No mental.

Body covered with 14 rows of smooth, imbricate, subequal scales. Reduction to 10 rows on tail takes place lateral to the crescent-shaped cloacal shield. Total middorsals 227–238; subcaudals 29–32.

Total length/tail ratio 9.2–12.5; total length/diameter ratio 41–57.

Three to seven middorsal scale rows dark to light brown, each scale bordered with white, venter cream.

Size. Largest specimen (BMNH 1954.1.12.77 — Hargeisha, Somalia) has a total length of 201 mm.

Distribution. Highlands of northern Somalia, 900–1250 m ( Plate 5 ).

Localities: SOMALIA. Hargeisha BMNH 1954.1.12.77*; Wagar, Golis Mts ( Boulenger, 1906; Parker,1949) BMNH 1946.1.16.53.

Figures

PLATE 4. Figure 1. Dorsal views of the skulls of Leptotyphlops. A. Leptotyphlops nigricans (MCZ 21473) and B. Leptotyphlops kafubi (FMNH 56374), both after List (1966). KEY to bone abbreviations from List, 1966: Ax = axis, At = atlas, Eo = exoccipital, F = frontal, M = maxilla, N = nasal, P = parietal, Pf = prefrontal, Po = prootic, So = supraoccipital. C. Leptotyphlops cairi, after Abdeen et al. (1991). KEY to bone abbreviations from Abdeen et al., 1991: B.OC. = basioccipital; B.SP. = basisphenoid; C.T.C. = cartilaginouis trebacula cranii; EX.OC. = exoccipital; FR. = frontal; L.P.P.MX. = lateral process of maxilla; MX. = maxilla; NA. = nasal; OC.CO. = occipital condyle; P.MX. = premaxilla; P.OT. = prootic; P.VO. = prevomer; PA. = palatine; PR. = parietal; PR.FR. = prefrontal; PR.L.DG. = lateral downgrowth of parietal; PT. = pterygoid; S.OC. = supraoccipital. The lines represent 1 mm to scale. The stipple indicates thin transparent membrane. Figure 2. Dorsal views of the skulls of Leptotyphlops. A. Leptotyphlops nigroterminus sp. nov. (ZMB 51610); B. Leptotyphlops macrurus (BMNH 1957.1.10.26); C. Leptotyphlops boulengeri (MCZ 40087); D. Leptotyphlops reticulatus (BMNH 1954.1.12.77). E. Leptotyphlops longicaudus (NMZB-UM 29371); F. Leptotyphlops blanfordii (BMNH 1977.833); G. Leptotyphlops nursii (FMNH 66158). H. Leptotyphlops scutifrons merkeri (NMZB 8089). The lines represent 1 mm to scale. KEY: f = frontal; n = nasal; p = parietal; pp = postparietal; so = supraoccipital.

PLATE 5. Leptotyphlops. Distribution of the Leptotyphlops parkeri, L. reticulatus, L. longicaudus and L. nigricans species groups in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia.

PLATE 6. Figure 1. Leptotyphlops parkeri. Dorsal and lateral views of the holotype, BMNH 1949.2.3.47 — Degeh Bur, Ethiopia. The line represents 1 mm to scale. After Broadley, 1999. Figure 2. Leptotyphlops reticulatus. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the holotype, BMNH 1946.1.16.53 — Wagar, Golis Mts, Somalia. From Lanza, Snakes of Somalia (in prep.). Drawings by E. Wade. Figure 3. Leptotyphlops boulengeri. Dorsal. lateral and ventral views of the head of MCZ 40085 — Lamu Island, Kenya. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 4. Leptotyphlops drewesi. Dorsal and lateral views of the head of the holotype, CAS 85756 — 10 km south of Isiolo, Kenya, after Wallach (1996). The line represents 1 mm to scale.