Glor, Richard E.

Landestoy T., Miguel A.

Ng, Julienne

Scantlebury, Daniel P.

English

Biodiversity Informatics

180	 IRCF	ReptIles	&	AmphIbIAns		•		Vol	17,	no	3		•		sep	2010During	recent	herpetological	surveys	of	the	Dominican	Republic,	we	collected	the	first	known	specimens	of	two	species	on	hispaniola:	Hemidactylus frenatus,	which	is	native	to	southeastern	Asia	and	which	has	an	almost	circumtropical	distribution,	but	has	not	been	recorded	previously	from	anywhere	in	the	West	Indies;	and	Gymnophthalmus underwoodi,	a	par-thenogenetic	native	of	northeastern	south	America	that	is	being	discovered	on	an	increasing	number	of	lesser	Antillean	islands	(henderson	and	powell	2009),	but	was	not	previously	known	from	the	Greater	Antilles.	 several	species	in	the	genus	Hemidactylus	(including	H. frenatus)	are	included	among	the	most	successfully	colonizing	species	of	amphibians	or	reptiles	(bomford	et	al.,	2009).	several	African	and	Asian	species	have	become	established	in	the	Western	hemisphere	(H. angulatus,	H. frenatus, H. garnotii, H. mabouia, H. platyurus, and	H. turcicus),	with	most	or	all	benefiting	from	human	mediation.	Hemidactylus	angulatus	(West	Indian	populations	were	formerly	assigned	to	H. haitianus;	Weiss	and	hedges	2007)	and	H. mabouia	 are	widely	distributed	 in	 the	Greater	Antilles,	and	H. turcicus	occurs	locally	on	Cuba	(henderson	and	powell	2009).	In	August	2008,	one	of	us	(Jn)	collected	a	subadult	male	H. frenatus	(Fig.	1)	from	beneath	the	exfoliating	bark	of	a	fence	post	at	balneario	la	Zurga	(an	oasis	along	highway	46	between	the	towns	of	Jimaní	and	Duvergé	in	Independencia	province,	Dominican	Republic).	that	lizard	was	taken	dur-ing	the	morning	hours,	and	no	others	were	observed.	We	have	been	unable	to	survey	the	area	at	night,	although	the	senior	author	conducted	an	exten-sive	nocturnal	survey	in	la	Descubierta	(ca.	10	km	northeast	of	Jimaní)	in	2009.	the	only	geckos	observed	were	Aristelliger	expectatus,	H. angulatus, H. mabouia,	and	Sphaerodactylus elegans.	 the	occurrence	of	H. frenatus	at	a	rather	isolated	site	in	the	xeric	west-ern	Dominican	Republic is	puzzling,	as	this	species	is	typically	associated	with	warm	mesic	or	edificarian	habitats.	Illegal	Chinese	immigrants	often	cross	the	haitian	border	into	the	Dominican	Republic	in	this	area,	and	this	record	might	be	related	to	such	activities.	the	failure	of	the	species	to	spread	farther	could	be	limited	by	the	oppressively	xeric	conditions	of	the	Valle	de	neiba.	however,	a	general	attitude	of	indifference	by	herpetolo-gists	to	invasive	species	of	Hemidactylus,	as	well	as	difficulty	distinguish-ing	between	species	of	Hemidactylus,	might	have	caused	H. frenatus	to	go	undetected.	Careful	surveys	of	the	gecko	fauna	throughout	the	Dominican	Republic	should	be	conducted	in	order	to	clarify	the	status	and	monitor	the	potential	spread	of	this	highly	invasive	species.	 Gymnophthalmus underwoodi is	widely	distributed	throughout	north-eastern	south	America	and	in	the	southern	lesser	Antilles	(Williamson	and	powell	2004).	some	insular	populations	may	have	been	founded	by	ances-tors	that	arrived	by	natural	over-water	dispersal,	but	many	are	undoubtedly	human-mediated	(powell	et	al.	2011).	