Melanoseps poensis (Bocage, 1895)

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta & Riva, Ignacio De La, 2022, Synopsis of the terrestrial Reptiles of Equatorial Guinea, Zootaxa 5202 (1), pp. 1-197 : 59

Melanoseps poensis (Bocage, 1895)

Scelotes poensis Bocage, 1895b: 16 . Type locality: “Bissé, nas faldas do Pico de Santa Isabel ”. Basilé, foothill of Pico Basilé.

Melanoseps poensis (Bocage, 1895) : Brygoo & Roux-Esteve 1982: 1171.

Distribution. Endemic to Bioko. This taxon is only known from the type locality, close to Basilé, Bioko ( Bocage 1895b, 1897, 1903; Boulenger 1906) ( Map 16A ).

Comments. Treated as a synonym of Melanoseps occidentalis by Mertens (1964) without providing any justification. Morphologically allied and likely conspecific to Melanoseps occidentalis ( Brygoo & Roux-Esteve 1982) , being the only difference between them is the number of supraciliary scales, five in M. poensis and four in M. occidentalis . Unfortunately, the types of Scelotes poensis were lost during the fire suffered in the Museu Bocage of Lisbon in 1977 ( Brygoo & Roux-Esteve 1982), hampering the solution of this taxonomic problem. The study of further collected topotypic specimens will be required in order to resolve its identity. Brygoo & Roux-Esteve (1982) tentatively treated M. poensis as a valid species until more data are available but suggesting the likely conspecificity of both taxa.

Specimens examined. No specimens of this species have been found in the collections examined.

Figures

MAPS 16 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Melanoseps poensis; (B) Monopeltis galeata; (C) Monopeltis jugularis.