Gonatodes albogularis fuscus (Hallowell, 1855) is known mainly from the lowlands from Chiapas in Mexico to western Venezuela and Colombia and in several Caribbean islands. In Honduras it has been reported from the center, south, east and north, however there are no reports from the west of the country. We document this species for the first time in the departments of Comayagua and Intibucá in the center-west and comment on its distribution in Honduras. In addition, we suggest the need to reassess the taxonomy of subspecies of G. albogularis and comment about conservation problems derived from competition and predation by feral and invasive species and habitat modification

Alejandro J. Salguero-Sánchez

Cristopher A. Antúnez-Fonseca

Marcio Martínez

Oscar R. Suazo-Ortega

Graellsia

Gonatodes albogularis fuscus&nbsp;(Hallowell, 1855) es conocido principalmente desde las llanuras de Chiapas en México hasta el oeste de Venezuela y Colombia y en varias islas del Caribe. En Honduras se ha reportado en el centro, sur, este y norte, sin embargo, no hay reportes en el oeste del país. Documentamos por primera vez la presencia de la especie en los departamentos de Comayagua e Intibucá para el centro-oeste, con comentarios sobre su distribución en Honduras. Además, sugerimos la revisión de la taxonomía de las subespecies de&nbsp;G. albogularis&nbsp;y comentamos sobre las amenazas de conservación que puede sufrir la especie por competición y depredación por especies ferales e invasoras y modificación de su hábitat.Gonatodes albogularis fuscus&nbsp;(Hallowell, 1855) is known mainly from the lowlands from Chiapas in Mexico to western Venezuela and Colombia and in several Caribbean islands. In Honduras it has been reported from the center, south, east and north, however there are no reports from the west of the country. We document this species for the first time in the departments of Comayagua and Intibucá in the center-west and comment on its distribution in Honduras. In addition, we suggest the need to reassess the taxonomy of subspecies of&nbsp;G. albogularis&nbsp;and comment about conservation problems derived from competition and predation by feral and invasive species and habitat modification

Antúnez-Fonseca, Cristopher A.

Suazo-Ortega, Oscar R.

Salguero-Sánchez, Alejandro J.

Martínez, Marcio

Graellsia (E-Journal)

