Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854)

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 : 50-51

Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854)

Figure 12B

Euprepis striata Hallowell, 1854b: 98 . Type locality: “ Liberia, wetern coast of Africa” in error. Corrected to Gabon by Hallowell (1860).

Euprepes (Tiliqua) elegans Fischer, 1883 . Type locality: “ Sierra Leone ” (preoccupied by Euprepis elegans Peters, 1854 ).

Euprepes leoninus Fischer, 1884a: 7 (nomen novum pro E. elegans Fischer, 1883 ).

Lepidothyris striatus (Hallowell, 1854) : Wagner et al. 2009: 16.

Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854) : Freitas et al. 2019: 1086.

Distribution. Central Africa. From southern Cameroon to Gabon and the Republic of the Congo, and east to Central African Republic. In Equatorial Guinea it has been reported in Monte Alén National Park ( Lasso et al. 2002) and Cabo San Juan ( Boulenger 1905) as Lygosoma fernandi ( Map 13A ).

Comments. We confirm the presence of this species for Equatorial Guinea. Two species of Mochlus occur in Río Muni, M. fernandi and M. striatus . Although syntopy between both species has been recorded in southern Cameroon ( Wagner et al. 2009c), no syntopic populations have yet been found in Río Muni. Based on the examined specimens, Mochlus striatus seems to be more common in Río Muni than M. fernandi .

Specimens examined. Five specimens. Río Muni: road from Aconibe to Asoc, 03 May 1987 ( EBD 24996) ; without specific locality, 09 October 1966 ( EBD 2840 ) ; Mongomo , Welé Nzas ( EBD 20838) ; Mongomo , Welé Nzas, 16 April 1986 ( EBD 20839) ; Cabo San Juan, likely part of the material examined by Boulenger (1905) ( MNCN 5820 ) .

Figures

FIGURE 12. From left to right: dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the head of: Mochlus fernandi (A) [(EBD 22170) (dorsal view) and EBD 2841 (lateral and ventral views)], Mochlus striatus (B) (EBD 20839), and Trachylepis affinis (C) (EBD 31521_ B-8497). Photos: AS-V.

MAPS 13 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Mochlus striatus; (B) Trachylepis affinis; (C) Trachylepis albilabris.