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172
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© 2014 Deutsche Gesellscha für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT), Mannheim, Germany
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SALAMANDRA 50(3) 172–176 30 October 2014 ISSN 0036–3375
A molecular assessment and rst record of Tarentola mauritanica
(Squamata: Phyllodactylidae) on Corfu, Greece
Z M, M S, J Č, D J M Š,,
1) Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 11, 78371, Olomouc, Czech Republic
2) Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, 12844, Prague 2, Czech Republic
3) Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 5, 12844, Prague 2,
Czech Republic
4) Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina B-1, 84215, Bratislava, Slovakia
5) Museum of Nature Bohemian Paradise, Lošťákova 409, 50601 Jičín, Czech Republic
6) Polabské Museum, Palackého 68, 29055 Poděbrady, Czech Republic
Corresponding author: Z M, e-mail: zdenek.macat@gmail.com
Manuscript received: 28 December 2013
Accepted: 5 March 2014 by P W
e Moorish wall gecko, Tarentola mauritanica (L,
) is considered a common Mediterranean species com-
plex of the family Phyllodactylidae. It originated in mid to
late Miocene (around . Mya) (R et al. ). In the
Mediterranean region (southern Europe, the Mediterra-
nean islands and North Africa), T. mauritanica is classi-
ed into ve distinct mtDNA haplotype groups. e Euro-
pean mtDNA haplotype lineage is the most geographically
widespread (H et al. a, b, R et al. ). is
lineage originated probably in Morocco around . Mya
and it is characterized by a single common mtDNA haplo-
type, distributed across a large part of southern Europe
and many Mediterranean islands. Low mtDNA variability
is probably the result of the combination of recent coloni-
zation events and a selective sweep process (H et al.
a, b, R et al. , R et al. ).
e current distribution of T. mauritanica extends from
North Africa (from Western Sahara to Tunisia), through
coastal areas of Portugal, France, costal and central ar-
eas of Spain and Italy, and it is scattered along the west-
ern coast of the Balkan Peninsula (R ,
B G , M-R et al. , A
O , R et al. ). It has also been re-
corded on most of the Mediterranean islands such as Sic-
ily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and Crete (M-R et
al. , A O ). is species is largely
synanthropic (A O ). Its close coex-
istence with humans is responsible for anthropogenic in-
troductions to several overseas localities, such as the Mac-
aronesian Archipelagos, Balearic Islands, Argentina, Uru-
guay, and the USA (e.g., B B , A
O , K , B et al. ). In
Greece, the Moorish wall gecko is distributed in the west-
ern part of the Peloponnese Peninsula, Crete (including
Dia Island), and several Ionian Islands like Cephalonia,
Ithaca, Strofades and Zakynthos (C ,
V M , W , V et al.
).
e island of Corfu is the second largest (ca. km)
of the Ionian Islands. With a small satellite island it forms
the northwestern border of Greece, lying .– km west
o the coasts of Albania and Greece. Its Mediterranean cli-
matic conditions and close position to the mainland are
the main factors supporting the diversity of its herpetofau-
na with amphibian and reptile species (e.g., T et
al. , R et al. , Š et al. ). Sev-
eral species of Corfu reptiles are probably allochthonous,
e.g., Stell agama stellio (L, ) (T et al. ),
which occurs here outside the main area of its range, and
Podarcis muralis (L, ), which has recently
been recorded from close to the port of Corfu Town (H
M , Š Š ). Although
the island has been studied frequently by herpetologists
(cf. B , M , , W
, K , C , T et al.
, Š et al. , Š Š ,
V et al. ), none of them have ever mentioned
T. mauritanica to occur here.
173
Correspondence
During a herpetological excursion on Corfu Island in
August , we discovered a population of T. mauritani-
ca living in the central part of the island, i.e., at the foot-
ball stadium of Olympos Kerkyra (.° N,
.° E; UTM × km SDJ) at Corfu Town,
quarter Kanalia near the Chalikiopulos lagoon and Cor-
fu International Airport. During two back to back evening
visits (/ August ) to the locality, we observed and
photographed two adult individuals of T. mauritanica on
the boundary wall of the stadium, two adult individuals on
the substitution benches, and six adult individuals on the
small houses near the football stadium. We also recorded
three juvenile individuals, which might indicate a self-sus-
taining population of T. mauritanica at this locality. In July
, during another trip to Corfu, ve adult individuals
were recorded at the same spots as in (boundary wall,
substitution benches and immediate vicinity), and dozens
of individuals were recorded living in the tribune of the
football stadium. Other recorded reptilian species in the
locality were S. stellio, Algyroides nigropunctatus (L-
, ), Testudo hermanni G, , and Hemidacty-
lus turcicus (D B, ).
In order to ascertain the origin of the population, a few
individuals were caught and the tips of their tails collected
in ethanol for molecular analysis. All sampled specimens
were released back at their localities. Genomic DNA was
extracted from three samples using a commercial DNA ex-
traction kit (DNeasy® Blood and Tissue Kit [Qiagen]). For
PCR amplication of S rRNA and S rRNA fragments,
we opted for the specic primers S rRNA ´-ACTAG-
GATTAGATACCCTACTATGC-´ and ´-GAGGGT-
GACGGGCGGTGTGT-´; S rRNA ´-CGCCTGTT-
TACCAAAAACAC-´ and ´-CGGTCTGAACTCAGAT-
CACG-´. e temperature prole for cycles of PCR
amplication was min at °C (initial denaturation step),
s at °C, s at °C and °C (annealing temperature
for S rRNA or S rRNA primers, respectively), s at
°C, followed by a nal extension step of min at °C.
e amplied products were puried and sequenced (
Genetic Analyzer by Applied Biosystems®) in both direc-
tions. For phylogenetic analyses, we aligned specimens
or reference sequences from GenBank (cf. R et al.
) with our sequences obtained from the species sam-
ples collected on Corfu Island. We combined S rRNA
and S rRNA sequences into one sequence for each in-
dividual and used Tarentola boettgeri S,
(AF, KC) as outgroup (following C-
et al. ). Our new sequences were deposited in
GenBank under accession numbers KF, KF,
KF, KF, KF, and KF. A multi-
ple sequence alignment was carried out using MEGA ..
(T et al. ) with a MUSCLE algorithm (E
) with manual adjustments. e data were used to
construct an ML phylogenetic tree with MEGA .. (T-
et al. ). e subsequent tree search was conduct-
ed using the Tamura-Nei substitution model, using all sites
for missing data treatment, the heuristic method Subtree-
Pruning-Regraing (level ), and very weak branch swap
lter. e robustness of the obtained phylogeny was evalu-
ated by a bootstrap method with , replications.
Including the outgroup, we analysed a total of com-
bined mtDNA sequences, with an approximate length of
bp with variable sites. ML analysis supported the
tree with same topology as was reported by R et al.
() in which our three sequences (K, K, and
K) clustered with the European-Moroccan-Tunisian
clade (Fig. A).
Geckos are one of the top-ten most successful intro-
duced animal groups in the world. For example, the suc-
cessful establishment rate of this group is around in
North America (B et al. ). In general, the
overall distribution of T. mauritanica in the western Bal-
kans (scattered in the western coastal regions and absence
in the eastern parts of the peninsula and on many of the
Aegean Islands; cf. M-R et al. , V
et al. ) suggests that its occurrence will probably not
be natural there, but rather the result of recent anthropo-
genic introduction from western parts of the Mediterra-
nean or northern Africa (see H et al. a, R
et al. ). Similar conclusion were drawn in the case of
Chalcides ocellatus (F, ), which was probably
introduced alongside a certain commercial product (plants
or soil) that is exported in large volumes from Cyrenaica to
destinations in the eastern Mediterranean (K et
al. ). e widespread occurrence of T. mauritanica in
the Peloponnese and on Crete (see M-R et al.
) can be explained with the more intense commercial
relationships between Greece and other important Med-
iterranean regions (cf. K et al. ), mainly with
mainland Italy and Sicily, negating a historical natural dis-
persion of this species in the Balkans (e.g., from its north-
ern parts), as is also supported by the molecular results of
H et al. (a) and R et al. ().
Based on our observations, we assume that T. mauri-
tanica forms a newly introduced population on Corfu,
and it is the th reptilian species of the island (cf. T et
al. , H M ). e absence of variability
among Corfu samples and their similarity with other pub-
lished sequences documents that the Corfu population is
a member of the mtDNA lineage that occurs in most of
Europe. To us, there exist two most plausible hypotheses
on the geographic origin of the T. mauritanica popula-
tion on Corfu: (i) from the nearest population of this spe-
cies on the mainland (cf. R , H ,
M-R et al. , P L
) such as the Italian coast in the Apulian region (ap-
prox. km distant from the port of Brindisi), coastal ar-
eas of Dalmatia and Montenegro, or Greek mainland coast
(Peloponnese Peninsula, approx. km); or (ii) from the
Ionian Islands (C , V M-
, W , V et al. ). Considering
the very dense maritime trac between the Italian cities of
Bari or Brindisi and between the Greek Patra and Corfu,
we assume that this recent introduction took place from
174
Correspondence
Italy or Greece. is corresponds with our nding the spe-
cies in the vicinity of Corfu Town, the main port of the is-
land. However, due to it’s the locality’s proximity to Corfu
International Airport, we cannot exclude the possibility of
transportation by aircra cargo. Similar studies also sup-
port this assumption (B B , J et al.
, S S , J et al. , V-
et al. , B et al. , R et al.
, W et al. ).
We suggest that T. mauritanica was introduced to Corfu
probably aer . In , a few individuals of this spe-
cies were supposedly observed in the north of the island
in Agios Stefanos, which is about km from Corfu Town
(J. V pers. comm.). Our observations suggest that
the colonization of T. mauritanica on Corfu Island started
around , because studies conducted before this point
of time (see citations above) did not indicate the presence
of this species on the island in spite of intensive eld re-
search.
Introduced reptiles can have negative impacts on na-
tive species (predation, competition for food, basking sites
and other resources, spread of diseases and parasites, over-
Figure 1. (A) Phylogenetic position of three specimens of Tarentola mauritanica from Corfu (red arrow) in a mitochondrial phylogeny
of this species complex as inferred from Maximum Likelihood Analyses (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) of 57 specimens from GenBank.
(B) Adult individual found on the wall of the substitution benches. (C) Boundary wall of the stadium. (D) Football stadium of Olym-
pos Kerkyra 1934.
175
Correspondence
population etc.). ese processes are especially harming
on islands (see, e.g., P et al. , B et
al. ). erefore, future mapping of the occurrence of
T.mauritanica in the whole of Corfu is necessary in order
to obtain more information on its potential impacts on the
native fauna.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to all students who participated in the excur-
sion for their help in the eld, namely B B (from
Olomouc, Czech Republic), D B (České Budějovice),
and P H (Praha). Also we would like to thank
P P C (Olomouc), L K
(Praha), and anonymous reviewers for their comments to the
manuscript.
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