Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 395-396 (2021) (published online on 22 February 2021)

First record of the Eurasian blindsnake Xerotyphlops vermicularis (Merrem, 1820) from central Iraq (Serpentes: Typhlopidae)

Fadhil Abbas Rhadi1,*, Rihab Ghaleb Mohammeda1, and Seyyed Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani2

The genus Xerotyphlops Hedges et al., 2014 currently the largest one among Iraqi blindsnakes and considered it comprises six species (X. etheridgei, X. luristanicus, common in northern and northeastern Iraq. X. socotranus, X. syriacus, X. vermicularis, X. wilsoni) To date, only few investigations have been carried out with a disjunct southeastern European, North African, on the family Typhlopidae in Iraq. Hence, the taxonomic and Middle Eastern distribution (Zug et al., 2001; Pough status of the species in Iraq needs to be reviewed. In et al., 2004, Uetz et al., 2021). Most species are small this paper, we present the first record ofX. vermicularis (10–30 cm in total length), have tubular bodies, and are from central Iraq. pinkish or brownish in colour. They burrow in the soil and In April 2018, during a herpetological field survey, a total feed on ants and termites (e.g., Schwartz and Henderson, of four specimens of X. vermicularis were collected by the 1991; Powell et al., 1996; Amr and Disi, 2011). authors in Al-Nikhealah Village, Hilla District, Babylon The Eurasian blindsnake X. vermicularis (Merrem, Province, Iraq (32.4296°N, 44.4984°E; Fig. 1), about 100 1820) is a small burrowing wormlike snake. Despite km southwest of the nearest previously known localities its wide distribution (Wallach, 2002; Uetz et al., 2021) of this species (Baghdad Province). The specimens across southeastern Europe (western Albania, Bulgaria, were photographed and deposited in the herpetological Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, southern Montenegro, North collection of the Natural Museum of Al-Qasim Green Macedonia, southern Serbia), the Caucasus and Central University. Asia (southern Armenia, Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, Body colouration was dark brown dorsally and, southern Russia, southern Tajikistan, Turkey, southern yellowish ventrally. The snout was depressed, rounded, Turkmenistan, western Uzbekistan, and into the and projected strongly. Nostrils were located laterally. Middle East (northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern The tail was as broad as long, terminating in a dark spine Egypt, Iran), this species is considered to be monotypic (Fig. 2). Both meristic and morphometric characters were (Disi et al., 2001). The herpetofauna of Iraq was studied extensively during the 1920s, when British troops were stationed there (Boulenger, 1920; Corkill, 1932), but exact localities for the presence of each species are missing from those reports. Furthermore, data on the origins and early distribution of blindsnakes are lacking, with the exception of some comprehensive work by Afrasiab and Ali (1996), which includes the geographic distribution, variation, and habitat notes for the three Iraqi blindsnakes, including Indotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803) and Myriopholis macrorhyncha (Jan, 1860). Afrasiab and Ali (1996) described the distribution of X. vermicularis as

1 Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, Babylon, Iraq. 2 Department of Animal Science, School of Biology, Damghan Figure 1. Map showing the approximate geographic University, Damghan, Iran. distribution of Xerotyphlops vermicularis (black circles) * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] according to Afrasiab and Ali (1996) and the locality where © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. our blindsnakes were collected (red star). 396 Fadhil Abbas Rhadi et al.

Figure 2. One of the four Xerotyphlops vermiculari specimens from Al-Nikhealah Village, Hilla District, Babylon Province, central Iraq. the animal’s head is in the centre of the image, and the spine is visible at the tail end. Photo by Fadhil Abbas Rhadi. measured and recorded. Metric characters were measured Corkill, N. L. (1930): Snakes and Snake Bite in Iraq: a Handbook using digital callipers to an accuracy of 0.1 mm. A ruler for Medical Officers. London, United Kingdom, Royal College was used for measuring body length. The main metric, of Medicine of Iraq. Disi, A.M., Modrý, D., Nečas, P., Rifai, L. (2001): Amphibians and meristic, and qualitative characters of the collected Reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. An Atlas and Field specimens of X. vermicularis include 22 or 24 middorsal Guide. Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Edition Chimaira. scale rows, 388–403 vertebral scales, four supralabials, Pough, F.H., Andrews, R.M., Cadle, J.E., Crump M.L., Savitzky, total length 225–245mm, and tail length 3.1–3.5 mm. A.H., Wells, K.D. (2004): Herpetology. Third Edition. Upper This record complements the existing knowledge of the Saddle River, New Jersey, USA, Prentice Hall. snake`s geographic distribution in Iraq and provides data Powell, R., Henderson, R.W., Adler, K., Dundee, H.A. (1996): An about the biogeography of the species. annotated checklist of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. In: Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: a Tribute to Albert Schwartz, p. 51–93. Powell, R., Henderson, R.W, Eds, Society Acknowledgements. We are grateful to the Iraqi Ministry for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York. of Higher Education and Scientific Research for their kind Schwartz, A., Henderson, R.W. (1991): Amphibians and Reptiles of collaboration. We also thank the authorities of the Faculty of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Agriculture at Al-Qasim Green University for their support Gainesville, Florida, USA, University of Florida Press. during every stage of our work. Special thanks to Kamelia Algiers Uetz, P., Freed, P., Hošek, J. (2021): The Reptile Database. Available for her valuable help. at http://www.reptile-database.org. Accessed on 28 January 2021. Wallach, V. (2002): Typhlops etheridgei, a new species of African blindsnake in the Typhlops vermicularis species group from References Mauritania (Serpentes: Typhlopidae). Hamadryad 27: 98–112. Afrasiab, S.R., Ali, H.A. (1996): Notes on scolecophidians (blind Zug, G.R, Vitt, L.J., Caldwell, J.P. (2001): Herpetology: an snakes) Reptilia -Serpentes, of Iraq. Bulletin of the Iraq Natural Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Second History Museum 8(4): 31–39. Edition. San Diego, California, USA, Academic Press. Amr, Z.S., Disi, A.M. (2011): Systematics, distribution and ecology of the snakes of Jordan. Vertebrate Zoology 61(2): 179–266. Boulenger, G.A. (1920): A list of snakes from Mesopotamia collected by members of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, 1915 to 1919. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society Accepted by Jiri Smid 27(2): 25–28.