Herpetology Notes, volume 11: 115-116 (2018) (published online on 27 January 2018)

First record of tail bifurcation in gallagheri from the United Arabian Emirates

Daniel Koleska¹,*

The Asaccus Dixon & Anderson 1973 (formerly original part of the tail. Despite this malformation, the Phyllodactylus Gray, 1828) includes Middle Eastern observed individual seemed to be in a good nutritional of small or medium size. These nocturnal state without any other visible injuries. At the site, I also geckos have a slender body composition, paired observed Trachydactylus hajarensis. During the day the terminal scansors in the digits that lack lamellae, are site was occupied by the geckos of the genus Pristurus without femoral or preanal pores and the left oviduct – namely P. rupestris and P. celerimus. and therefore lay only one egg at a time (Carranza et Tail bifurcations are considered to be a result of al., 2016). The systematics of the genus is not yet fully previous injuries (Lynn, 1950). According to Alibardi understood. This genus for nearly 20 years comprised (2010), such deformities may be caused by an only three . However, research performed in incomplete caudal autotomy and due to crushed spinal the last two decades increased the number of species cord and ependyma within the tail. These malformations to current 18 (see Carranza et al., 2016 and citations are rather frequent among and are recorded in the therein). Four species are recently recognised in the families Agamidae (e.g. Ananjeva and Danov, 1991), UAE (Carranza et al., 2016), where A. gallagheri was Anguidae (e.g. Conzendey et al., 2013), Gekkonidae the most commonly encountered during our fieldwork. (e.g. Kumbar et al., 2011), Gymnothalmidae (e.g. is endemic to the Hajar Mountains in Pheasey et al., 2014), Iguanidae (e.g. Mata-Silva et al., the eastern part of the country and can be found on sites 2013), Lacertidae (e.g. Koleska and Jablonski, 2015), at the sea level up to 1700 m a. s. l. (Gardner, 2013). Mabuyidae (e.g. Vrcibradic and Niemeyer, 2013), On January 11th, 2017 at around 2130 local time, Scincidae (e.g. Mitchell et al., 2012), Teiidae (e.g. I observed two individuals (both adult males) of A. Pelegrin and Leão, 2016) and Tropiduridae (e.g. Passos gallagheri in Wadi Shawkah (25.102 °N 56.052 °E, 301 m a. s. l.), Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, during a brief herpetological surveillance. The site was represented by a steep rocky slope without vegetation and with numerous cracks providing potential shelter. A water dam was present in the near surroundings. One of the observed individuals had a tail bifurcation (Fig. 1). The tail was forked approximately 30 mm posterior to the cloaca. The tails were approximately 30 and 25 mm long. One of the tails held a small residue of shed skin and had a grey colouration on the tip. Both tail branches were otherwise yellow-coloured as the rest of the

¹ Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00, Praha, Czech Republic Figure 1. Individual of Asaccus gallagheri with a bifurcated * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] tail. 116 Daniel Koleska et al., 2014). However, tail malformations apparently Conzendey, P., Campos, S.P.S., Lanna, F.M., De Amorim, J.D.C.G., occur more often in populations with higher De Sousa, B.M. (2013): Ophiodes striatus (Striped Worm densities (e.g. Pérez-Buitrago et al., 2010) and therefore Lizard). Bifurcated tail. Herpetological Review. 44: 145-146. Gardner, A.S. (2013): The Amphibians and of Oman and with a higher chance of intraspecific interactions such the UAE. Ed. Chimaira. Frankfurt am Main. as male-male competition or fights over food resources. Koleska, D., Jablonski, D. (2015): Tail trifurcation recorded in Records of bifurcation in A. gallagheri are therefore Algyroides nigropunctatus (Duméril & Bibron, 1839). Ecologica noteworthy since population densities are usually rather Montenegrina. 3: 26-28. low in this species. Moreover, as far as I am aware, this Kumbar, S.M., Ghadage, A.B., Shendage V.M. (2011): Hemidactylus is the first record of tail bifurcation in this species. flaviviridis (House ). Bifurcation. Herpetological Review. 42: 94. Mitchell, J.C., McDaniel, W., McDaniel, J. (2012): Plestiodon Acknowlegdements. I am very grateful to V. Víta for providing inexpectatus (Southeastern Five-lined Skink). Bifurcation. the photograph and also to J. Dohnal for his great help and amusing Herpetological Review. 43: 650. company during the fieldwork. This work was supported by the Pérez-Buitrago, N., Sabat, A.M., McMillan, W.O. (2010): Spatial Internal Grant Agency of the Czech University of Life Sciences Ecology of the Endangered Mona Island Iguana Cyclura Prague (CIGA) through Project No. 20172002. cornuta stejnegeri: Does Territorial Behavior Regulate Density?. Herpetological Monographs. 24: 86-110. References Pheasey, H., Smith, P., Brouard, J.-P., Atkinson, K. (2014): Alibardi, L. (2010): Morphological and Cellular Aspects of Tail Vanzosaura rubricauda (Red-tailed Vanzosaur). Bifurcation and and Limb Regeneration in Lizards: A Model System with Trifurcation. Herpetological Review. 45: 138-139. Implications for Tissue Regeneration in Mammals. Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology 207: 1-109. Ananjeva, N.B., Danov, R.A. (1991): A rare case of bifurcated caudal regeneration in the Caucasian agama, Stellio caucasius. Amphibia-Reptilia, 12: 343-349. Carranza, S., Simó-Riudalbas, M., Jayasinghe, S., Wilms, T., Els, J. (2016): Microendemicity in the northern Hajar Mountains of Oman and the United Arab Emirates with the description of two new species of geckos of the genus Asaccus (: ). PeerJ 4:e2371 https://doi.org/10.7717/ peerj.2371

Accepted by Philip de Pous