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

Herpetology 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 (How 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). ��������������������������������� 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-Hernandez 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

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Accepted by Anamarija Zagar