Range: western Honduras, south of Ocotepeque near Antigua

 

A rare species only known from genotyping of a single collection of specimens from 2012, this blindsnake may be either an extreme regional endemic or may prove more widespread within a historically under-surveyed region. This species grows up to 17 cm in length, with a slender cylindric build, a head barely broader than the neck and rounded from all profiles, and an equally blunt round tail tipped by a short but distinctive spine. Dorsal scale count is 248-260, scale row count 14 reduced to 10 caudally. Coloration is described on living animals as chocolate brown, with paler cream/tan stripes splitting the background into 3 dorsal bands and 2 more slightly broader lateral stripes on either side. A yellowish rostral blotch covering only the rostral scale is mirrored by a larger yellow-cream under-tail blotch covering the spine tip. This species is separated from its relatives by higher average middorsal scale counts, median size of the rostral blotch (vs. larger extending past the rostral scale or small and indistinct), and larger number of distinctive stripes down the body.

 

Habitat: collected from 730 meters in elevation in a humid montane or pine-oak forest environment.

 

Prey: likely small soft-bodied invertebrates such as termites or ant larvae.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: lifespan unknown, likely under 10 years. Oviparous.

 

Sources: 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 Leptotyphloptidae: Epictinae). Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 256-263.