The genus Coleodactylus Parker, 1926 (Squamata, Sphaerodactylidae) is distributed in north-eastern South America (Kluge, 1995). Coleodactylus comprises a miniaturized species complex of diurnal leaf- litter inhabiting sphaerodactyl geckos (SVL 20-28 mm; Vanzolini, 1968; Avila-Pires, 1995). Currently, Coleodactylus is composed of five species: C. meridionalis (Boulenger, 1888) occurs in the Atlantic Forest, from the coastal Brazilian states to the more mesic, open formations from Ceará to Bahia (Vanzolini, 1957); C. brachystoma (Amaral, 1935) inhabits the Cerrado in the Brazilian states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Piauí (Vanzolini, 1980; Geurgas, Rodrigues and Moritz, 2008); C. septentrionalis (Vanzolini, 1980) occurs in the northern state of Roraima (Vanzolini, 1980; Ávila-Pires, 1995; Vitt et al., 2005); C. natalensis Freire, 1999 is considered to be endemic to the Rio Grande do Norte Atlantic Forest (Freire, 1999); and C. elizae Gonçalves, Torquato, Skuk and Sena, 2012 which is restricted to the Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil (Gonçalves et al., 2012). Despite the broad geographic range of Coleodactylus spp, their small size and cryptic habits have made these sphaerodactyl geckos among the most poorly studied lizard groups (Gamble et al., 2011). Coleodactylus meridionalis (Fig. 1) was described by Boulenger (1888) as Sphaerodactylus meridionalis based on specimens originating from the municipality of Igarassu, state of Pernambuco. Several decades later S. meridionalis was allocated in the genus Coleodactylus by Parker (1926) whose decision was supported by Vanzolini (1957). This species has been found in both continuous areas as in relicts of the Atlantic Forest (Vanzolini, Ramos-Costa and Vitt, 1980; Sousa, 2010), and in coastal restingas (Freire, 1996). Coleodactylus meridionalis also occurs within brejos de altitude (Atlantic Forest enclaves) in the state of Ceará (Borges- Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003) and in mesic formations in the Caatinga (Vanzolini, Ramos-Costa and Vitt, 1980; Rodrigues, 1996). The currently known geographical distribution, based on records available in literature, comprises 44 sites, including besides the type locality of Pernambuco other localities in the states of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. Herein, we present two new localities for C. meridionalis in the Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia, north-eastern Brazil (Fig. 2) (Table 1). From 24 October 2009 to 13 March 2010, we collected eight specimens of C. meridionalis in a forest enclave inside the Caatinga biome located in the municipality of Tenente Laurentino Cruz (Dizimeira: 06°10’80”S, 36°43’38W, 751m asl). Additionally, nine specimens were collected from 24 October 2009 to 16 April 2010 at another location (Serra Nova) within the same municipality (06°05’94”S, 36°42’94”W, 710m asl). Voucher specimens were deposited at the Herpetological Collection of the Department of Botany, Ecology and Zoology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (CHBEZ 2960-2, 3190-6, 3214, 3442-6, and 3562). Collecting permits were granted by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) (Permit 206/2006 and Process no. 02001.004294/03-15). Herpetology Notes, volume 6: 23-27 (2013) (published online on 26 January 2013) Two new records of Coleodactylus meridionalis (Boulenger, 1888) (Squamata, Sphaerodactylidae) in north-eastern Brazil, including a map and comments regarding its geographical distribution Leonardo B. Ribeiro 1,2,* , Melissa Gogliath 3 , Renato G. Rodrigues 2 , Rebeca M. F. Barreto 2 , Eliza M. X. Freire 3 1 Centro de Conservação e Manejo de Fauna da Caatinga (CEMAFAUNA-CAATINGA), CEP 56300-990, Petrolina, PE, Brazil. 2 Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF), Campus Ciências Agrárias, Colegiado de Ciências Bioló- gicas, Rodovia BR 407, km 12, Lote 543, s/nº - C1, CEP 56300-990. Petrolina, PE, Brazil. 3 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Universitário Lagoa Nova, CEP 59072-970. Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. * Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected]
Transcript
The genus Coleodactylus Parker, 1926 (Squamata, Sphaerodactylidae) is distributed in north-eastern South America (Kluge, 1995). Coleodactylus comprises a miniaturized species complex of diurnal leaf-litter inhabiting sphaerodactyl geckos (SVL 20-28 mm; Vanzolini, 1968; Avila-Pires, 1995). Currently, Coleodactylus is composed of five species: C. meridionalis (Boulenger, 1888) occurs in the Atlantic Forest, from the coastal Brazilian states to the more mesic, open formations from Ceará to Bahia (Vanzolini, 1957); C. brachystoma (Amaral, 1935) inhabits the Cerrado in the Brazilian states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Piauí (Vanzolini, 1980; Geurgas, Rodrigues and Moritz, 2008); C. septentrionalis (Vanzolini, 1980) occurs in the northern state of Roraima (Vanzolini, 1980; Ávila-Pires, 1995; Vitt et al., 2005); C. natalensis Freire, 1999 is considered to be endemic to the Rio Grande do Norte Atlantic Forest (Freire, 1999); and C. elizae Gonçalves, Torquato, Skuk and Sena, 2012 which is restricted to the Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil (Gonçalves et al., 2012). Despite the broad geographic range of Coleodactylus spp, their small size and cryptic habits have made these sphaerodactyl geckos among the most poorly studied lizard groups (Gamble et al., 2011).
