TWINLATIN: Twinning European and Latin-American river basins for research enabling sustainable water resources management. Combined Report D3.1 Hydrological modelling report and D3.2 Evaluation report

Water use has almost tripled over the past 50 years and in some regions the water demand already exceeds supply (Vorosmarty et al., 2000). The world is facing a “global water crisis”; in many countries, current levels of water use are unsustainable, with systems vulnerable to collapse from even small changes in water availability. The need for a scientifically-based assessment of the potential impacts on water resources of future changes, as a basis for society to adapt to such changes, is strong for most parts of the world. Although the focus of such assessments has tended to be climate change, socio-economic changes can have as significant an impact on water availability across the four main use sectors i.e. domestic, agricultural, industrial (including energy) and environmental. Withdrawal and consumption of water is expected to continue to grow substantially over the next 20-50 years (Cosgrove & Rijsberman, 2002), and consequent changes in availability may drastically affect society and economies. One of the most needed improvements in Latin American river basin management is a higher level of detail in hydrological modelling and erosion risk assessment, as a basis for identification and analysis of mitigation actions, as well as for analysis of global change scenarios. Flow measurements are too costly to be realised at more than a few locations, which means that modelled data are required for the rest of the basin. Hence, TWINLATIN Work Package 3 “Hydrological modelling and extremes” was formulated to provide methods and tools to be used by other WPs, in particular WP6 on “Pollution pressure and impact analysis” and WP8 on “Change effects and vulnerability assessment”. With an emphasis on high and low flows and their impacts, WP3 was originally called “Hydrological modelling, flooding, erosion, water scarcity and water abstraction”. However, at the TWINLATIN kick-off meeting it was agreed that some of these issues resided more appropriately in WP6 and WP8, and so WP3 was renamed to focus on hydrological modelling and hydrological extremes. The specific objectives of WP3 as set out in the Description of Work are

Methods to study microbial adhesion on abiotic surfaces

Microbial biofilms are a matrix of cells and exopolymeric substances attached to a wet and solid surface and are commonly associated to several problems, such as biofouling and corrosion in industries and infectious diseases in urinary catheters and prosthesis. However, these cells may have several benefits in distinct applications, such as wastewater treatment processes, microbial fuel cells for energy production and biosensors. As microbial adhesion is a key step on biofilm formation, it is very important to understand and characterize microbial adhesion to a surface. This study presents an overview of predictive and experimental methods used for the study of bacterial adhesion. Evaluation of surface physicochemical properties have a limited capacity in describing the complex adhesion process. Regarding the experimental methods, there is no standard method or platform available for the study of microbial adhesion and a wide variety of methods, such as colony forming units counting and microscopy techniques, can be applied for quantification and characterization of the adhesion process.This work was financially supported by: Project UID/EQU/00511/2013-LEPABE, by the FCT/MEC with national funds and co-funded by FEDER in the scope of the P2020 Partnership Agreement; Project NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000025 - RL2_Environment&Health, by FEDER funds through Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade-COMPETE, by the Programa Operacional do Norte (ON2) program and by national funds through FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia; European Research Project SusClean (Contract number FP7-KBBE-2011-5, project number: 287514), Scholarships SFRH/BD/52624/2014, SFRH/BD/88799/2012 and SFRH/BD/103810/2014

Experimental Investigation And Flow Structure Analysis Of Delta Wing

In this study the increase of heat transfer in a rectangular channel with triangular delta wing vortex generators is evaluated. These vortex generators can be mounted on the fin surfaces by either welding, punching or embossing. These vortex generators introduce stream wise longitudinal vortices. These vortices disrupted the growth of the thermal boundary layer and serves to bring about heat transfer augmentation between the fluid and the fin surfaces. Air is taken as the working fluid. The flow system is supposed to be turbulent because, usually the fin spacing is small and the mean velocity is such that the Reynolds numbers of interest are below the critical Reynolds number. The constant heat flux boundary condition is used

Optical remote sensing of marine and inland waters “BELCOLOUR-2” (SR/00/104). Final Report.

