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Grayia smithii (LEACH, 1818)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Grayiinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Smith's African Water Snake 
SynonymColuber smythii LEACH 1818: 409
Coluber laevis HALLOWELL 1844: 118
Coronella triangularis — HALLOWELL 1854: 100
Grayia silurophaga — GÜNTHER 1858: 51
Grayia triangularis BOCAGE 1866: 47
Graya [sic] silurophaga — ROCHEBRUNE 1884 (fide PAUWELS & MEIRTE 1996)
Grayia silurophaga — DOLLO 1887
Grayia triangularis — GÜNTHER 1888: 325
Grayia triangularis — BOETTGER 1889: 278
Grayia smythii — GÜNTHER 1895: 525
Grayia smythii — SCHMIDT 1923: 94
Grayia smythii — LOVERIDGE 1955
Grayia smythii — PITMAN 1974
Grayia smithi — GRUSCHWITZ et al. 1991 (fide ZR)
Grayia smithii — MEIRTE 1992: 113
Grayia smithii — TRAPE & ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995: 40
Grayia smythii — RÖDEL et al. 1999
Grayia smythi — RÖDEL & MAHSBERG 2000
Grayia smythii — SPAWLS et al. 2001
Grayia smithii — BRANCH & RÖDEL 2003
Grayia smithi — TRAPE & MANE 2004
Grayia smithi — TRAPE & BALDÉ 2014
Grayia smythii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 316
Grayia smithii — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 536
Grayia smythii — SANTOS et al. 2021
Grayia smythii — SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022
Grayia smythii — SPAWLS et al. 2023
Grayia smythii — CHANEY et al. 2024: 27 
DistributionRepublic of South Sudan (RSS), Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Central African Republic, probably S Mali (Joger & Lambert 1996), Niger, Chad

Type locality: Embomma = Boma, Zaire.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.1.67 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (subfamily Grayiinae). Grayiinae is a subfamily of Afrotropical aquatic snakes diagnosed by smooth scales lacking apical pits, the absence of subocular scales, the possession of a loreal scale, round pupils, moderate to long tails, 15–19 straight dorsal scale rows at midbody, vertebral row not widened, 65–162 divided subcaudals, 7–10 supralabials, two pairs of chin shields, maxillary teeth homogeneous and unspecialized, the absence of posterior hypapophyses, and a banded or striped dorsal pattern. (Chaney et al. 2024)


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CommentDistribution: For a map with localities in Equatorial Guinea see SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022. Not in Gabon fide PAUWELS & VANDE WEGHE 2008.

Type species: Coluber smythii LEACH 1818: 409 is the type species of the genus Grayia GÜNTHER 1858: 50. Grayia is also the type genus of the subfamily Grayiinae Dowling 1967 (sometimes given as Grayiinae Meirte 1992).

Key: for a key to the species of Grayia see Chaney et al. 2024: 44.

Genome: Roberts et al. 2024. 
EtymologyNamed after Norwegian botanist Christen Smith (1785-1816); hence the name “smythii” is inappropriate (but see Laurent 1956 and Meirte 1992).

The genus name “Grayia” is dedicated to British zoologist John Edward Gray (1800 – 1875). 
References
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