Helophis schoutedeni (DE WITTE, 1942)

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Higher Taxa	Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Schouteden's Sun Snake
Synonym	Pelophis schoutedeni DE WITTE 1922: 318 Helophis schoutedeni — DE WITTE 1942: 113 (nom. nov.) Helophis schoutedeni — LAURENT 1958: 121 Helophis schoutedeni — BROADLEY 1998 Helophis schoutedeni — NAGY et al. 2014 Helophis schoutedeni — WALLACH et al. 2014: 324
Distribution	W/C Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), SE Congo (Brazzaville) (K. Jackson, pers. comm.) Type locality: “Kwamouth (district du Moyen-Congo) [et ...] Tondu, sur Ie Lac Tumba (district de l’Equateur)” (DRC)
Reproduction
Types	Syntypes: RMCA (= MRAC 2468, a 446 mm specimen (H. Schouteden, 24 Feb. 1924), and 2469, a 540 mm specimen (H. Schouteden, 23 May 1921).
Diagnosis
Comment	Synonymy: Pelophis is preoccupied by Pelophis Fitzinger, 1843 [type species: Brachyorrhos (now Enhydris) alternans Reuss, 1834]. Similar species: Hydraethiops sp.; The assignment of this species to Natricinae is based on morphological data as no DNA could be collected yet (NAGY et al. 2013). Type species: Pelophis schoutedeni DE WITTE 1922: 318 is the type species of the genus Helophis DE WITTE & LAURENT 1942. Distribution: for a map of the genus see Deepak et al. 2021: Fig. 1. Phylogenetics: for a phylogenetic analysis of Sub-saharan Natricine genera see Deepak et al. 2021.
Etymology	named after the collector of the types, Dr. Henri Schouteden.
References	Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp. 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 Deepak, V, Simon T Maddock, Rhiannon Williams, Zoltán T Nagy, Werner Conradie, Sara Rocha, D James Harris, et al. 2021. Molecular Phylogenetics of Sub-Saharan African Natricine Snakes, and the Biogeographic Origins of the Seychelles Endemic Lycognathophis seychellensis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 161: 107152 - get paper here Laurent, R.F. 1958. Notes herpétologiques africaines II. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 58 (1–2): 115–128 NAGY, ZOLTÁN T.; VÁCLAV GVOŽDÍK, DANNY MEIRTE, MARCEL COLLET, OLIVIER S.G. PAUWELS 2014. New data on the morphology and distribution of the enigmatic Schouteden’s sun snake, Helophis schoutedeni (de Witte, 1922) from the Congo Basin. Zootaxa 3755 (1): 096–100 - get paper here O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here 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 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 1922. Description d'un ophidien nouveau récolté au Congo par le Dr. Schouteden. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., Tervuren 10: 318-319 Witte, G. F. de & R. LAURENT 1942. Contribution à la Faune Herpétologique du Congo belge. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. 36 (2): 101-115
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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