You are here » home advanced search search results Epictia tenella

Epictia tenella KLAUBER, 1939

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Epictia tenella?

Add your own observation of
Epictia tenella »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaLeptotyphlopidae, Epictinae, Epictini, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Guyana Threadsnake, Guyana Blind Snake, Wagler's Blind Snake
Portuguese: Cobra-Cega-da-Guiana 
SynonymStenostoma albifrons — JAN 1861: 187–188 (part)
Stenostoma albifrons — JAN 1863: 15 (part)
Stenostoma albifrons — 1864: 34 (part)
Stenostoma albifrons — COPE 1862: 350, 1875: 128 (part)
Stenostoma albifrons — COPE 1887: 63 (part)
Typhlops reticulatus — MÜLLER 1878: 588
Stenostoma albifrons — GARMAN 1887: 278 (part.)
Glauconia albifrons — BOETTGER 1891: 347
Glauconia albifrons — BOETTGER 1892: 103
Glauconia albifrons — BOULENGER 1893: 63 (part.)
Glauconia albifrons — BOULENGER 1896: 591 (part.)
Leptotyphlops albifrons — PERRACA 1904: 7
Leptotyphlops albifrons — STEJNEGER 1905: 335
Glauconia albifrons — BARBOUR & COLE 1906: 150 (part.)
Leptotyphlops albifrons — AMARAL 1925: 3 (part),
Leptotyphlops albifrons — AMARAL 1929 (part.)
Leptotyphlops tenella KLAUBER 1939: 59
Leptotyphlops albifrons — BEEBE 1946: 12
Leptotyphlops tenella — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1946: 143
Leptotyphlops tenella — BEEBE 1952: 175
Leptotyphlops albifrons albifrons — ROZE 1952: 156
Leptotyphlops albifrons tenella — ROZE 1952: 155
Leptotyphlops albifrons tenella — ROZE 1952: 143
Leptotyphlops tenella — UNDERWOOD 1953: 175 (lower photo)
Leptotyphlops albifrons ssp. — ROZE 1957: 181
Leptotyphlops albifrons albifrons — PETERS 1960a: 526 (part)
Leptotyphlops albifrons albifrons — ROZE 1970: 68
Leptotyphlops tenella — PETERS et al., 1970: 167
Leptotyphlops sp. — MERTENS 1972: 12
Leptotyphlops tenellus — OREJAS-MIRANDA & ZUG 1974
Leptotyphlops goudotii goudotii — BOOS 1975: 22
Leptotyphlops goudotii goudotii MACLEAN et al., 1977: 43ff
Leptotyphlops goudotii — EMSLEY 1977: 2, 34
Leptotyphlops tenella — HOOGMOED, 1977: 114.
Leptotyphlops tenellus — SCHMIDT 1977: 169–170, figs. 2, 3
Leptotyphlops tenellus — HAHN 1980: 27;
Leptotyphlops albifrons tenella — HAHN 1980: 27
Leptotyphlops tenella — GASC & RODRIGUES 1980
Leptotyphlops albifrons — HOOGMOED & GRUBER 1983: 339
Leptotyphlops tenellus — HAHN 1980
Leptotyphlops tenella — STARACE 1998: 81
Leptotyphlops tenella — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 621
Leptotyphlops albifrons — MCDIARMID et al. 1999: 19
Leptotyphlops albifrons tenella — MCDIARMID et al., 1999: 20
Leptotyphlops goudotii — MCDIARMID et al. 1999: 30–31
Leptotyphlops goudotii — BOOS 2001: 41.
Leptotyphlops albifrons — BOOS 2001
Leptotyphlops albifrons tenella — CLAESSEN 2002: 57
Leptotyphlops macrolepis — BERNARDE & ABE 2006: 105, 110.
Stenostoma albifrons — KRETZSCHMAR 2006: 45, 47
Leptotyphlops tenella — DALTRY 2007
Leptotyphlops tenellus — FRANCO & PINTO 2009 (nom. subst.)
Epictia albifrons — ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009: 31
Epictia tenella — ADALSTEINSSON et al. 2009: 10
Epictia tenela (sic) — SILVEIRA-BÉRNILS & COSTA 2012: 12.
Stenostoma albifrons — HOSER 2012: 34 (part)
Epictia (Leptotyphlops) tenella — NIELSEN et al., 2013: 144.
Epictia albifrons — WALLACH et al. 2014: 279
Epictia tenella — WALLACH et al. 2014: 279
Epictia albiforns (sic) — MUMAW et al., 2015: 432.
Epictia fallax — MUMAW et al., 2015: 294ff, map 59
Epictia albifrons — MUMAW et al. 2015: 291
E. albifrons/E. tenella — MCCRANIE & HEDGES 2016: 4.
Epictia tenella — WALLACH 2016: 328 
DistributionLesser Antilles (maybe introduced, known only from one record in Antigua),
Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Trinidad, SE Venezuela (Cojedes, Amazonas, Bolívar, Distrito Federal, Monagas, and Sucre), NE Peru (Cajamarca, Cuzco, Huánuco, Loreto, and San Martín, elevation 150–1,750 m);
Colombia (Meta, Vichada), Bolivia (Beni)

