Polemon collaris (Peters, 1881)

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 : 97

Polemon collaris (Peters, 1881)

Figure 24B

Microsoma collare Peters 1881b: 148 . Type locality: “Macange, Cuango, West-Afrika”, Malanje, Angola.

Miodon collaris collaris Witte & Laurent, 1947: 70 .

Miodon collaris brevior Witte & Laurent, 1947: 69 . Type locality: “Vieux-Calabar”, Calabar , Nigeria.

Miodon collaris longior Witte & Laurent, 1947: 72 . Type locality: “Medje (Uele)”.

Polemon collaris (Peters 1881) : Welch 1994: 99.

Distribution. Widespread in Central Africa from Nigeria to Uganda, south to Angola. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded both in Bioko ( Bocage 1895 a, 1903) and in Río Muni at Monte Alén National Park ( Lasso et al. 2002) ( Map 27A ).

Comments. Loveridge (1944) mentioned the presence of this species in Bioko (“Fernando Po: Spanish Guinea: Esong , near Bakossiberge ”); however, the locality provided corresponds to a region placed in Cameroon. Consequently , we exclude this record from this catalogue. At first sight, it can be confused with Polemon fulvicollis , but they are readily differentiated by the pholidosis pattern, among other traits. The specimens from the EBD B9272, B9273, EBD 18270 and EBD 20943, present the following numbers of subcaudals, respectively: 23, 17, 18 and 20. The number of ventral scales for the specimens EBD 18370 and EBD 20943 are 216 and 200, respectively .

Specimens examined. Four specimens. Río Muni: San Joaquín de Ndyiacom, 1990 ( EBD 31526 for two specimens with the field numbers B9272 and B9273); Moca, Evinayong, 15 June 1986 ( EBD 20943) ; without specific locality ( EBD 18370) .

Figures

FIGURE 24. From left to right: lateral, dorsal and ventral views of the head of: Aparallactus modestus (A) (EBD 27538), Polemon collaris (B) (EBD 20943), and Polemon notatus (C) (in the EBD collection, without EBD number). Photos: AS-V.

MAPS 27 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Polemon collaris (question mark represents an imprecise record); (B) Polemon notatus; (C) Atractaspis boulengeri.