Leptotyphlops erythraeus Scortecci

Published, First, 2007, A revision of the genus Leptotyphlops in northeastern Africa and southwestern Arabia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae), Zootaxa 1408, pp. 1-78 : 21

Leptotyphlops erythraeus Scortecci ( Plate 7 . Fig. 2)

Eritrean worm snake

Glauconia cairi — Steindachner, 1900: 333 (Dahlak Island).

Glauconia erythraea Scortecci, 1928 , Atti. Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat., Milano , 67: 293, fig. 2. Type locality: Massaua [=Massawa], Eritrea (15°37’N, 39°28’E, near sea level), holotype MSNM 3349 (formerly MSNM 1916), collected by F. Fatigati.

Leptotyphlops erythraeus — Parker, 1932a: 362; Hahn, 1980: 14; Trape, 2002: 49, fig. 10A; Wallach & Lanza 2004: 87.

Leptotyphlops erythraea — Parker, 1949: 21.

Leptotyphlop s sp. — Hoofien & Yaron, 1964: 38 (Entedebir Island).

Leptotyphlops cf. macrorhynchus — Lanza, 1972: 174 (Awash National Park).

Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus — Hahn, 1978: 482; Lanza, 1983: 220; Meirte, 1992: 15; Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 324; Schleich et al., 1996: 476; Largen, 1997: 87; McDiarmid et al., 1999: 36.

Leptotyphlops cairi — Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 324 (part); Largen, 1997: 87 (part).

Leptotyphlops nigricans — Largen & Rasmussen, 1993: 325 (part).

Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus macrorhynchus — Hahn & Wallach, 1998: 54.

Diagnosis. Close to Leptotyphlops nursii , but differs in having a more pronounced beak (extending below lip level), fewer subcaudals (perhaps without sexual dimorphism) and perhaps smaller maximum size (170 mm vs. 242 mm). Skull with a large frontoparietal foramen like L. cairi .

Description. Body cylindrical, with head broader slightly broader than neck, the short tail tapers slightly before a terminal cone.

Snout rounded, rostral moderate (0.38–0.53 head width, mean = 0.44), with nearly parallel sides, extending posteriorly to mideye level, posterior border in hexagonal configuration, broader than supranasals; ventral rostral with deep preoral cavity, lateral head profile with a weak blunt beak that extends below lip level, beak narrow ventrally. Behind rostral, upper lip bordered by infranasal (nostril midway between rostral and supralabial along nasal suture), small anterior supralabial that just reaches level of nostril with width along lip equal to that of infranasal, and moderate posterior supralabial. Frontal semilunate, more than twice as broad as deep, larger than supraoculars and postfrontal; interocular line along rostral-frontal suture; interparietal and interoccipital broader than frontal or postfrontal. Ocular slightly oblique, small eye with distict pupil beneath upper anterior border; parietals transverse, occipitals enlarged in type but occipitals not fused in other specimens; parietals transverse, in contact with posterior supralabial, occipitals fused and enlarged. Temporal single. Cloacal shield semilunate; no apical spine, tail terminating in a smooth cone. Prominent tubercles on all head shields except parietals and occipitals.

Body covered with 14 rows of smooth, imbricate, subequal scales, reducing to 12 rows on the tail. Middorsals 311–335; subcaudals 28–34.

Total length/diameter ratio 59–99; total length/tail length ratio 11.1–15.3.

Holotype uniformly pinkish-beige but other specimens light brown. A specimen from the Awash National Park ( BMNH 1977.2249 ) has the seven dorsal scale rows medium brown, chin and anterior venter pure white for the first 50 scales, rest of venter pale brown, subcaudals medium brown.

Size. Largest specimen (MZUF 12270 — Awash National Park, Ethiopia) 158.5 + 11.5 = 170 mm.

Distribution. The Red Sea coast of Eritrea and the Dahlak Archipelago, extending inland to the Awash National Park in eastern Ethiopia in the southwestern corner of the Afar depression (which until the mid-Pliocene was connected with southwestern Arabia — Parker, 1949; Leviton, 1986), 0–1000 m ( Plate 5 ).

Localities. ERITREA. Azzillek River, near Assab MZUF 30109; Dahlak Island (Steindachner, 1901); Entedebir Island TAU 13643; Massaua MSNM 3349. ETHIOPIA. Awash National Park BMNH 1971.767, 1977.2249; MZUF 12270.

Figures

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

PLATE 7. Figure 1. Leptotyphlops nursii. Dorsal, ventral and lateral views of the head of FMNH 66157 — Tapizz, Yemen. Drawings by J. Boundy. Figure 2. Leptotyphlops erythraeus. Dorsal, ventral and lateral views of the head of the type, MSNM 3349 — Massaua, Eritrea, redrawn with modifications from Scortecci (1928). Figure 3. Leptotyphlops burii. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of BMNH 1937.11.1.10 — Ad Dali, Yemen, after Gasperetti (1988). Drawings by E. Wade. The line represents 1 mm to scale. Figure 4. Leptotyphlops yemenicus. Dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of the type, MSNM 3354 - Yemen. Redrawn with modifications from Scortecci (1933).