Type locality: Kartabo, British Guiana [= Kartabo, New York Zoological Society Tropical Research Laboratory at junction of Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers, Bartica District, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Guyana, 06°23'N, 58°42'W, elevation 50 m].

albifrons: Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago ?, Colombia [Castro,F. (pers. comm.)] Brazil (Para, Rio Grande do Norte), Peru (Pasco: [HR 31: 186]), Argentina (Cordoba), Uruguay, Bolivia; Type locality: “Habitat rarum in adjacentibus urbis Para” [vicinity of Brazil, Belém (01°26'S, 48°29'W)] according to the original description and Vanzolini (1981)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: AMNH 14269. Paratypes (7): GUYANA: CUYUNI-MAZARUNI: Kartabo, collected by C. William Beebe in June of 1919, AMNH 14270; TRINIDAD: TUNAPUNA/PIARICO: Saint George: Mount Saint Benedict, collected by M. Graham Netting on 8 September 1927, CM S-4888; collected by M. Graham Netting on 10 September 1927, CM S-4889; collected by M. Graham Netting on 16 September 1927, CM S-4890, CM S-4892, MCZ R-48774 (exchange of CM S-4891 to MCZ on 8 May 1945), SDSNH 32761 (exchange of CM S-4890 to SDNHM on 31 August 1939); and El Dorado, collected by M. Graham Netting on 19 September 1927, CM S-4893. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: (1) scale row formula = 14-14-14; (2) midtail scale rows = 10; (3) total length 71–215 (x– = 147.3) mm; (4) total midodrsals = 215–233 (x– = 224.5); (5) subcaudals = 13–20 (x– = 17.2); (6) relative body proportion = 37–60 (x– = 48.5); (7) relative tail length = 5.1%–7.8% (x– = 6.4%); (8) relative tail width = 2.8–4.1 (x– = 3.5); (9) relative rostral width = 0.26–0.34 (x– = 0.29); (10) relative eye size = 0.36–0.46 (x– = 0.41); (10) rostral subtriangular with a truncated apex, extending to pre- or mid-eye level; (11) supralabials 2, tall anterior supralabial in contact with supraocular at mid-eye level; (12) frontal pentagonal, 11⁄2 times broader than deep; (13) supraoculars large and quadrangular with oblique borders, twice as broad as deep; (14) widest anteriormost vertebral scale 5th; (15) parietals deeper than occipitals, oriented transversely; (16) infralabials 4; (17) cloacal shield subtriangular in shape; (18) head brown, with a large yellow spot covering rostral and adjacent scales (supranasals and frontal); (19) dor- sum with 7 dark brown stripes of contiguous ovals bordered by 8 moderate zigzag yellow stripes (= 7 dark stripes); (20) venter pale brown, each scale narrowly outlined in yellow; (21) midbody stripe formula (7 + 0) and middorsal pattern (3); (22) tail with a pale terminal spot covering 0–2 (x– = 1.1) dorsocaudals and 1–3 (x– = 1.8) subcaudals (ventral/dorsal ratio 1.6); and (23) apical spine a thorn-like compressed cone (Wallach 2016: 330).


Additional details (236 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: Partly after WALLACH 2016: 315 who also provides a more complete chresonymy and literature references. Listed as synonym of L. albifrons by KORNACKER 1999 and MCDIARMID et al. 1999 (although WALLACH stated that tenellus should be considered as valid species [in McDIARMID et al. 1999: 20]). FRANCO & PINTO 2010 and subsequent authors considered Stenosoma albifrons as a nomen dubium. Natera-Mumaw et al. (2015) consider Epictia tenella a junior synonym of E. albifrons, as already suggested by Hoogmoed & Gruber (1983). Pinto et al. 2018 suggest to designate the holotype of Leptotyphlops tenella as the neotype for S. albifrons. In that way both names would be coupled forever and take away all doubts about the identity of the taxon.