Coleodactylus meridionalis (Fig. 1) was described by Boulenger (1888) as Sphaerodactylus meridionalis based on specimens originating from the municipality of Igarassu, state of Pernambuco. Several decades later S. meridionalis was allocated in the genus Coleodactylus by Parker (1926) whose decision was supported by Vanzolini (1957). This species has been found in both continuous areas as in relicts of the Atlantic Forest (Vanzolini, Ramos-Costa and Vitt, 1980; Sousa, 2010), and in coastal restingas (Freire, 1996). Coleodactylus meridionalis also occurs within brejos de altitude (Atlantic Forest enclaves) in the state of Ceará (Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003) and in mesic formations in the Caatinga (Vanzolini, Ramos-Costa and Vitt, 1980; Rodrigues, 1996). The currently known geographical distribution, based on records available in literature, comprises 44 sites, including besides the type locality of Pernambuco other localities in the states of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. Herein, we present two new localities for C. meridionalis in the Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia, north-eastern Brazil (Fig. 2) (Table 1).
From 24 October 2009 to 13 March 2010, we collected eight specimens of C. meridionalis in a forest enclave inside the Caatinga biome located in the municipality of Tenente Laurentino Cruz (Dizimeira: 06°10’80”S, 36°43’38W, 751m asl). Additionally, nine specimens were collected from 24 October 2009 to 16 April 2010 at another location (Serra Nova) within the same municipality (06°05’94”S, 36°42’94”W, 710m asl). Voucher specimens were deposited at the Herpetological Collection of the Department of Botany, Ecology and Zoology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (CHBEZ 2960-2, 3190-6, 3214, 3442-6, and 3562). Collecting permits were granted by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) (Permit 206/2006 and Process no. 02001.004294/03-15).
Herpetology Notes, volume 6: 23-27 (2013) (published online on 26 January 2013)
Two new records of Coleodactylus meridionalis (Boulenger, 1888) (Squamata, Sphaerodactylidae) in north-eastern Brazil, including a
map and comments regarding its geographical distribution
Leonardo B. Ribeiro1,2,*, Melissa Gogliath3, Renato G. Rodrigues2, Rebeca M. F. Barreto2, Eliza M. X. Freire3
1 Centro de Conservação e Manejo de Fauna da Caatinga (CEMAFAUNA-CAATINGA), CEP 56300-990, Petrolina, PE, Brazil.
2 Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF), Campus Ciências Agrárias, Colegiado de Ciências Bioló-gicas, Rodovia BR 407, km 12, Lote 543, s/nº - C1, CEP 56300-990. Petrolina, PE, Brazil.
3 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Universitário Lagoa Nova, CEP 59072-970. Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Three additional specimens of C. meridionalis were collected on 13 and 14 November 2011. All specimens were located during the activities of a course on biology of vertebrates in a forest area located within a farm (Serra Azul) in Miguel Calmon municipality, state of Bahia (11º22’46”S, 40º30’17”W; 626 m asl). This collection site, located in the Serra de Jacobina, comprises areas of semi deciduous forest and represents a transition zone between the Atlantic Forest and the semi-arid Caatinga domains. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Coleção Herpetológica do Museu de Fauna da Caatinga of the Centro de Conservação e Manejo de Fauna da Caatinga (CEMAFAUNA-CAATINGA/UNIVASF), in Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil (MFCH 299, 300). The collecting permit (# 29558-1) was granted by Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio).
The findings reported here represent the first record of this species in a mountain forest enclave belonging to the Caatinga Domain in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. This extends the known geographical distribution of C. meridionalis ca. 160 km west from the nearest record in the Rio Grande do Norte (municipality of Parnamirim; MUFAL 013-15, 020-021; Freire, 1999), and ca. 135 km northeast from the nearest record in the state of Paraíba (municipality of Teixeira; MZUSP 62780-83, 65605-10; Freire, 1999). Regarding the state of Bahia, the record of C. meridionalis from the Miguel Calmon municipality extends the known geographical distribution ca. 140 km eastwards from the nearest limit of distribution, located in the municipality of Irecê (MZUSP 36707-8; Freire, 1999), and ca. 150 km north-east from the municipality of Lençóis (central Chapada Diamantina) (Juncá, 2005), where specimens were collected in semi deciduous forests.
According to Freire (2001), the occurrence of C. meridionalis in different types of ecosystems shows that this species is tolerant to environments characterized by little shade, although individuals have only been found to occur in leaf litter under trees and shrubs, in contrast to truly open areas. These facts suggest that this species is native to the Atlantic Forest, but due to fragmentation of this biome in northeast Brazil and because of the ecological tolerance of C. meridionalis, the species has persisted in favourable, fragmented habitats within open formations. In accordance with the author aforementioned, Rodrigues (2003) affirms that C. meridionalis is a forest lizard, and therefore must not be considered to represent a typical inhabitant of the Caatinga biome. However, C. meridionalis persists in this biome, and has been collected in sites which are today lacking of forest, such as in Alagoado, municipality of Casa Nova, in the state of Bahia. The reasons for this are still unknown, and could be attributed to factors such as climate, habitat, physiological and behavioural mechanisms, and historical processes or otherwise, all subject to further investigation. Finally, the new records reported here represent an important contribution to the knowledge about the distribution and conservation of squamate reptiles of the Caatinga region, in areas characterized by insufficient information.
Acknowledgments. We thank the Programa PELD/CNPq – Caatinga: Estrutura e Funcionamento and the municipal government of Tenente Laurentino Cruz for logistical support, IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis) for the collection permit, and anonymous reviewers for their critical and constructive reviews of the manuscript.
Figure 1. Specimens of Coleodactylus meridionalis collected at Serra Nova, municipality of Tenente Laurentino Cruz, state of Rio Grande do Norte (female, 23.7 mm SVL: left), and Serra Azul Farm, municipality of Miguel Calmon, state of Bahia (male, 24.7 mm SVL: right), Brazil. Photos by Melissa Gogliath and Renato Garcia.
Two new records of Coleodactylus meridionalis 25
Figure 2. Published geographic distribution of Coleodactylus meridionalis in north-eastern Brazil: Bahia (BA), Sergipe (SE), Alagoas (AL), Pernambuco (PE), Paraíba (PB), Rio Grande do Norte (RN) and Ceará (CE). See Table 1 for explanation of the numbers.
Leonardo B. Ribeiro et al.26
Brazilian states Locality ReferenceBahia (BA) 1. Una Geurgas, Rodrigues and Moritz, 2008
5. Miguel Calmon (New Record) This work 6. Irecê Freire, 19997. Central Geurgas, Rodrigues and Moritz, 2008 8. Buritirama Vanzolini, 1968 9. Casa Nova (locality of Alagoado)
Rodrigues, 2003
Sergipe (SE) 10. Parque Nacional Serra de Itabaiana
Ceará (CE) 38. Crato (Chapada do Araripe: Floresta Nacional do Araripe)
Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003; Ribeiro et al., 2008
39. Barbalha (Arajara district) Freire, 1999 40. Aratuba Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003 41. Guaramiranga Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003 42. Pacoti (Maciço de Baturité) Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003 43. Pacatuba (Serra da Aratanha) Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003 44. Maranguape (Serra de Maranguape)
Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003
45. Ubajara Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003 46. Tianguá (Planalto da Ibiapaba) Borges-Nojosa and Caramaschi, 2003
Table 1. List of municipalities, districts and conservation units in north-eastern Brazil with occurrence of Coleodactylus meridionalis.
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