This report describes the research carried out in the framework of the BELCOLOUR-2 project, funded as a thematic network by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) STEREO programme over the period December 2006-December 2011. The general objective of the BELCOLOUR-2 project was “to improve the quality of existing optical remote sensing products for marine and inland waters based on new knowledge and to develop new products (including primary production and partial pressure of CO2) for key applications such as aquaculture and air-sea CO2 fluxes.” BELCOLOUR-2 benefited from the experience built up in the previous BELCOLOUR-1 project (2002-6) whose results can be found at http:www.mumm.ac.be/BELCOLOUR

Toxicodryas blandingii

Toxicodryas blandingii (Hallowell, “1844” 1845) (Table 1, Figs. 5–8) Dipsas Blandingii: Hallowell (“1844” 1845:170); type locality: “ Liberia, West Africa. ” Triglyphodon fuscum: Duméril, Bibron & Duméril (1854:1101); type locality: “ Grand-Bassam, sur la Côte d’Ivoire (Guinée)” [Ivory Coast]. Dipsas fasciata: Fischer (1856:84); type locality: “ Peki (West-Afrika)” [Ghana]. Dipsas valida: Fischer (1856:87); type locality: “ Edina (Grand Bassa County, West-Afrika)” [Liberia]. Dipsas globiceps: Fischer (1856:89); type locality: “ Edina (Grand Bassa County, Liberia, West-Afrika).” Toxicodryas Blandingii: Hallowell (1857:60); comb. nov. Dipsas Fischeri: Jan in Duméril (1859:212); no type locality provided. Triglyphodon fuscum var. obscurum: Duméril (1861:211); type locality: “ Côte d’Or ” [Ghana]. Dipsas regalis: Jan (1871:3, Livraison 38, pl. vi, fig. 2) in Jan & Sordelli (1870 –1881); type locality: “ Côte d’Or ” [Ghana]. Dipsas globiceps var. tumboensis: Müller (1885:688); type locality: “ Tumbo-Insel ” [Guinea]. Boiga blandingi occidentalis: Stucki-Stirn (1979:377); inferred type locality: “Besongabang” Cameroon. Boiga blandingi subfulva: Stucki-Stirn (1979:381); type locality: none provided, but limited to Cameroon according to book title. Toxicodryas blandingii was originally described by Hallowell (1845:170) based on a single specimen collected by his friend, “Dr. Blanding,” in Liberia. The dorsum and venter of the specimen was noted to have a “light yellow” color with a series of blotches of “leaden colour.” This specimen reportedly possessed 2 preoculars, 2 postoculars, 272 ventrals, 131 subcaudals, body length (i.e., SVL) of 1.22 meters, and tail length of 0.39 meters. Hallowell (1854) provided additional details of the specimen’s teeth, noted it had 17 “rows of scales,” and corrected the tail length to 0.37 meters. Hughes & Barry (1969), Wallach et al. (2014) and Uetz et al. (2019) stated that the type was lost, which is consistent with Malnate (1971), who did not list a type specimen from the ANSP collection. Wallach et al. (2014) noted the type was a 1.67 m specimen, slightly longer than the total length of 1.61 m reported by Hallowell (1845) in the original description, but the longer measurement is likely a typographical error in reference to the latter citation (V. Wallach, pers. comm.). A query by EG to the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences in spring 2020 resulted in location of the type specimen (ANSP 10083, Fig. 6), and a redescription of this specimen is provided below. According to Loveridge (1957:269), the name Dipsas Fischeri was proposed by Jan (in Duméril 1859) to combine the minor color pattern variants Dipsas fasciata, D. valida, and D. globiceps named by Fischer (1856). Pel (1852:171) coined the name Dipsas regalis, and as translated by Savage & McDiarmid (2017:73), Pel stated, “the third species of venomous snake, Naja atropos, belongs to cobras (spectacled snakes) and reaches a length of 6 to 7 feet [1.8–2.1 m]. Its color is entirely black... As this snake in general shows much similarity to a tree snake, Dipsas regalis, which equals it in color and size, but is not venomous.” Perhaps because of this poor description, Boulenger (1896:78) attributed the latter name to Jan & Sordelli (1870 –1881), who provided an illustration that served as an appropriate description. Jan listed the name in the Index des Planches for Livraison 38 as Dipsas cynodon Cuv. variété? (D. regalis Schlegel), but according to Savage & McDiarmid (2017:73), the attribution to Hermann Schlegel is in error because he never used the name in any publication. Müller (1885:687) seemed to suggest that Jan illustrated his specimen (collected by Dr. Mähly from “Goldküste” [i.e., Gold Coast or modern-day Ghana]) from Basel, but Hughes & Barry (1969:1020) listed a personal communication from M.S. Hoogmoed, who noted the type of D. regalis (specimen “Leiden 958”) was collected by Pel in February 1844 from Accra, Ghana. Hallowell (1857:60) coined the genus Toxicodryas because he noticed that his specimen of T. blandingii had a “single channelled posterior tooth on each side... and therefore...