Graellsia, 80 (1-2): e211enero-diciembre 2024ISSN-L: 0367-5041, eISSN: 1989-953X https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2024.v80.403PERSONALIZAReISSN 1989-953XIdioma EnglishISSN-L 0367-5041FUENTE Graellsia, vol. 80, n. 1, 2024EDITOR Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasDOI https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2024.v80.403Notas / NotesWesternmost records of Gonatodes albogularis fuscus (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) in Honduras and comments on their taxonomy and conservationCristopher A. Antúnez-Fonseca1*, Oscar R. Suazo-Ortega2, Alejandro J. Salguero-Sánchez3 & Marcio Martínez41 Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Cidade Universitária, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.1 Departamento de Ambiente y Desarrollo, Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Yeguare Valley, Francisco Morazán, Honduras.2 Escuela de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán, Honduras.3 Departamento de Biología, Escuela de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán, Honduras.3 Programa de Posgrado en Biología, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio,  San José, Costa Rica. 4 Departamento de Vida Silvestre, Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre (ICF), Comayagüela, Francisco Morazán, Honduras4 Asociación para la Sostenibilidad e Investigación Científica en Honduras (ASICH), Barrio La Granja, entre 28 y 29 calle,  Comayagüela M.D.C., Francisco Morazán, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.* Corresponding author: cristopher.antunez@ufms.br – ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8231-326X2 Email: oscarsuazoo24@gmail.com — ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0421-6958 3 Email: alejandro.salguero@unah.edu.hn — ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3258-0179 4 Email: sphyrnam@yahoo.es — ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3307-6848ABSTRACTGonatodes albogularis fuscus (Hallowell, 1855) is known mainly from the lowlands from Chiapas in Mexico to western Venezuela and Colombia and in several Caribbean islands. In Honduras it has been reported from the center, south, east and north, however there are no reports from the west of the country. We document this species for the first time in the departments of Comayagua and Intibucá in the center-west and comment on its distribution in Honduras. In addition, we suggest the need to reassess the taxonomy of subspecies of G. albogu-laris and comment about conservation problems derived from competition and predation by feral and invasive species and habitat modification.Keywords. Atlantic slope, distribution, dry forest, threats, Yellow-headed Gecko.RESUMENRegistros más occidentales de Gonatodes albogularis fuscus (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) en Honduras y comentarios sobre su taxonomía y conservaciónGonatodes albogularis fuscus (Hallowell, 1855) es conocido principalmente desde las llanuras de Chiapas en México hasta el oeste de Venezuela y Colombia y en varias islas del Caribe. En Honduras se ha reportado en el centro, sur, este y norte, sin embargo, no hay reportes en el oeste del país. Documentamos por primera vez la presencia de la especie en los departamentos de Comayagua e Intibucá para el centro-oeste, con comentarios sobre su distribución en Honduras. Además, sugerimos la revisión de la taxonomía de las subespecies de G. albogularis y comentamos sobre las amenazas de conservación que puede sufrir la especie por competición y depredación por especies ferales e invasoras y modificación de su hábitat.Palabras clave. Amenazas, bosque seco, distribución, Gecko Cabeza Amarilla, vertiente del Atlántico.Recibido/Received: 11/12/2023; Aceptado/Accepted: 22/07/2024; Publicado en línea/Published online: 13/11/2024Cómo citar este artículo/Citation: Antúnez-Fonseca, C.A.,  Suazo-Ortega, O.R., Salguero-Sanchez, A.J. & Martínez, M. 2024. Westernmost records of Gonatodes albogularis fuscus (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) in Honduras and comments on their taxonomy and conservation. Graellsia, 80 (1-2): e211. https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2024.v80.403Copyright: © 2024 SAM & CSIC. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.2 Notas / NotesGraellsia, 80 (1-2): e211, diciembre 2024 — ISSN-L: 0367-5041 – https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2024.v80.403The Yellow-headed Gecko, Gonatodes albogularis (Duméril & Bibron, 1836) is a small gecko of the Sphaerodactylidae family, which inhabits mainly dry and humid lowland forests and is closely associated to living in buildings in urban areas (Antúnez-Fonseca et al., 2021). Its known predators are invertebrates such as spiders (Filipiak & Lewis, 2012; Mora et al., 2023) and amblypygids (Moreno-Arias, 2016), and vertebrates such as mammals, birds, snakes, larger lizards (Domínguez-López et al., 2015) and other geckos (Barquero, 2017). Its known natural distribution ranges from southeastern Chiapas in Mexico to western Colombia on the Pacific slope and from eastern Guatemala to western Venezuela on the Atlantic slope (McCranie, 2018; Mora et al., 2023), but it’s also present in the Greater Antilles, possibly in the Lesser Antilles and is considered introduced and stablished in Florida, United States; Belize City, Belize; Corn Islands, Nicaragua; Aruba; Curaçao; Grand Cayman, and Hispaniola (Savage, 2002; McCranie, 2018; Mora et al., 2023).Four subspecies are recognized for G. albogularis, distributed as follows: G. albogularis albogularis (Duméril & Bibron, 1836) in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, in Curacao and Aruba their introduction is considered possible; G. albogularis bodinii (Rivero-Blanco, 1964), only in the islands of the Los Monjes Archipelago in Venezuela; G. albogularis fuscus (Hallowell, 1855), from Chiapas in Mexico to the northern and western lowlands of Colombia, and it is considered as introduced in Cuba (Borroto-Páez et al., 2015) and southern Florida, United States (Carr, 1939; Wilson & Porras, 1983; Krysko et al., 2011); G. albogularis notatus (Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862), in Jamaica, southwestern Haiti, La Hispaniola and Grand Cayman (Hummelinck, 1940; Rivero-Blanco, 1979; Uetz et al., 2023). In Honduras the distribution of G. albogularis fuscus comprises the departments of Choluteca and Valle in the south, Francisco Morazán in the center, Olancho and Gracias a Dios in the east and Colón and Atlántida in the north, ranging from sea level to 1000 m of elevation (McCranie, 2018; Antúnez-Fonseca et al., 2021). In this note we report three new localities of G. albogularis fuscus, two for the department of Comayagua and one for Intibucá, expanding 60–95 kilometers the western distribution range of this species in Honduras. Record 1: During a sunny day, an active male was found, on April 