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Atractaspis congica PETERS, 1877

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Higher TaxaAtractaspididae (Atractaspidinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesAtractaspis congica congica PETERS 1877
Atractaspis congica leleupi LAURENT 1950
Atractaspis congica orientalis LAURENT 1945 
Common NamesE: Congo Stiletto Snake
orientalis: Eastern Congo Burrowing Asp 
SynonymAtractaspis congica PETERS 1877: 616
Atractaspis congica congica — LAURENT 1950: 26
Atractaspis congica congica — HELLMICH 1957
Atractaspis congica congica — PERRET 1961
Atractaspis congica — WELCH 1994: 23
Atractaspis congica — TRAPE & ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995: 42
Atractaspis congica — BROADLEY et al. 2003: 83
Atractaspis congica — WALLACH et al. 2014: 63
Atractaspis congica congica — RÖDEL et al. 2019
Atractaspis congica — PIETERSEN et al. 2021

Atractaspis congica orientalis LAURENT 1945: 330
Atractaspis congica orientalis — LAURENT 1958: 126
Atractaspis congica orientalis — AUERBACH 1987: 180
Atractaspis congica orientalis — BROADLEY 1991: 527
Atractaspis congica orientalis — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007

Atractaspis congica leleupi LAURENT 1950: 351
Atractaspis leleupi — BROADLEY & COTTERILL 2004
Atractaspis congica leleupi — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Atractaspis leleupi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 65 
DistributionNE Namibia (Caprivi Strip), Angola, Zambia, W/S, E? Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon

congica: Cameroon, N Angola, Zaire

leleupi: Zaire = Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kundelungu Mountains, Katanga); Type locality: "Station d'etudes des l'IRSAC sur le massif des Kundelungu (1,750 m.), Champ de termitieres" [= Katanga Prov., SE Democratic Republic of the Congo]. Emended to Station d'etudes de la Seram, plateau des Kundelungu, Haut Katanga (fide Laurent 1956: 310).

orientalis: Zaire (Katanga), Zambia (Abercorn)

Type locality: “Chinchoxo, Cabinda”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 8644
Holotype: RMCA (= MRAC = RGMC) 18700, female [leleupi]
Holotype: RMCA (= MRAC) (Musée du Congo Belge) [orientalis] 
Diagnosis 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: not in Botswana or Zimbabwe (BROADLEY & BLAYLOCK 2013). 
EtymologyPresumably named after the type locality, the Congo.

The subspecies leleupi was named after the collector of the types, N. Leleup. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
  • Bittencourt-Silva GB. 2019. Herpetological survey of western Zambia. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [Special Section]: 1-28 (e181) - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1991. The Herpetofauna of Northern Mwinilunga Distr., Northw. Zambia. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9 (37): 519-538
  • Broadley, D.G.; Doria, C.T. & Wigge, J. 2003. Snakes of Zambia. An Atlas and Field Guide. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 280 pp. [review in Sauria 26 (3): 21]
  • Broadley, Donald G. and F. P. D. Cotterill. 2004. The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot'. [Congo]. African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35-61. - get paper here
  • Chifundera, K. 1990. Snakes of Zaire and their bites. Afr. Stud. Monogr. (Kyoto) 10(3): 137-157.
  • Chippaux, Jean-Philippe & Kate Jackson 2019. Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Johns Hopkins University Press, 448 pp. [detaileld review in HR 51 (1): 161] - get paper here
  • Chirio, L. & Lebreton, M. 2007. Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. MNHN, IRD, Paris 688 pp.
  • Conradie W and Branch WR. 2016. The herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and lower Cuando river catchments of south-eastern Angola. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 10 (2) [Special Section]: 6–36 - get paper here
  • CONRADIE, WERNER; NINDA L. BAPTISTA, LUKE VERBURGT, CHAD KEATES, JAMES HARVEY, TIMOTEO JULIO & GOTZ NEEF. 2021. Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes). Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2): 244–278. - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • Hellmich, W. 1957. Herpetologische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise in Angola. Veröff. Zool. Staatssammlung München 5: 1-91 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. 1983. African snake faunas. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 34: 311-356 - get paper here
  • Laurent, R.F. 1945. Contribution a la connaissance du Genre Atractaspis A. Smith. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 38: 312-343
  • Laurent, R.F. 1950. Revision du genre Atractaspis A. SMITH. Mem. Inst. Roy. nat. Belg. (2) 38: 1-49
  • Laurent, R.F. 1958. Notes herpétologiques africaines II. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 58 (1–2): 115–128
  • Laurent,R.F. 1950. Reptiles nouveaux des Kundelungu. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. (Bruxelles) 43 (4): 349-352
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Massimo Capalbo 2024. The World's Most Dangerous Snakes - Volume I: From the fast-lightning Black Mamba to the insidious Hook-nosed Sea Snake, through the formidable Coastal Taipan. Privately published, 252 pp. - get paper here
  • Perret, J.L. 1961. Études herpétologiques africaines III. 1. La faune ophidienne de la région camerounaise. Bull. Soc. neuchâtel. Sci. nat., 84: 133-138
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1877. Übersicht der Amphibien aus Chinchoxo (Westafrika), welche von der Africanischen Gesellschaft dem Berliner zoologischen Museum übergeben sind. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1877 (October): 611-620 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Rödel M, Kucharzewski C, Mahlow K, Chirio L, Pauwels OSG, Carlino P, Sambolah G, Glos J 2019. A new stiletto snake (Lamprophiidae, Atractaspidinae, Atractaspis) from Liberia and Guinea, West Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 95(1): 107-123 - get paper here
  • SANTOS, B. S. .,MARQUES, M. P. ., BAUER, A. M. ., & CERÍACO, L. M. P. . 2021. Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903–1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection. Zootaxa 5028 (1): 1–80 - get paper here
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Trape, J.F. & R. ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995. Les serpents du Congo: liste commentée et clé de détermination. Journal of African Zoology 109 (1): 31-50
  • Wagner, Philipp; Esther Townsend, Michael Barej, Dennis Rödder, Stephen Spawls 2009. First record of human envenomation by Atractaspis congica Peters, 1877 (Squamata: Atractaspididae). Toxicon 54: 368–372 - 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.
  • Witte, G. F. de 1933. Reptiles récoltés au Conge Belge par le Dr. H. Schouteden et par M. G.-F. Witte. Ann. Mus. Conge belge Zool. Ser. 1 Tome III: 53-100.
 
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