Epictia

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Superfamilia: Typhlopoidea

Familia: Leptotyphlopidae
Subfamilia: Epictinae
Genus: Epictia
Species (43): E. albifrons – E. albipuncta – E. alfredschmidti – E. amazonica – E. antoniogarciai – E. ater – E. australis – E. bakewelli – E. borapeliotes – E. clinorostris – E. columbi – E. diaplocia – E. fallax – E. goudotii – E. hobartsmithi – E. magnamaculata – E. martinezi – E. melanura – E. munoai – E. pauldwyeri – E. peruviana – E. phenops – E. resetari – E. rioignis – E. rubrolineata – E. rufidorsa – E. schneideri – E. septemlineata – E. signata – E. striatula – E. subcrotilla – E. teaguei – E. tenella – E. tesselata – E. tricolor – E. undecimstriata – E. unicolor – E. vanwallachi – E. vellardi – E. venegasi – E. vonmayi – E. vindumi – E. wynni
Name

Epictia Gray, 1845: 139

Type species: Typhlops undecimstriatus Schlegel, 1839, by subsequent designation by Loveridge (1957: 246).

Synonyms

Stenostoma Wagler, 1824: 68 [preoccupied by Stenostoma Latreille, 1810 and Stenostoma Lamarck, 1817]
Type species: Stenostoma albifrons Wagler, 1824, by monotypy.
Stenostona Cuvier, 1836: 404 [incorrect subsequent spelling]
Sabrina Girard, 1857: 181
Type species: Typhlops tesselatus Tschudi, 1845, by monotypy.
Stenostomophis Rochebrune, 1884: 141 [replacement name for Stenostoma Wagler, 1824]

References
Primary references

Wagler, J. 1824. Serpentum brasiliensium species novae ou Histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens, recueillies et observées pendant le voyage dans l’intérieur du Brésil dans les années 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, exécuté par ordre de Sa Majesté le Roi de Bavière, publiée par Jean de Spix,...décrite d’après les notes du voyageur par Jean Wagler. Typis Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni: Munich. vii + 75 pp. BHL Reference page.
Gray, J.E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman: London. xxvii + 289 pp. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Adalsteinsson, S.A., Branch, W.R., Trape, 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. Abstract & excerpt. Reference page.
Arredondo, J.C. & Zaher, H. 2010. A New Species of Epictia (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from Central Brazil. South American Journal of Herpetology 5(3): 189–198. DOI: 10.2994/057.005.0304
Francisco, B.C.S., Pinto, R.R. & Fernandes, D.S. 2012. Taxonomy of Epictia munoai (Orejas-Miranda, 1961) (Squamata: Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Zootaxa 3512(1): 42–52. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3512.1.2 Paywall Reference page.
Koch, C., Venegas, P.J. & Böhme, W. 2015. Three new endemic species of Epictia Gray, 1845 (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru. Zootaxa 3964(2): 228–244. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3964.2.4. Preview (PDF). Reference page.
Esqueda, L.F., Schlüter, A., Machado, C., Castelaín, M. & Natera-Mumaw, M. 2015. Una nueva especie de cieguita o serpiente de gusano (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictia) nativa del Tepui Guaiquinima, Provincia Pantepui en el escudo de Guyana, Venezuela (In Spanish). pp. 414–433 In Natera Mumaw, M., Esqueda González, L.F. & Castelaín Fernández, M. (eds). Atlas serpientes de Venezuela: una visión actual de su diversidad. Fundación Biogeos, Asociación Venezolana de Herpetologia, Fundación Ecologica sin Fronteras y Serpentario.com: Venezuela. Reference page.
Wallach, V. 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): 215–374. PDF Reference page.
Koch, C., Santa Cruz, R. & Cárdenas, H. 2016. Two new endemic species of Epictia Gray, 1845 (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from Northern Peru. Zootaxa 4150(2): 101–122. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4150.2.1 Paywall Reference page.
Koch, C., Martins, A. & Schweiger, S. 2019. A century of waiting: description of a new Epictia Gray, 1845 (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) based on specimens housed for more than 100 years in the collection of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NMW). PeerJ 7: e7411. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7411 Open access Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2021. Epictia . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 13 May 2021.

Vernacular names
English: Neotropical Thread Snakes

Epictia is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The genus is native to South America, Central America, and Mexico.

Taxonomy

Prior to 2009 all species of Epictia were placed in the genus Leptotyphlops.
Species

The genus Epictia contains the following 44 species which are recognized as being valid:[1]

Epictia albifrons (Wagler, 1824)
Epictia albipuncta (Burmeister, 1861)
Epictia alfredschmidti (Lehr, Wallach, G. Köhler & Aguilar, 2002)
Epictia amazonica (Orejas-Miranda, 1969)
Epictia antoniogarciai C. Koch, Venegas & Böhme, 2015
Epictia ater (Taylor, 1940)
Epictia australis (Freiberg & Orejas-Miranda, 1968) – Freiberg's blind snake
Epictia bakewelli (J. Oliver, 1937) – Bakewell's blind snake
Epictia borapeliotes (Vanzolini, 1996)
Epictia clinorostris Arredondo & Zaher, 2010
Epictia columbi (Klauber, 1939) – San Salvador blind snake
Epictia diaplocia (Orejas-Miranda, 1969) – common Peru blind snake
Epictia fallax (W. Peters, 1858)
Epictia guayaquilensis Orejas-Miranda & Peters, 1970
Epictia goudotii (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844)
Epictia hobartsmithi Esqueda, A. Schlüter, C. Machado, Castelaín & Natera Mumaw, 2015
Epictia magnamaculata (Taylor, 1940)
Epictia martinezi Wallach, 2016
Epictia melanura (Schmidt & W. Walker, 1943) – dark blind snake
Epictia munoai (Orejas-Miranda, 1961) – Rio Grande do Sul blind snake
Epictia pauldwyeri Wallach, 2016
Epictia peruviana (Orejas-Miranda, 1969) – Peru blind snake
Epictia phenops (Cope, 1875)
Epictia resetari Wallach, 2016
Epictia rioignis C. Koch, A. Martins & Schweiger, 2019
Epictia rubrolineata (F. Werner, 1901) – red-lined blind snake
Epictia rufidorsa (Taylor, 1940) – rose blind snake
Epictia schneideri Wallach, 2016
Epictia septemlineata C. Koch, Venegas & Böhme, 2015
Epictia signata (Jan, 1861)
Epictia striatula (H.M. Smith & Laufe, 1945)
Epictia subcrotilla (Klauber, 1939) – Klauber's blind snake
Epictia teaguei (Orejas-Miranda, 1964) – northern blind snake
Epictia tenella (Klauber, 1939)
Epictia tesselata (Tschudi, 1845) – Tschudi's blind snake
Epictia tricolor (Orejas-Miranda & Zug, 1974) – three-colored blind snake
Epictia undecimstriata (Schlegel, 1839) – eleven-striped blind snake
Epictia unicolor (F. Werner, 1913)
Epictia vanwallachi C. Koch, Venegas & Böhme, 2015
Epictia vellardi (Laurent, 1984)
Epictia venegasi C. Koch, Santa Cruz & H. Cárdenas, 2016
Epictia vindumi Wallach, 2016
Epictia vonmayi C. Koch, Santa Cruz & H. Cárdenas, 2016
Epictia wynni Wallach, 2016

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Epictia.
References

Genus Epictia at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". Zootaxa 2244: 1–50. (Resurrection of genus Epictia, Gray, 1845, p. 16).
Gray JE (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (Epictia, new genus, pp. 139–140).