Distribution: see map in ARREDONDO & ZAHER 2010 and Wallach 2016: 334. Reports from Ecuador are most likely based on misidentifications (CISNEROS-HEREDIA 2008); Wallach 2016 confirms that reports from Ecuador need confirmation. Not in Paraguay (Cacciali et al. 2016). Not in Brazil fide Guedes et al. 2023 although reported from Brazil (Amazonas, Amapá, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, and Roraima) previously. 
EtymologyThe specific epithet of this snake is derived from the Latin tenellus, meaning quite delicate, apparently in reference to the small size and gracile proportions of the snake. 
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
  • Amaral, A. do 1929. Contribuicao ao conhecimento dos ophidios do Brasil. IV. Lista remissiva dos ophidios do Brasil. Mem. Inst. Butantan, Sao Paulo, 4: 71-125 - get paper here
  • Arredondo, Juan Camilo and Hussam Zaher 2010. A New Species of Epictia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from Central Brazil. South American J. Herp. 5 (3): 189–198 - get paper here
  • Auguste, Renoir J. 2019. Herpetofaunal checklist for six pilot protected areas in Trinidad and Tobago. Herpetology Notes 12: 577-585 - get paper here
  • Barbour, T., and L. J. Cole. 1906. Vertebrata from Yucatan. Reptilia, Amphibia and Pisces. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 50: 146-159 - get paper here
  • Beebe, William 1946. Field notes on the snakes of Kartabo, British Guiana, and Caripito, Venezuela. Zoologica 31: 11-52 - get paper here
  • BERNARDE, P.S., ALBUQUERQUE, S., BARROS, T.O. & TURCI, L.C.B. 2012. Serpentes do Estado de Rondônia, Brasil. Biota Neotropica 12 (3): 1-29 - get paper here
  • Boos, H.E.A. 2001. The snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, 270 pp.
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1894. List of reptiles and batachians collected by Dr. T. Bohls near Asuncion, Paraguay. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 13: 342-348 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Carrillo de Espinoza, Nelly & Icochea, Javier 1995. Lista taxonomica preliminar de los reptiles vivientes del Peru. Publicaciones del Museo de Historia Natural “Javier Prado”, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Serie A, Zoología (49): 1–27
  • Cisneros-Heredia D.F. 2008. Reptilia, Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae, Leptotyphlops, Ecuador: Re-evaluation of the species cited for the country. Check List 4 (2): 178–181 - get paper here
  • Cole, Charles J.; Carol R. Townsend, Robert P. Reynolds, Ross D. MacCulloch, and Amy Lathrop 2013. Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 125 (4): 317-578; plates: 580-620 - get paper here
  • Daltry, Jennifer C. 2007. An introduction to the herpetofauna of Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda, with some conservation recommendations. Applied Herpetology 4 (2): 97-130. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1844. Erpetologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete des Reptiles. Vol.6. Libr. Encyclopédique Roret, Paris, 609 pp. - get paper here
  • Eversole, C. B., Powell, R. L., Rivas, L. R., & Lizarro, D. E. 2024. Reptile Biodiversity and Vulnerability in Bolivia’s Beni Department: Informing Conservation Priorities in a Neglected Frontier. Diversity, 16(6), 335 - 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
  • Franco, F.L. & Pinto, R.R. 2009. Stenostoma albifrons WAGLER in SPIX, 1824 as nomen dubium and recognition of the name Leptotyphlops tenellus KLAUBER, 1939 (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Salamandra 45 (4): 239-244 - get paper here
  • Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24: 278-286. - get paper here
  • Gasc & Rodrigues 1980. Liste preliminaire des Serpents de la Guyane francaise. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Paris 2 (4): 559-598
  • Gonzalez R. C. et al. 2020. Lista dos Nomes Populares dos Répteis no Brasil – Primeira Versão. Herpetologia Brasileira 9 (2): 121 – 214 - get paper here
  • Gorzula, Stefan & Senaris, J. Celsa 1999. In: Contribution to the herpetofauna of the Venezuelan Guayana. I: a data base. Scientia Guaianae, Caracas, No. 8 [1998], 269+ pp.; ISBN 980-6020-48-0
  • 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
  • Koslowsky,J. 1895. Batracios y reptiles de Rioja y Catamarca. Rev. Mus. La Plata 6: 359-370 - get paper here
  • Lancini,A.R. & Kornacker,P.M. 1989. Die Schlangen von Venezuela. Armitano Editores C.A., Caracas, 1-381
  • Lehr, E. 2002. Amphibien und Reptilien in Peru. Natur und Tier-Verlag (Münster), 208 pp. - get paper here
  • Lehr, E. & Lara, J. 2002. Die Schlangenfauna von Pozuzo (Peru) (Reptilia: Serpentes). Faun. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden 22 (2): 353-359 - get paper here