[it] cannot belong to the genus Triglophodon [sic] of Dum. and Bibron, which has three.” Subsequent herpetological publications in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries seemingly ignored Hallowell’s new genus and continued to recognize the taxon in either the genus Dipsas (e.g., Mocquard 1896) or more commonly, Dipsadomorphus (e.g., Boulenger 1896, 1919; de Witte 1933). Schmidt (1923) transferred the taxon to the genus Boiga in his opus on Congolese snakes, recognizing B. (Toxicodryas) blandingii and B. (Toxicodryas) pulverulenta, an action that was followed by most subsequent authors for decades. Based on the placement of African Boiga in the “ Dipsadidae: Lycodontinae ” by Underwood (1967), Welch (1982) seems to have been the first to recognize the genus Toxicodryas for both species of the genus, an action followed by Meirte (1992) and observed by most herpetologists in the 21 st century (e.g., Uetz et al. 2020). Boulenger (1896) included all of the above West African, 19 th- century names in the synonymy of Dipsas (Toxicodryas) blandingii. Because the dubious subspecies described by Stucki-Stirn (1979) both occur in Cameroon, where one molecular sample (CAS 253611) from Allen et al. (in press) is recovered in a well-supported clade with West African samples (Fig. 2), we confirm the taxonomic nomenclature of Wallach et al. (2014) in treating these taxa as synonyms of T. blandingii. Marques et al. (2018) noted that northwestern Angolan records from “Chinchoxo,” “Piri-Dembos,” and “Quirimbo” by Peters (1877), Bocage (1895), Parker (1936), and Hellmich (1957a, b) are attributable to T. pulverulenta. However, the morphometric data provided by Hellmich (1957b) for Angolan snakes are inconsistent with the size and scale rows of the latter species, and herein, we consider his records to be attributable to T. vexator sp. nov. Diagnosis. Toxicodryas blandingii, as recognized herein, is restricted to West Africa and west-central Africa (west of the confluence of the Congo and Ubangi rivers), defined by the following combination of characters: maximum SVL> 1 meter (vs. maximum SVL <1 meter in T. pulverulenta and T. adamanteus sp. nov.); DSRN 23–25 (vs. 19–21 in T. pulverulenta and 18–23 in T. adamanteus sp. nov.); DSRM 21–25 (vs. 19–21 in T. pulverulenta and 18–21 in T. adamanteus sp. nov.); cloacal plate usually divided (vs. divided or undivided in T. vexator sp. nov., and always undivided in T. pulverulenta and T. adamanteus sp. nov.); adult males glossy or velvety black with a yellow venter, and adult females light brown, gray, or yellowish-brown with light-brown or cream cross-bars on the flanks, with yellowish-brown venters (vs. both sexes brown to pink with darker cross-bars that often enclose a whitish spot, and the dorsum and venter sprinkled with fine dark brown or black spots in T. pulverulenta and T. adamanteus sp. nov.); hemipenis relatively short and massive (i.e., broad), proximal third covered with spines, distal two-thirds dimpled with a flattened apex (vs. relatively long with long spines mid-way along the shaft that decrease in size towards the apex and base, and with a domed apex in T. pulverulenta and T. adamanteus sp. nov.); venom toxicity LD 50 = 2.85–3.55 mg /kg in mice (vs. venom toxicity LD 50 = 4.88 mg /kg in mice for T. vexator sp. nov.). Redescription of the holotype. ANSP 10083 (Fig. 6) adult female in poor condition, 1330 mm SVL; head triangular and distinct from neck, 1.92% of SVL (25.5 mm); right loreal missing, left loreal partially obscured by supralabials due to cranial damage, upper side tapering superiorly; body triangular; tail moderately long (400 mm; 30.1% of SVL). Supralabials –/9, –/4 th, 5 th, and 6 th contacting orbit; infralabials 14/13, 1 st on each side in contact behind mental, 1 st –4 th /1 st –4 th contacting anterior chin shields and 4 th –7 th /4 th –7 th contacting posterior chin shields; 2 preoculars; 3 postoculars (on left, missing on right); temporals –/2 + 2; 2 internasals; nasal divided (on left, missing on right); frontal slightly longer than wide, only