3, 2022, at around 10:00 h, JAPOE office, Jesús de Otoro Town, Jesús de Otoro Municipality, Intibucá Department (14.4833°N, 87.9818°W, 616 m elev.; Fig. 1). Observed by Oscar Suazo and Manfredo Turcios and deposited in the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center, University of Texas at Arlington (UTADC 9860; photo voucher; Fig. 1A). On a wall of an office parking lot, 0.5 m from the ground, it took refuge in some wooden debris on the ground, where an individual of Hemidactylus frenatus was also observed. Record 2: During a cloudy day, an active adult male was found, on December 15, 2022, at 14:03 h, in a room house, Ajuterique community, Ajuterique Municipality, Comayagua Department (14.3819°N; 87.7072°W, 671 m elev.; Fig. 1). Collected by Tania P. López-Aguilar and deposited in the Herpetological Collection, Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano (CZB-HL-003; Fig. 1B). It was observed on the mud wall of an inhabited house 1 m above the ground, about 200 m from a secondary tributary of the Humuya River. At the same site, at least 15 individuals including both males and females were observed, occupying holes in the same wall. Record 3: During a sunny day we found an active adult female, on September 17, 2022, around 13:30 h in the Balneario El Edén, Comayagua City, Comayagua Municipality, Comayagua Department (14.4582°N; 87.6261°W, 599 m elev.; Fig. 1). Collected by Marcio Martínez and Liam Martínez and deposited in the Herpetological Collection, Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano (CBZ-HL-002; Fig. 1C). In the base of a tree, 0.3 m above the ground, around 20.0 m away from a tertiary tributary of the Humuya River. On the same spot we observed another adult male. This point is located in the vicinity of a small patch of secondary ciliary forest, a tributary that flows into the Humuya River. We report the first records for the departments of Comayagua and Intibucá, localities in dry forest regions (Dinerstein et al., 2017). These reports extend the western range of G. albogularis in Honduras 61.3 km and 63.0 km NW (localities in Comayagua) and 94.4 km NW (locality in Intibucá) from the closest verified locality in Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán, which represented the westernmost record to date (McCranie, 2018; Antúnez-Fonseca et al., 2021). Köhler (2008) generated a map with the distribution of G. albogularis where the species was only considered to occur along the Honduran coastal areas, however, our observations and additional previous records show that the species is distributed in the interior of the country (see McCranie, 2018). Our records fill an important information gap in the westernmost distribution of this species in Honduras, and hints to a possible connection in the Caribbean slope between populations in Honduras and Guatemala, as proposed by Antúnez-Fonseca et al. (2021). Further studies are necessary to assess the origin of these populations and validate whether they are native or introduced (see Caicedo-Portilla & Gutiérrez-Lamus, 2020; Antúnez-Fonseca et al., 2021).Regarding its nomenclature, we call for a taxonomic re-evaluation of Gonatodes albogularis subspecies. Several authors consider these subspecies as full Notas / Notes 3Graellsia, 80 (1-2): e211, diciembre 2024 — ISSN-L: 0367-5041 – https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2024.v80.403species, because they present external morphological traits differing among them and they seem to have allopatric distributions suggestive of speciation (e.g. Hallowell, 1855; Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862; Rivero-Blanco, 1979; Röll, 2009). Further studies incorporating molecular data in an integrative taxonomic framework are needed to assess the species or subspecies status of these taxa (e.g. Schargel et al., 2010). Finally, based on our observations, we report some threats for the species, including the potential impact of some introduced species on G. albogularis fuscus, such as competition and predation by Hemidactylus frenatus in the three localities and predation from domestic cats (Felis catus) in the Comayagua localities (see Alemán & Sunyer, 2015; Antúnez-Fonseca et al., 2021; Pérez et al., 2021). Additionally, although this species seems to be adapted to certain urban habitats (e.g. cracks, holes, etc.), the constant renovation of infrastructure entails the destruction or degradation of habitats that individuals use as refuge and nesting place (e.g. Heatwole, 1966; Sexton & Turner, 1971).AcknowledgementsThis record is part of the investigation and monitoring processes currently being carried out by the Wildlife Department of the “Instituto de Conservación Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre (ICF)”. We thank Tania P. López-Aguilar for providing us with the male specimen and the data from the second locality and to Liam Martinez and Manfredo A. Turcios-Casco for accompanying us in some surveys (Comayagua and Intibucá). Also, to Walter Alvarado and Lauany Serafim for their help preparing figure 1. Finally, we thank Eric Van den Berghe and Ricardo Peraza (EAP-Zamorano) and Gregory Pandelis (UTA) for providing us with the voucher codes corresponding to our specimens and photos.Fig. 1. Gonatodes albogularis fuscus distribution map in Honduras: (A) adult male UTADC 9860 registered at Jesús de Otoro, Intibucá; (B) adult male CZB-HL-003 registered in Ajuterique, Comayagua; (C) adult female CBZ-HL-002 recorded in Comayagua City, Comayagua.Fig. 1. Mapa de distribución de Gonatodes albogularis fuscus en Honduras: (A) macho adulto UTADC 9860 registrado en Jesús de Otoro, Intibucá; (B) macho adulto CZB-HL-003 registrado en Ajuterique, Comayagua; (C) hembra adulta CBZ-HL-002 registrada en Ciudad de Comayagua, Comayagua.4 Notas / NotesGraellsia, 80 (1-2): e211, diciembre 2024 — ISSN-L: 0367-5041 – https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2024.v80.403Declaration of competing interestThe authors of this article declare that they have no financial, professional or personal conflicts of interest that could have inappropriately influenced this work.ReferencesAlemán, B.M. & Sunyer, J., 2015. Natural History Notes. Hemidactylus frenatus Schlegel, 1836 in A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836. Predation attempt. Mesoamerican Herpetology, 2 (4): 518–519.Antúnez-Fonseca, C.A., Padilla, D., Castro, J.A., Zuniga, L.G. & Ramos, J., 2021. 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Registros más occidentales de Gonatodes albogularis fuscus (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) en Honduras y comentarios sobre su taxonomía y conservación

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Registros más occidentales de Gonatodes albogularis fuscus (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) en Honduras y comentarios sobre su taxonomía y conservación

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