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Two Records of Amelanism in the Australian Skink Ctenotus Fallens (Storr, 1974)

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Two Records of Amelanism in the Australian Skink Ctenotus Fallens (Storr, 1974) �erpetology Notes, volume 10: 453-455 (2017) (published online on 05 September 2017) Two records of amelanism in the Australian skink Ctenotus fallens (Storr, 1974) Josef Virens1,*, Robert A. Davis2 and Tim S. Doherty3 Amelanistic reptiles are characterised by an absence most widespread and diverse skink genus in Australia, of the black-brown pigment melanin from their Ctenotus. skin (Bechtel, 1995). This is distinct from the more The west coast ctenotus, Ctenotus fallens (maximum commonly reported trait albinism, where melanin is SVL = 96 mm), is one of the most abundant reptiles absent from all tissues including the eyes and internal occurring in native vegetation remnants of the Perth organs (Bechtel, 1995). Unlike mammals, where metropolitan area in Western Australia (�ow and Dell, melanin is the only pigment produced and individuals 2000) and is latitudinally distributed along the west coast appear white, amelanistic and albino reptiles may still of Western Australia (Storr et al., 1999). It is typically produce the red-yellow pigment xanthin thus retaining dark-yellow to brown with a black-brown vertebral these colourations (Bechtel, 1991). In contrast, leucistic stripe and two white dorsolateral stripes extending the reptiles do not produce any pigments in their skin tissue length of the back, from the nape to the base of the tail and appear completely white, but may have normally (Fig. 1). The ventral side is white, often with a bright pigmented eyes and internal tissues (Bechtel, 1991; yellow patch around the back legs extending into the Bechtel, 1995). The occurrence of wild reptiles with tail (Cogger, 2014). aberrant pigmentation is uncommon and has mostly been We encountered two amelanistic C. fallens at Kings reported from Eurasia and the Americas (e.g. Di Giuseppe Park, a large urban vegetation remnant adjacent to the et al., 2014; Erickson and Kaefer, 2015; Kolenda et al., central business district of the capital city Perth. This 2017), with very few records from Australasia. This is species is the most commonly captured reptile species surprising given the very high diversity and abundance in a long-term study in Kings Park (Davis and Doherty, of Australasian reptiles. Although records of aberrant 2015). The first individual was captured in a funnel trap pigmentation in the Australasian herpetofauna are rare, in the north of the park (-31.9542°N, 115.8344°E) in instances have been reported in skinks (Shea and Kent, December 2011. The second was captured in a pitfall 1988; Morely and Johnston, 2005; Janssen, 2015), snakes trap in November 2012 in the south of the park (- (Bedford, 1993; Furbank and Nelson, 1994; Fearn, 31.9664°N, 115.8386°E), 1.4 km from the first. Previous 2000), the turtle, Elseya irwini (Turner, 2011) and one work suggests that C. fallens exhibits strong site fidelity account in the saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus (Jennings and Thompson, 1999) and a low recapture (Dunlevie, 2014). �ere we report what we believe to rate (Davis and Doherty, 2015), thus we consider it is be the first recorded case of pigment aberration in the unlikely that the two records are of the same individual. Both individuals were almost uniformly very pale yellow with indistinct pale dorsolateral stripes (Fig. 1). The vertebral stripe was also discernible, but much paler than in normally pigmented individuals. Ventrally both 1 Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New were typically white with bright yellow pigmentation Zealand present around the back legs. The eyes were typically 2 School of Natural Sciences, Edith Cowan University, dark brown. Joondalup, Australia Pigment aberration in some wild populations of 3 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology (Burwood Campus), Deakin University, animals have been associated with inbreeding (Bensch, Geelong, Australia 2000; Sanchez-�ernandez et al., 2012), however a * Corresponding author email: [email protected] recent genetic analysis of this population did not find 454 Josef Virens et al. We advocate the reporting of aberrant pigmentation in wild reptile populations by field practitioners to better understand the incidence of these traits in Australia. References Bedford, G. (1993): Eye protection during basking by an albino Olive Python (Liasis olivaceus). �erpetofauna 23. Bechtel, �. B. (1991): Inherited Color Defects. International Journal of Dermatology 30: 243-246. Bechtel, �. B. (1995): Reptile and amphibian variants: colors, patterns, and scales. Kreiger Publishing Company. USA. Bensch, S., Bengt, �., �asselquist, D., Nielsen, B. (2000): Partial albinism in a semi-isolated population of Great Reed Warblers. �ereditas 133: 167-170. Davis, R.A., Doherty, T.S. (2015): Rapid recovery of an urban remnant reptile community following summer wildfire. PLoS One. 10: e0127925. Dunlevie, J. (2014): Part-albino crocodile shot after fatal attack was ‘1-in-100-million rarity’. Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014- 08-19/part-albino-croc-shot-after-fatal-attack-a-1-in-100- million/5681462. Erickson, J., Kaefer, I.L. (2015): Multiple leucism in a nest of the yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle, Podocnemis unifilis. Salamandra. 51: 273-376. Di Giuseppe, M., Martínez-Silvestre, A., Faraone, F.P., Soler, J. Figure 1. Photographs of the skink Ctenotus fallens occurring (2014): First report of a wild hypomelanistic �ermann’s tortoise in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia. A: A typically (Testudo hermanni) in Sicily (Italy). �erpetology Notes 7: 567- pigmented C. fallens (J. Virens). B: The first amelanistic C. 568. fallens, encountered in December 2011 (J. Virens). C: The Fearn, S. (2000): Record of an extreme leucistic Rhinoplocephalus second amelanistic C. fallens, encountered in November 2012 nigrescens. �erpetofauna 30: 55. (T. Doherty). Furbank, M., Nelson, S. (1994): Reproduction notes and the first record of albinism in the White Crowned Snake Cacophis harriettae. �erpetofauna 24. �ow, R.A., Dell, J. (2000): Ground vertebrate fauna of Perth’s vegetation remnants: impact of 170 years of urbanization. Pacific Conservation Biology 6: 198-217. any evidence of inbreeding or loss of genetic diversity Janssen, J. (2015): A first-recorded case of hypomelanism in a (Krawiec et al., 2015). Another explanation is that these wild Suter’s skink (Oligosoma suteri) following eradication of phenotypes are a result of low frequency, recessive, invasive alien species. BioGecko 3. hereditary mutations (Bechtel, 1995). It has been Jennings, W.B., Thompson, G.G. (1999): Territorial behaviour in suggested that such conditions will occur in nearly all the Australian scincid lizard Ctenotus fallens. �erpetologica 55: animal species given a large enough population. As 352-361. Kolenda K, Najbar B, Najbar A, Kaczmarek P. (2017): Rare colour the population size of these individuals is assumed to aberrations and anomalies of amphibians and reptiles recorded be high (Krawiec et al., 2015), such mutations are a in Poland. �erpetology Notes 10: 103–109. possible cause. Krawiec, J., Krauss, S.L., Davis, R.A., Spencer, P.B. (2015): Pigment aberrations within wild reptiles may be more Weak genetic structuring suggests historically high genetic widespread than is reported in Australia, however the connectivity among recently fragmented urban populations possibility also remains that such individuals experience of the scincid lizard, Ctenotus fallens. Australian Journal of higher predation rates or increased susceptibility to Zoology. 63: 279-286. Krecsák, L. (2008): Albinism and leucism among European ultraviolet radiation than normally pigmented individuals Viperinae: a review. Russian Journal of �erpetology, 15: 97- (Møller and Mousseau, 2001; Krecsák, 2008). 102. Consequently, reduced survival would likely decrease Morley, T., Johnston, G. (2005): An albino �osmer’s Skink Egernia the prevalence of these genotypes within populations. hosmeri. �erpetofauna 35. Two records of amelanism in the Australian skink 455 Møller, A.P., Mousseau, T.A. (2001): Albinism and phenotype of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) from Chernobyl. Evolution 55: 2097-2104. Sánchez-�ernández, C., Rojas-Martínez, A., López-Vidal, J.C., Elizalde-Arellano, C., Romero-Almaraz, M.D.L., Aguillar- López, M., Taboada-Salgado, A. (2012): Leucism in five species of bats from Mexico. Chiroptera Neotropical 18: 1123-1127. Shea, G.M. Kent, D. (1989): Albinism in Blue-tongued Lizards (Scincidae: Tiliqua). �erpetofauna 18: 3-4. Storr, G. M., Smith, L. A.A and Johnstone, R.E (1999): Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Western Australian Museum. Australia. Turner, G.S. (2011): �ypomelanism in Irwin’s Turtle, Elseya irwini, from the Johnstone River, North Queensland, Australia. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10: 275-281. Accepted by Anamarija Zagar.
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