left side undamaged; dorsal scale rows 23 one head length posterior to jaw rictus, 23 at midbody, 17 one head length anterior to vent, smooth and oblique, vertebral scales broad and apically flattened; ventrals 273 (standard), 271 (Dowling); cloacal plate undivided; paired subcaudals 132. Coloration (in preservative). After approximately 176 years in preservation, specimen is faded, with creamy tan background color in dorsal and ventral views. Brown markings on posterior edge of supralabials and dorsum of head. Irregular brown and dark brown blotches and saddles on dorsum from neck to tip of tail (Fig. 6). Variation. Morphometric variation of Toxicodryas blandingii is shown in Table 1. Müller (1885:688) provided data for a snake from Ghana with 15 infralabials and noted that most of its scales have two “Endgruben” [terminal pits], which likely refer to apical pits. In his description of Dipsas globiceps var. tumboensis Müller (1885) noted his specimen from Guinea (Fig. 7) had 147 subcaudals. In snakes from West Africa (without separating by sex), Angel (1933) noted a temporal formula of 2 + 2 or 2 + 3, 21–25 scales at midbody, 240–289 ventrals, 120–147 subcaudals, either an undivided or divided cloacal plate, and a maximum total size of 2290 mm, and nearly verbatim variation was listed by Villiers (1950a), Doucet (1963), Stucki-Stirn (1979), Chippaux (2006), and Trape & Mané (2006). However, in snakes from Ghana, Swiecicki (1965:302) noted a maximum total length of 2450 mm for a “black form” individual, Gauduin (1970) listed the maximum total length as 2700 mm (600 mm tail) for Cameroon, Chirio & LeBreton (2007) provided a slightly larger total length of 2740 mm for Cameroon, and Luiselli et al. (1998a) noted a maximum size of 2800 mm, presumably for Nigeria. Villiers (1951) noted an unsexed individual from Benin with 115 subcaudals. Cansdale (1965) documented 21–25 scales at midbody, and Segniagbeto et al. (2011) documented snakes from Togo with 19–24 scales at midbody and 102–159 subcaudals. In our examined specimens, temporal formula includes the variation noted by Angel (1933), but is more extensive (2 +5, 3 + 4, 3 + 3, 1 + 5, 3 + 2, or 2 + 4), and either supralabials 3–5 or 4–6 contact the eye, which is consistent with the observations of Angel (1933), Villiers (1950b), and Chippaux (2006); the latter author also noted that sometimes only 2 supralabials contact the eye. Rasmussen (1997a) noted specimens with the 4th–5th, 5th–7 th, or 4th–7 th supralabials in contact with the eye, and in general, this species has sloping and smooth scales with apical pits, and the vertebral row is greatly enlarged. The holotype, one male and one female from Liberia (Loveridge 1941; Johnsen 1962), one male from Gabon (Pauwels et al. 2002b), one male from DRC (RBINS 10888), and a juvenile from Cameroon (Werner 1897) are unusual in having an undivided cloacal plate, because all other examined specimens have a divided cloacal plate, including the type specimens of Dipsas fasciata, D. valida, and D. globiceps (Fischer 1856). Rasmussen (1997a) remarked that his specimens have either a divided or undivided cloacal plate. In his book on West and Central African snakes, including countries west of the Congo River, Chippaux (2006:154) noted the anal [cloacal plate] is sometimes entire, but more often divided. Trape & Mané (2006) stated that the cloacal plate is almost always divided. Segniagbeto et al. (2011) noted individuals with divided or undivided cloacal plates in Togo. Combined descriptions by Fischer (1856) of the teeth of Dipsas fasciata, D. valida, and D. globiceps (all now synonyms of T. blandingii) suggest the species has 9 maxillary teeth that increase in size posteriorly, followed by two fangs (three on the right side in one specimen), and 12 mandibular teeth, which decrease in size posteriorly. In snakes from Ghana, Leeson (1950) noted 10–11 maxillary teeth, becoming larger posteriorly, and two fangs followed by a shorter fang; fourteen large palatine and pterygoid teeth, and 15 mandibular teeth (anterior ones largest). Taylor & Weyer (1958:1217) described a Liberian specimen with 9–10 maxillary teeth (on different sides) that increase in size from the 1 st to 4 th tooth, and then become subequal; two fangs occur after this series of teeth, and after a short diastema, there is a third fang with only traces of a groove. A second Liberian specimen had 10 maxillary teeth followed by three fangs, the last of which had only “a suggestion of a