In	september	2009,	one	of	us	(ml)	collected	an	individual	in	leaf	litter	surrounding	the	research	station	at	the	punta	Cana	Resort	in	la	Altagracia	province	(Fig.	2).	Further	searches	produced	an	additional	specimen	and	two	other	lizards,	which	we	failed	to	secure.	We	initially	were	puzzled	by	the	occurrence	of	this	species	in	a	formerly	remote	area	of	the	country,	but	we	soon	realized	that	these	animals	were	taken	in	an	exotic	fruit-tree	garden	established	by	the	resort	decades	ago.	these	small,	parthenogenetic	lizards	were	almost	certainly	introduced	as	stowaways	in	tree	containers.	leaf	litter	surveys	of	surrounding	regions	(boca	de	Yuma,	bávaro,	bayahibe,	and	Isla	saona)	have	not	revealed	any	additional	Gymnophthalmus.		other	lizards	collected	in	proximity	of	the	Gymnophthalmus	consisted	of	Aristelliger lar,	Celestus	sp.,	Hemidactylus angulatus,	and	Sphaerodactylus savagei.	 the	 voucher	 specimen	 of	 H. frenatus	 is	 in	 the	 museum	 of	Comparative	Zoology	(mCZ-R-186874).	the	specimens	of	G.	underwoodi	have	been	assigned	numbers	from	the	Richard	e.	Glor	field	series	(Glor	6813	&	6845).	Jimmy	mcGuire	and	tony	Gamble	confirmed	the	identity	of	the	H. frenatus from	photographs,	and	the	identity	of	the	G.	underwoodi	was	confirmed	from	photographs	by	Robert	powell.	We	thank	Jonathan	Woodward	who	provided	photographs	of	the	H. frenatus	specimen.IntRoDUCeD	speCIesFigure 1.	Dorsal	 and	ventral	views	of	a	Hemidactylus frenatus collected	 in	 the	Dominican	Republic.	note	the	lightly	tuberculate	dorsal	surface,	light	stripe	on	the	rostrum,	and	subdigital	lamellae	that	reach	the	palm	on	the	fourth	digit.	photographs	courtesy	of	Jonathan	Woodward	and	the	museum	of	Comparative	Zoology.Hemidactylus frenatus and Gymnophthalmus underwoodi in the Dominican RepublicDaniel	p.	scantlebury1,	Julienne	ng1,	miguel	A.	landestoy	t.2,	and	Richard	e.	Glor11Department	of	biology,	University	of	Rochester,	Rochester,	new	York	14627-0211,	UsA	(dscantle@mail.rochester.edu)2ministerio	de	medio	Ambiente	y	Recursos	naturales,	santo	Domingo,	Dominican	Republic;	sociedad	ornitologica	de	la	hispaniola,	santo	Domingo,	Dominican	Republic	(hispanioland@gmail.com)I n T R o D U c e D  s P e c I e s	 IRCF	ReptIles	&	AmphIbIAns		•		Vol	17,	no	3		•		sep	2010	 181Literature Citedbomford,	m.,	F.	Kraus,	s.C.	barry,	and	e.	lawrence.	2009.	predicting	establish-ment	success	for	alien	reptiles	and	amphibians:	A	role	for	climate	matching.	Biological Invasions	11:713–724.henderson,	R.W.	and	R.	powell.	2009.	Natural History of West Indian Reptiles and Amphibians.	University	press	of	Florida,	Gainesville.powell,	R.,	R.W.	henderson,	m.C.	Farmer,	m.	breuil,	A.C.	echternacht,	G.	van	buurt,	C.m.	Romagosa,	and	G.	perry.	2011.	Introduced	amphibians	and	reptiles	in	the	Greater	Caribbean,	in	press.	In:	A.	hailey,	b.s.	Wilson,	and	J.A.	horrocks	(eds.),	Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas.	Vol.	1.	brill,	leiden,	the	netherlands.schwartz,	A.	and	R.W.	henderson.	1991.	Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History.	University	of	Florida	press,	Gainesville.Weiss,	A.J.	and	s.b.	hedges.	2007.	molecular	phylogeny	and	biogeography	of	the	Antillean	geckos	Phyllodactylus wirshingi,	Tarentola americana,	and	Hemidactylus haitianus	(Reptilia,	squamata).	Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution	45:409–416.Williamson,	K.e.	and	R.	powell.	2004.	Gymnophthalmus underwoodi.	Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles	(793):1–5.IntRoDUCeD	speCIesAFigure 2.	Gymnophthalmus underwoodi from	the	Dominican	Republic:	A.	Dorsum	with	pattern	and	coloration	typical	of	this	species;	b.	Venter	showing	enlarged,	imbricate	scales.	MiGuel lAndestoYBseventeen	species	of	amphisbaenians	representing	two	families	(Cadeidae	and	Amphisbaenidae)	and	two	genera	(Cadea	and	Amphisbaena)	are	known	 from	 the	West	 Indies,	with	 a	distribution	 restricted	 to	Cuba,	hispaniola,	and	the	puerto	Rico	bank	(henderson	and	powell	2009).	no	species	are	known	to	occur	in	the	lesser	Antilles.	here	we	report	on	two	specimens	of	Amphisbaena fuliginosa	collected	in	the	lesser	Antilles:	one	from	st.	lucia	and	the	other	from	Grenada.	Amphisbaena fuliginosa	is	a	south	American	species	with	its	origin	in	Amazonia	(Vanzolini	2002).	both	specimens	are	in	the	museum	collection	at	the	University	of	the	West	Indies	(UWItt)	in	st.	Augustine,	trinidad.	both	compare	closely	with	published	descriptions	of	A. fuliginosa	in	overall	external	morphology	(hoogmoed	1973,	murphy	1997,	Vanzolini	2002;	table	1).	 the	st.	lucia	specimen	(UWItt	2010.12.24)	was	collected	at	barre	de	l’isle	on	4	April	1994	by	Christopher	K.	starr.	the	barre	de	l’isle	area	is	forested	and	mountainous.	A	discussion	with	the	collector	suggested	that	it	was	not	taken	in	an	area	disturbed	by	humans,	although	hotels	and	human	modified	habitats	are	within	4	km	of	the	Forest	Reserve.	 the	Grenada	specimen	(UWItt	2010.12.28)	was	collected	by	Garth	Underwood.	the	jar	with	the	specimen	contained	a	slip	of	paper	with	a	hand-written	“Grenada	4-4.”	this	number	was	also	associated	with	a	jar	containing	specimens	of	Anolis aeneus	and	A. richardii	that	had	been	col-lected	by	Underwood	between	12	and	22	December	1961	at	localities	from	throughout	the	island	and	from	near	sea	level	to	more	than	500	m	above	sea	level;	therefore,	we	have	no	specific	locality	data	for	the	A. fuliginosa.	that	Underwood	did	not	mention	this	specimen	in	his	1962	publication	or	the	supplement	that	was	published	in	1964	is	puzzling.	perhaps	he	consid-ered	the	specimen	a	“vagrant”	and	not	worthy	of	mention,	but	that	seems	unlikely.	Why	did	he	not	consider	it	an	addition	to	the	Grenada	herpe-Amphisbaena fuliginosa (Reptilia: squamata: amphisbaenidae) in the lesser antillesJohn	C.	murphy1,	Robert	W.	henderson2,	and	michael	Rutherford31Division	of	Amphibians	and	Reptiles,	Field	museum	of	natural	history,	Chicago,	Il	60604	UsA	(fordonia1@comcast.net)2Vertebrate	Zoology,	milwaukee	public	museum,	milwaukee,	WI	53233,	UsA	(henderson@mpm.edu)3Department	of	life	sciences,	University	of	the	West	Indies,	st.	Augustine,	trinidad	(mike.rutherford@sta.uwi.edu)

Hemidactylus frenatus and Gymnophthalmus underwoodi in the Dominican Republic

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU

https://journals.ku.edu/reptilesandamphibians/article/download/16113/14445

Hemidactylus frenatus and Gymnophthalmus underwoodi in the Dominican Republic

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