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Epictia columbi (KLAUBER, 1939)

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Higher TaxaLeptotyphlopidae, Epictinae, Epictini, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Bahamian Threadsnake, San Salvador Blind Snake 
SynonymLeptotyphlops albifrons — STEJNEGER 1905: 335 (part)
Glauconia albifrons — WERNER 1917: 203 (part)
Leptotyphlops columbi KLAUBER 1939: 62
Leptotyphlops colombi — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1946: 142 (in error)
Leptotyphlops columbi — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 618
Leptotyphlops columbi — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 25
Epictia columbi — ADALSTEINSSON, BRANCH, TRAPE, VITT & HEDGES 2009
Epictia columbi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 276
Epictia columbi — MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2016 
DistributionBahamas, San Salvador I.

Type locality: Watlings Island (= San Salvador), Bahamas.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: CM. 1364; paratypes: CM, MCZ, SDNHM = SDSNH 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: (1) scale row formula = 14-14-14; (2) midtail scale rows = 10; (3) total length = 86–183 (x– = 136.0) mm; (4) total middorsals = 240–265 (x– = 255.6); (5) subcaudals = 22–25 (x– = 23.7); (6) relative body pro- portion = 49–69 (x– = 58.3); (7) relative tail length = 5.7%–8.9% (x– = 7.6%); (8) relative tail width = 4.3–6.3 (x– = 5.1); (9) relative rostral width = 0.27–0.44 (x– = 0.35); (10) relative eye size = 0.35–0.41 (x– = 0.38); (10) rostral short and sagittate with a truncated apex, extending to anterior eye level; (11) supralabials 2, moderate anterior supral- abial just reaching eye level; (12) frontal subhexagonal, longer than wide; (13) supraoculars large, twice as broad as deep, posterior borders parallel to posterior supranasal borders; (14) widest anteriormost vertebral scale 3rd or 4th; (15) parietals and occipitals subequal, oriented obliquely; (16) infralabials 4; (17) cloacal shield semilunate in shape; (18) head brown, lacking a pale spot on rostral; (19) dorsum uniform blackish-brown to black (no stripes); (20) midventral 3 rows uniform reddish-brown to yellowish-brown, with a sharp demarcation between the dorsal and ventral color, at least anteriorly; (21) midbody stripe formula (U) and pattern (U); (22) dorsum of tail uniform brown, ventral 3 rows pale yellow; and (23) apical spine a laterally compressed cone (Wallach 2016: 237).


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CommentDistribution: see map in MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2016: Fig. 4. 
EtymologyThis species was named in reference to Christopher Columbus, who is credited with discovering the New World, with the first landfall supposedly on San Salvador Island. 
References
  • Adalsteinsson, S.A.; Branch, W.R.; Trapé, S.; Vitt, L.J. & Hedges, S.B. 2009. Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata). Zootaxa 2244: 1-50 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • FRANCISCO, BÁRBARA CRISTINA S.; ROBERTA R. PINTO & DANIEL S. FERNANDES 2012. Taxonomy of Epictia munoai (Orejas-Miranda, 1961) (Squamata: Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Zootaxa 3512: 42–52 - get paper here
  • Hedges, S.B., Marion, A.B., Lipp, K.M., Marin, J. & Vidal, N. 2014. A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1–61 - get paper here
  • Klauber, L. M. 1939. Three new worm snakes of the genus Leptotyphlops. Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist. 9: 59-65. - get paper here
  • McCranie JR, Hedges SB. 2016. Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of the Epictia goudotii Species complex (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictinae) in Middle America and northern South America. PeerJ 4:e1551 - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Thomas, R., R. W. McDiarmid, and F. G. Thompson. 1985. Three new species of thread snakes (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from Hispaniola. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 98: 204-220. - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van. 2016. Morphological review and taxonomic status of the Epictia phenops species group of Mesoamerica, with description of six new species and discussion of South American Epictia albifrons, E. goudotii, and E. tenella (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictinae Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 216-374 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
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