Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 955-957 (2021) (published online on 30 June 2021) First report of tail consumption on Atlas day gecko Quedenfeldtia moerens (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae), an endemic species of Morocco Jalal Mouadi1, Mohamed Aourir1, and El Hassan El Mouden2,* The Atlas-day Gecko Quedenfeldtia moerens landscapes. In the study site, Q. moerens coexists (Chabanaud, 1916) is a small-sized lizard (approximately with two other gecko species; Ptyodactylus oudrii and 42 mm snout–vent length and 2 g weight). It is endemic Tarentola mauritanica. to Morocco (Martinez del Marmol et al., 2019) and is a During our study, we captured geckos in the field and rather common species through most of its range. It is put them in individual plastic boxes which we brought strictly diurnal and lives in open and rocky habitats where to a laboratory room. There the lizards were kept to it is regularly observed basking close to rock crevices in collect their faeces. A detailed analysis was done for 130 pairs or small groups. Quedenfeldtia moerens is known faecal pellets which were examined under a binocular to be an ambush forager with opportunistic feeding loupe. The diet of the geckos primarily comprised habits (Schleich et al., 1996). In the Anti Atlas region, of arthropods, among which the main prey taxa are the first mating takes place in March and females lay Formicidae, Coleoptera, Diptera and Arachnida (paper two to three single-egg clutches, which are deposited in preparation). On 20 April 2019, we found a segment in rock crevices (Schleich et al., 1996). As a defence of a lizard tail (Fig. 1) in a faecal pellet of one adult male strategy, Q. moerens exhibits tail autotomy with the with an intact tail (1.7 g body mass, 43 mm in snout- ability to shed all or part of the tail. vent-length and 117 mm of total length). The size of the During two consecutive years (2018–2019), we tail segment was about 20 mm and was partially broken conducted a study to determine the seasonal and annual into two parts, which were still attached. Examination variation of diet in a population of Q. moerens located showed that the tail belonged to another Q. moerens in the L’kest Mountain (29.85°N, -9°W; elevation 1200 individual. A possible confusion with the other gecko m). The site mostly consists of a few species of shrubs (Boraginaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Rubiaceae) and some perennial grass species (Euphorbia sp.) (Peltier, 1982). The shrubby vegetation is a sparse forest where Argan trees, Argania spinosa, are accompanied by cultivated plants as olive (Olea europaea) and almond (Prunus dulcis) trees. The climate is characterised by extreme variation in daily and monthly temperatures with precipitation averaging 168 mm/year. The combined effects of topography and Saharan influences result in the dominance of scarcely vegetated arid steppe 1 Biodiversity and Ecosystem functioning Entity, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco. 2 Water, Biodiversity and Climatic Change Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco. Figure 1. The segment of tail found in the faecal pellet of * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Quedenfeldtia moerens adult male; Anti Atlas Moutain, © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Morocco. Photograph taken by J. Mouadi. 956 Jalal Mouadi et al. Figure 2. Comparison between tails of sympatric geckos living in the study site (A) Ptyodactylus oudrii, (B) Tarentola mauritanica and (C) Quedenfeldtia moerens. Photographs taken by J. Mouadi. species occurring at the site was ruled out based on the In conclusion, this note reports the presence of a tail shape and scalation of the tail (Fig. 2). This finding fragment of Q. moerens in a faecal pellet of an adult indicates that the concerned male consumed the tail of male of the same species, which indicates a case of tail another individual of Q. moerens, which constitutes the consumption in the species. The data available on the first report of intraspecific tail consummation for this diet suggests that this behaviour is rare in the species. species. Previous studies, based on a stomach content analysis and faecal pellets, provided solid evidence References of tail consumption by the adult males of Podarcis Adamopoulou, C., Pafilis, P., Valakos, E.D. (1999): Summer diet gaigeae, which consume body parts (tails and feet) of of Podarcis milensis, Podarcis gaigeae and Podarcis erhardii conspecifics (Adamopoulou et al., 1999; Pafilis et al., (Sauria: Lacertidae) during summer. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 2009). This behaviour has been previously mentioned 48: 275–282. only in males and directed against juveniles (Pafilis et Arnold, E.N. (1984): Evolutionary aspects of tail shedding in lizards al., 2009; Powell and Watkins, 2014). However, in our and their relatives, Journal of Natural History 18(1): 127–169. case and given the size of the fragment consumed, the Bateman, P.W., Fleming, P.A. (2009): Studies carried out over the predation involved two adults. As we did not witness last 20 years. Journal of Zoology 277: 1–14. Cooper, W.E, Dimopoulos, I., Pafilis, P. (2015): Sex, age and the incident, we can only speculate that the lizard population density affect aggressive behaviors in island lizards has recovered the tail following a fight with the male promoting cannibalism. Ethology 121(3): 260–269. having lost its tail, or probably after mating with a Doughty, P., Shine, R., Lee, M. (2003): Energetic costs of tail loss female (Arnold, 1984; Tanner and Perry, 2007). The in a montane scincid lizard. Comparative Biochemistry and latter is supported given the observation coincided with Physiology - Part A 135: 215–219. Q. moerens mating season (Schleich et al., 1996). The Martínez del Mármol, G., Harris, D.J., Geniez, P., De Pous, P., consumption of lizard tails by other lizards has been Salvi, D. (2019): Amphibians and Reptiles of Morocco. Edition related to their nutritional value because it concentrates Chimaira. Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 478 pp. Pafilis, P., Meiri, S., Foufopoulos, J., Valakos, E. (2009): Intraspecific high percentage of lipids (Doughty et al., 2003; Paz competition and high food availability are associated with insular et al., 2019) and can provide a rapid and easy source gigantism in a lizard. Naturwissenschaften 96: 1107–1113 of nutriment to the predator. It is interpreted as a Passos, D.C., Monteiro, F.A.C, Nogueira, C.H.O. (2016): Dangerous consequence of scarcity of trophic resources, notably neighborhood: saurophagy between syntopic Tropidurus lizards. in poor ecosystems or as product of normal predatory Biota Neotropica. 16(1): e20150062. behaviour (Cooper, 2015). In our case, it is probably Paz, M.M., Elizabeth García, N., Semhan, R.V., Lobo, F.G., just an incidence which happened during fighting. In Abdala, C.S. (2019): Study of lipid reserves in Liolaemus fact, our results indicated that tail consumption is rare koslowskyi (Squamata: Liolaemidae): reproductive and ecological implications. Journal of Comparative Physiology B in Q. moerens with only one case out of the 130 faecal 189(5): 595–609 pellets analysed (0.77%). The percentage is similar to Peltier, J.P. (1982): La végétation du bassin versant de l’Oued Souss that mentioned for a lacertid species, Podarcis gaigeae (Maroc). Doctorat d’Etat Es-Sciences, Université de Grenoble, (0.78%: Adamopoulou et al., 1999; 1.2%: Pafilis et al., France. 2009). Powell, R., Watkins, A. (2014): First Report of Cannibalism in the First report of tail consumption on Atlas day gecko, an endemic species of Morocco 957 Saba Anole (Anolis sabanus), with a review of cannibalism in West Indian Anoles. Reptiles & Amphibian 21(4): 136–137. Schleich, H.H., Kastle, W., Kabisch, K. (1996): Amphibians and Reptiles from North Africa. Königstein: Koeltz Scientific Publications, 630 pp. Tanner, D., Perry, J. (2007): Road effects on abundance and fitness of Galapagos lava lizards (Microlophus albemarlensis). Journal of Environmental Management 85: 270–278. Accepted by Jiri Smid.