groove.” Based on specimens ranging from Guinea to Congo, Rasmussen (1997a:98) noted 10 maxillary teeth followed by three enlarged, furrowed venomous teeth, with the 3 rd fang slightly smaller than the previous two. Fischer (1856) provided detailed descriptions of the color patterns of West African Dipsas fasciata, D. valida, and D. globiceps (all now synonyms of T. blandingii), which seem to suggest he examined a subadult male that had been kept in alcohol for a long (unspecified amount) time (D. fasciata), an adult female (D. valida), and a subadult that retained juvenile coloration (D. globiceps). In his description of Dipsas globiceps var. tumboensis Müller (1885:689) noted his specimen from Guinea (Fig. 7) had a gray-reddish dorsum with 30 black transverse bands, usually containing milky white spots. The frontal, supraoculars, and occipital scales had large black spots, the labial scales and postoculars were edged with black, and the head shields had multiple milk-white speckles. The tail was bright red with dark, irregular transverse bands. Aspects of this coloration description are highly unusual for this species (e.g., bright red tail), and more typical of T. pulverulenta, but the black edging of the labial scales, number of preoculars (3), supralabials in contact with the eye (5 and 6), ventrals (269), and subcaudals (147) clearly indicate this taxon is a synonym of T. blandingii (Fig. 7, Tables 1–2). Mocquard (1887:80) described a recently collected, unsexed subadult (“la longueur du tronc” [trunk length] 1.1 m) from Gabon as having a dorsal color of a general tint of Burgundy with slightly darker spots on the flanks that have a dirty white spot a little above their lower edge. Mertens (1938) described an adult male from Cameroon as solid black dorsally and ventrally, with the exception of the anterior third of the venter, which was white, but the ventral scales had dark gray edges. The labial scales were gray with vertical black borders. Villiers (1950b) described the color pattern of an unsexed individual from Ivory Coast as sooty black or brownish in places on the dorsum; underside iridescent dark gray posteriorly, becoming whitish anteriorly, with the posterior edge of the ventrals edged with gray; underside of head white, and labials whitish and edged in black. Another unsexed individual from Liberia was described as bluish black above, yellow below; supralabials yellow with black edges, and posterior part of venter and underside of tail black. A third unsexed individual from Liberia had identical coloration to the latter one, except for the presence of whitish bars on the neck. Leeson (1950) noted that snakes from Ghana have a dull green or gray dorsum. Monard (1951:162) described an unsexed individual from Cameroon as a beautiful light redbrown, “barré” [barred] with dark brown. Taylor & Weyer (1958:1217) described a Liberian brown-phase female with pale grayish green on the ventral side of the head and neck, merging into gray with “a greenish cast” 12.7 cm posteriorly, and at 40.6 cm behind the head, it transitioned into plain tan to the tip of the tail. Isemonger (1962:12) remarked that this species has a “delicate bloom on the skin.” Cansdale (1965:43) described a highly unusual color pattern for juveniles by noting that “the young brown form is pink with irregular chocolate markings that break up its outline very effectively and make it difficult to pick out in a tree or shrub.” Leston & Hughes (1968:753) described an unusual specimen from Ghana as “pale grey with darker greyish-green transverse bands, the bands irregular but more or less diamond shaped on each side. The ventrals are also grey but more glossy.” Groves (1973:107) described the coloration of hatchlings from a captive Liberian female as “light grey background colour with pinkish undertones; black, roughly oval, lateral blotches narrowing as they approach the midline, where many of them fail to conjoin; top of head light grey; belly dark grey.” Rasmussen (1997a:98) noted the scales of his specimens were dull and almost dusty, a sentiment also shared by Cansdale (1965). Adult males were solid black on the dorsum and yellow on the venter (becoming black posteriorly), whereas adult females were noted to be gray, brown or yellow-brown on the dorsum and yellow-brown on the venter, sometimes without transverse bands. Hughes (2000:8) noted juvenile and subadult (approximately 1 meter in total length or less) snakes had a dorsal coloration that was “a distinctively bright and contrasting pattern of chocolate brown blotches.” He noted that most male specimens lose this coloration as they age, becoming increasingly melanistic, and although exceptions are possible, this melanistic progression does not seem to occur in females. Chippaux (2006:154) noted there are two dorsal color morphs: (1) uniform black or dark blue with “reflets veloutés” [velvety reflections] or (2) gray with darker, poorly defined transverse spots. The venter was noted as dull yellow to charcoal gray, and juvenile coloration as light brown with darker transverse ring-shaped spots. Stucki-Stirn (1979), perhaps confused by the two color morphs (Lawson 1993; Rasmussen 1997a), described Boiga blandingi occidentalis for Cameroonian specimens that were uniform black or bluish black, whereas B. blandingi subfulva was named for Cameroonian specimens that were yellowish brown with faint whitish or dark brown diamondshaped blotches. Lawson (1993) attributed these color morphs to sexual dimorphism, but Hughes (2000) suggested exceptions are possible. Trape & Mané (2006:168) added, although there are a few exceptions, the differences in coloration are clearly associated with the sex and age of the specimens. Greenbaum & Carr (2005:15) documented the color in life of an adult female from Guinea as “dorsum and flanks were pinkish tan with 39 brown blotches outlined in a creamy tan border along the flanks. The dorsum of the head is brown; the labials are tan with brown outlines, and the venter is white.” Pauwels et al. (2020) documented an adult specimen from Gabon that was uniformly beige in life. Based on photos of a subadult of unknown sex from Mbiliki, Cameroon (Fig. 5G) and a juvenile of unknown sex from Gamba, Gabon (Fig. 5H), the base of the tongue is bluish black, and the forked tip is silvery gray. Hemipenis. Doucet (1963:299) illustrated (Fig. 8) and described the hemipenis of a specimen from Ivory Coast as non-bifid, short and massive [i.e., broad], and flattened. Proximal third covered with spines except at the level of a “mamelon” [nipple] near the root. The distal two-thirds are dimpled, and the apex is flattened. Hemipenes of our examined specimens of T. blandingii had a simple, subcylindrical shape, simple sulcus spermaticus, and spinose ornamentation with a rough apical structure. Diet. In his description of Dipsas globiceps var. tumboensis Müller (1885) noted his specimen from Guinea had a bird’s egg in its stomach. Mocquard (1896) mentioned this species eats lizards in Guinea. Sternfeld (1909) suggested that small birds are the main food of this species in Cameroon, and this contention was repeated by Hughes (2000). Villiers (1950a) noted both species of Toxicodryas in West Africa feed mainly on birds. Villiers (1950b) remarked that one of the listed specimens (either from Ivory Coast or Liberia) had a bird in its stomach. Monard (1951) noted a snake from Cameroon had an Orange Weaver (Ploceus aurantius) in its stomach. Villiers (1951) documented a bird in the stomach of a snake from Benin, and an Agama sp. (sensu Leaché et al. 2017) in the stomach of a snake from Togo. Cansdale (1955:31) suggested that “it is reputed to be an egg-eater in the Gold Coast [Ghana] and has the same Twi name as the true Egg-eating Snake; but I... cannot confirm it from the literature.” Cansdale (1965) repeated the latter remark and added that they will eat eggs in captivity. Dekeyser (1955) cited Villiers (1955), who supposedly noted a large number of bats in a West African T. blandingii, and the identity of these bats was later mistakenly attributed to Lavia frons by Wickler & Uhrig (1969) and Happold & Happold (2013), perhaps because this bat species was mentioned earlier in the same paragraph by Dekeyser (1955). However, Villiers (1955) is a study about parasites in African vertebrates, and there is no mention of Toxicodryas or any bat species. It is likely that Dekeyser (1955) was referring to Villiers (1956), who documented a snake from Guinea that was found in the cracks of a cave’s ceiling, and its stomach contained several bats in the genus Hipposideros. Hughes (2000) reported complaints by local people in Ghana that this species will raid eggs from domesticated poultry, but it is possible that the true culprit was Naja guineensis (sensu Wüster et al. 2018), which is also long and has a tendency to be melanistic in adults. Pitman (1958:84) quoted T.S. Jones from Sierra Leone who shot three snakes as they raided Villa