  • Markezich, A.L. 2002. New distribution records of reptiles from Western Venezuela. Herpetological Review 33 (1): 69-74 - get paper here
  • Martins A, Passos P, Pinto R 2019. Moving beyond the surface: Comparative head and neck myology of threadsnakes (Epictinae, Leptotyphlopidae, Serpentes), with comments on the ‘scolecophidian’ muscular system. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0219661 - 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.
  • MENDES-PINTO, TELÊMACO JASON; Mestrando, BERNHARD, RAFAEL, VOGT, RICHARD; PEDRETT, RONNEZZA CÉLLIA LOBATO CAMPOS;GARCIA, RAUBER SANTOS 2011. A COLLECTION OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH OF THE AMAZON. Rev. Colombiana cienc. Anim. 3(2): 238 - get paper here
  • Miranda, M.E. & Tio Vallejo,M. 1985. El género Leptotyphlops en Argentina (Reptilia: Ophidia). 1: Grupos septemstriatus, dulcis y albifrons. Phisis 43 (105): 71-72
  • Morato, S.A.A.; Calixto, P.O.; Mendes, L.R.; Gomes, R.; Galatti, U.; Trein, F.L.; Oliveira, F.S.; Ferreira, G.N. 2014. Guia fotográfico de identificação da herpetofauna da Floresta Nacional de Saracá-Taquera, Estado do Pará. Curitiba: STCP Engenharia de Projetos Ltda.; Porto Trombetas: MRN – Mineração Rio do Norte S.A.; 213 p. - get paper here
  • Morato, Sérgio Augusto Abrahão; Guilherme Nunes Ferreira; Michela Rossane Cavilha Scupino (eds.) 2018. Herpetofauna da Amazônia Central: Estudos na FLONA de Saracá-Taquera. Curitiba, Pr: STCP Engenharia de Projetos Ltda.; Porto Trombetas, Pa: MRN – Mineração Rio do Norte S.A., 2018.<br>210p. - get paper here
  • Murphy, John C.; John C. Weber, Michael J. Jowers, and Robert C. Jadin 2023. Two Islands, Two Origins: The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. In: Lillywhite & Martins, eds., Islands and snakes, vol. II. Oxford University Press, p. 81 ff - get paper here
  • Orejas-Miranda, B.R. & ZUG, G.R. 1974. A new tricolor Leptotyphlops (Reptilia: Serpentes) from Peru. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 87 (16): 167 - 174 - get paper here
  • Perez-Santos, C., & Moreno, A.G. 1991. Serpientes de Ecuador. Mus. Regionale di Sci. Natur., Torino, Monogr. 11, 538 pp.
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Pinto, R. R., F. L. Franco & M. S. Hoogmoed 2018. Stenostoma albifrons Wagler, 1824 (Squamata: Leptotyphlopidae): a name with two neotypes? Salamandra 54 (4): 291-296 - get paper here
  • Rivas Fuenmayor, Gilson and Cesar Luis Barrio Amorós 2005. New Amphibian and Reptile records from Cojedes State, Venezuela. Herpetological Review 36 (2):205-209. - get paper here
  • RIVAS, GILSON A.; CÉSAR R. MOLINA, GABRIEL N. UGUETO, TITO R. BARROS, CÉSAR L. BAR- RIO-AMORÓS & PHILIPPE J. R. KOK 2012. Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist. Zootaxa 3211: 1–64 - get paper here
  • Roze, J. A. 1952. Contribución al conocimiento de los ofidios de las familias Typhlopidae y Leptotyphlopidae en Venezuela. Mem. Soc. Cien. nat. La Salle, Caracas, 12 (32): 143-158
  • Santos, Marina Meireles dos; Robson Waldemar Ávila and Ricardo Alexandre Kawashita-Ribeiro. 2011. Checklist of the amphibians and reptiles in Nobres municipality, Mato Grosso state, central Brazil. Herpetology Notes 4: 55-461 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, K. P, & ANDREWS, E. W. 1936. Notes on snakes from Yucatán. Field Mus. Nat Hist. Zool. Ser. 20: 167-187. - get paper here
  • Schmidt, O. 1977. Sobre o uso da largura da cabeca em substituicao a espessura corporal como um criterio sistematico nos scolecohidia (serpentes). Pap. Avulsos Zool. 31 (10): 169-172 - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Smith, H. M.;List, J. C. 1958. The type of the blind snake Stenostoma albifrons. Herpetologica 14: 271 - get paper here
  • Starace, Fausto 1998. Guide des Serpents et Amphisbènes de Guyane. IBIS Rouge Editions, Guadeloupe, Guyane, 450 pp.
  • Starace, Fausto 2013. Guide des Serpents et Amphisbènes de Guyane. Ibis Rouge Editions, Matoury, Guyane, ISBN 978-2-84450-407-4 - get paper here
  • Valdivieso, D. & J.R. Tamsitt 1963. A Check List and Key to the Amphibian and Reptiles of Providencia and San Andres. Carib. J. Sci. 3 (2/3): 77-79 - get paper here
  • Wagler, J. 1824. Serpentum Brasiliensium species novae, ou histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens. In: Jean de Spix, Animalia nova sive species novae. [NAtrix bahiensis: 27,. Monaco, Typis Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni, vii + 75 pp. - 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.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Epictia&species=tenella

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator