First Records of Tropiocolotes Steudneri Peters, 1869 and Hemidactylus Flaviviridis Rüppell, 1840 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Fars Province, Iran

Asian Herpetological Research 2010, 1(1): 61-63 DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1245.2010.00061

First Records of Tropiocolotes steudneri Peters, 1869 and Hemidactylus flaviviridis Rüppell, 1840 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Fars Province, Iran

Ali Gholamifard1, Ali Gholamhosseini1, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani2*, Hamid Reza Esmaeili1 and Haji-Gholi Kami3 1 Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71454, Iran 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah 67149, Iran 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan 336, Iran

Abstract Steudner’s dwarf gecko, Tropiocolotes steudneri (Peters, 1869) and the yellow-bellied house gecko, Hemi- dactylus flaviviridis Rüppell, 1840 were recorded for the first time from Fars Province in southern Iran. During a her- petofaunal survey in November 2006, a single subadult specimen of T. steudneri was collected from Deh Kohneh in southwestern Fars. In November 2007 and May 2008, two specimens of H. flaviviridis were collected from Ghaleh Seied in western Fars, respectively. The collection locations of the two new records are well outside the known distribution ranges of the two species in Iran. Keywords lizard, new record, distribution, Iranian Plateau, gecko

The dwarf geckos of the genus Tropiocolotes Peters, ghanistan and Pakistan (Anderson, 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani 1880 are a group of tiny geckonids occurring in the Mid- et al., 2006, 2007). Steudner’s dwarf gecko, Tropio- dle East region (Anderson, 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani et al., colotes steudneri, has been reported to have a distribution 2006, 2007). The main characteristics of these small ranging from Ethiopia, Sudan, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, lizards are described as follows: nocturnal habits; small Israel to Iran (Rastegar-Pouyani et al., 2006, 2007). size (snout-vent length, rarely exceeding 35 mm); slightly The leaf-toed geckos of the genus Hemidactylus Oken, angularly bent digits not dilated, not fringed, not webbed, 1817 are a group of geckonids occurring in Africa, not ornamented, and covered below with a single series southern Europe, southern Asia, Oceania and tropical of transverse lamellae; uniform, small, homogenous, im- America. It is now understood that this genus consists of bricate to subimbricate dorsal scales; vertical pupil; approximately 90 currently recognized species and has its presence of postanal sacs (Leviton et al., 1992; Anderson, main centre of speciation in Somalia and its adjoining 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani et al., 2006, 2007); usually ab- areas (Sindaco et al., 2007, 2009). Somalia, Kenya, sence of preanal and femoral pores (two preanal pores in Ethiopia, and Eritrea host more than 40 species of Hemi- dactylus, most of which are endemics. Their main cha- adult male of T. depressus according to Minton and racteristics are: mainly nocturnal; largely insectivorous; Anderson, 1965 and in male T. steudneri Anderson, pupil vertical; dorsal scales granular, subimbricate, uni- 1999). The distribution range of Tropiocolotes ranges form, or with enlarged tubercles intermixed. They are from the western Sahara across to northern Africa and to typically known as house geckos, due to their Israel, Sinai, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, eastern Af- pre-adaptation potential to coexist with humans (Leviton

et al., 1992; Anderson, 1999; Spawls et al., 2002; *Corresponding author: Prof. Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani, from the Carranza and Arnold, 2006; Largen and Spawls, 2006; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kerman- Rastegar-Pouyani et al., 2006; Sindaco et al., 2007). The shah 67149, Iran. E-mail: [email protected] species of Hemidactylus share a unique combination Received: 11 May 2010 Accepted: 15 July 2010 of derived features in toe morphology. These include the

62 Asian Herpetological Research Vol. 1 unusual form and interrelationships of the antepenulti- from the place called “Ghaleh Seied” (51°32′51′′ E and mate phalanx of digits III–V of the pes, the distal extent 29°36′15′′ N, at an elevation of 900 m), approximately 25 of the dorsal interossei muscles along the digit, and the km northwest from the Parishan Lake in west part of Fars means of tendinous insertion of these muscles onto the Province (Figure 3). The first and second specimens of H. scansors (Carranza and Arnold, 2006). Hemidactylus is flaviviridis were collected on different walls of the house morphologically conservative in many features, such as and were relatively active during midday, but fully active skull structure and number of presacral vertebrae (usually at night. 26, a primitive trait in gekkonids). There is however con- siderable variation in a range of external features including the following: body size; proportions of the head, body and limbs, and of the unregenerated tail which may be laterally expanded or swollen; number of internasal granules; size of dorsal scales and their degree of poste- rior imbrication; presence or absence of enlarged dorsal tubercles and, when they are present, their number, size, detailed shape, and extent on body head and limbs; number and extent of femoral pores in males or their complete Figure 1 A subadult Tropiocolotes steudneri treated in this study absence; size of adhesive pads on digits and the number of expanded subdigital lamellae that constitute them ex- ternally (especially on toes 1 and 4), and whether or not the lamellae extend proximally onto the sole of the foot; presence or absence of the distal section of digit I of ma- nus and pes including the claw; presence or absence of webbing on the toes; presence or absence of enlarged tubercles on the tail and whether these are spinose; whether subcaudal scales are enlarged and laterally expanded or small; dorsal and ventral colouring and pattern (Carranza and Arnold, 2006; McMahan and Zug, 2007). Four species of Hemidactylus occur in Iran, that is, H. persicus, H. turcicus, H. flaviviridis and H. robustus

(Rastegar-Pouyani et al., 2008). The yellow-bellied house Figure 2 One of the specimens of Hemidactylus flaviviridis gecko, H. flaviviridis Rüppell, has been reported occur- (CBSU R004) ring from the northeastern African and Arabian shores of the Red Sea and around the coast of Arabia and Iran, across Pakistan, eastern Afghanistan and northern India to west Bengal and south to the vicinity of Bombay (Anderson, 1999). In November 2006, during our field work on the her- petofauna of Fars Province, a single subadult specimen of T. steudneri (Figure 1) was collected from ‘Deh Kohneh’ (27°28′ N and 53°04′ E, at an elevation of 447 m), approximately one km northeast from the Varavi, 25 km to the city of Lamerd, in southwestern portion of the Fars Province. It was found inactive in the afternoon hidden under a small stone in wet ground (after a rain) together with a juvenile scorpion and three individuals of a co- leopter on a hillside amongst sparse xerophytic vegeta- tion. In November 2007 and May 2008, two specimens of Figure 3 Location of Fars Province on the Iranian Plateau. The H. flaviviridis (Figure 2) were also collected in a house, blue circle and red quadrangular indicate the new localities for T. (apparently, this species is strictly a house gecko in Iran) steudneri and H. flaviviridis, respectively. No. 1 Ali Gholamifard et al. Tropiocolotes steudneri and Hemidactylus flaviviridis in Iran 63

Tropiocolotes steudneri is distinguished from its con- References geners by having weakly keeled dorsal scales and dis- tinctly tricarinate subdigital lamellae. H. flaviviridis is Anderson S. C. 1999. The Lizards of Iran. Contributions to Herpe- distinguished from the other leaf-toed geckos by lack of tology. Ithaca, New York, USA: Society for the Study of Am- enlarged dorsal tubercles (tubercles neither present in phibians and Reptiles, Vol. 15, 442 pp southwest Asian specimens examined by Leviton et al., Carranza S., Arnold E. N. 2006. Systematics, biogeography, and 1992; Anderson, 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani et al., 2006, nor evolution of Hemidactylus geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) eluci- dated using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mol Phyl Evol, 38: in the examined specimens of this study) and a tail lac- 531–545 king sharp, denticulate lateral edge. Largen M. J., Spawls S. 2006. Lizards of Ethiopia (Reptilia: The collected specimens of H. flaviviridis and Sauria): An annotated checklist, bibliography, gazetteer and T. steudneri have been deposited in the Collection of the identification key. Trop Zool, 19(1): 21–109 Biology Department of Shiraz University (CBSU) under Leviton A. E., Anderson S. C., Adler K., Minton S. A. 1992. museum numbers of CBSU B636, CBSU R004 and Handbook to Middle East Amphibians and Reptiles. Contribu- CBSU C891, respectively. tions to Herpetology, No. 8, Society for the Study of Amphi- bians and Reptiles. Ohio, USA: Oxford, vii, 252 pp, 33 plates The type specimen of T. steudneri is from Sennar in McMahan C. D., Zug G. R. 2007. Burmese Hemidactylus (Reptilia, Sudan and that of H. flaviviridis is from Massawa Island, Squamata, Gekkonidae): Geographic variation in the morpho- Eritrea in Africa (Anderson, 1999). In Iran, T. steudneri logy of Hemidactylus bowringii in Myanmar and Yunnan, China. has already been reported from the Hormozgan Province, Proc California Acad Sci, 58(24): 485–509 around Bandar-e-Lengeh (Anderson, 1999; Rastegar- Minton S. A. Jr., Anderson J. A. 1965. A new dwarf gecko (Tropiocolotes) from Baluchistan. Herpetologica, 21(1): 59–61 Pouyani et al., 2006, 2007). Also in 2008, an Iranian ex- Rastegar-Pouyani N., Johari M., Parsa H. 2006. Field Guide to pedition to southern Iran collected four specimens of this the Reptiles of Iran (Volume 1: Lizards). Iran: Razi University lizard from the Persian Gulf coast of extreme southern Publishing (In Farsi) (First edition) Iran around Bandar-e-Lengeh (Rajabizadeh and Faizi, Rastegar-Pouyani N., Johari M., Rastegar-Pouyani E. 2007. Pers. Commun.). There is an approximately 200 km hia- Field Guide to the Reptiles of Iran (Volume 1: Lizards). Iran: tus between Bandar-e-Lengeh in the east and our speci- Razi University Publishing (In Farsi) (Second edition) Rastegar-Pouyani N., Kami H. G., Rajabizadeh M., Shafiei S., men’s locality in the west (around Lamerd). In Iran, Anderson S. C. 2008. Annotated checklist of amphibians and H. flaviviridis has been reported from the towns and vil- reptiles of Iran. Iran J Anim Biosyst, 4(1): 43–66 lages of coastal provinces: Sistan and Baluchistan, Hor- Sindaco R., Razzetti E., Ziliani U., Wasonga V., Carugati C., mozgan, Bushehr and Khuzistan (Rastegar-Pouyani et Fasola, M. 2007. A new species of Hemidactylus from Lake Turkana, Northern Kenya (Squamata: Gekkonidae). Acta al., 2006). Based on our new records, the distribution of Herpetol, 2(1): 37–48 the two species extends into Fars Province and the dis- Sindaco R., Ziliani U., Razzetti E., Carugati C., Grieco C., tribution range of H. flaviviridis in southern belt of the Pupin F., Al-Aseily B. A., Pella F., Fasola M. 2009. A misun- Iranian Plateau is completed. derstood new gecko of the genus Hemidactylus from Socotra Is- land, Yemen (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae). Acta Herpetol, Acknowledgments We would like to thank the Shiraz 4(1): 83–98 University for its financial support provided for the field Spawls S., Howell K., Drewes R., Ashe J. 2002. A Field Guide to work in southern Iran. the Reptiles of East Africa. San Diego: Academic Press, 543 pp