New state record and updated geographic distribution for the little known Psilophthalmus paeminosus (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae)

Abstract

In the present note we extend the geographic distribution of the lizard Psilophthalmus paeminosus by presenting its first record for the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil.

Full text

Correspondence –Notes

171
mesopelagic and bathypelagic species from Mediterranean Sea
(Strait of Messina, Italy). Scientina Marina 74: 605-612.
Bostanci, D. (2009): Otolith biometry-body length relationships in
four fish species (chub, pikeperch, crucian carp, and common
carp). Journal of Freshwater Ecology 24: 619-624.
Briggs, J.C. (1960): Fishes of world-wide (circumtropical)
distribution. Copeia 3: 171-180.
Buckel, J. A., Sharack, B.L., Zdanowicz, V.S. (2004): Effect of diet on
otolith composition in Pomatomus saltatrix, an estuarine
piscivore. Journal of Fish Biology 64: 1469-1484.
Cengiz, O., Ozekinci, U., Oztekin, A. (2012): The relationships
between total length-otolith length of bluefish, Pomatomus
saltatrix, (Linnaeus, 1766) from Gallipoli Peninsula and
Dardanelles (North-eastern Mediterranean, Turkey). Journal of
the Institute of Science and Technology 2: 31-34.
Ceyhan, T., Akyol, O. (2006): Age distribution and relationship
between fork length and otolith length of bluefish (Pomatomus
saltatrix L., 1766) in the Sea of Marmara. Ege University Journal
of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 23: 369-372.
Ceyhan, T., Akyol, O., Ayaz, A., Juanes, F. (2007): Age, growth, and
reproductive season of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) in the
Marmara region, Turkey. ICES Journal of Marine Science 64:
531-536.
Gordina, A.D., Klimova, T.N. (1996): On bluefish (Pomatomus
saltatrix L.) in the Black Sea. Marine and Freshwater Research 47:
315-318.
Hare, J.A., Cowen. R.K. (1994): Ontogeny and otolith
microstructure of bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Pisces:
Pomatomidae). Marine Biology 118: 541-550.
Hossucu, B., Kaya, M., Taşkavak, E. (1999): An investigation of
growth parameters and otolith-total length relationship of Solea
solea (L., 1758) (Pisces: Soleidae) in İzmir Bay. Israel Journal of
Zoology 45: 277-287.
Juanes, F., Hare, J.A., Miskiewicz, A.G. (1996): Comparing early life
history strategies of Pomatomus saltatrix: a global approach.
Marine and Freshwater Research 47: 365-379.
Olla, B.L., Studholme, A. L. (1972): Daily and seasonal rhythms of
activity in the bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix. pp. 303-326. In:
Winn, H.E., Olla, B.L. (eds), Behavior of Marine Animals:
Recent Advances: Plenum Publishing Press.
Ozdemir, S., Erdem, Y., Birinci Özdemir, Z., Erdem, E. (2009):
Comparison of catch efficiency and size composıtıon of bluefısh
(Pomatomus saltatrix, L.) fishing by bottom trawl in the Blacksea
in October And November months. Erciyes University, Institute
of Science 25: 400-408.
Robillard, E., Reiss, C.S., Jones, C.M. (2008): Reproductive biology
of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) along the East Coast of the
United States. Fisheries Research 90: 198-208.
Robillard, E., Reiss, C.S., Jones, C.M. (2009): Age-validation and
growth of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) along the East Coast of
the United States. Fisheries Research 95: 65-75.
Salerno, D.J., Burnett, J., Ibara, R.M. (2001): Age, growth, maturity
and spatial distribution of bluefish, (Pomatomus saltatrix L.), of
the Northeast Coast of the United States, 1985-1996. Northwest
Atlantic Fisheries Science 29: 31-39.
Sebastes, A., Martín, P., Raya, V. (2012): Changes in life-history
traits in relation to climate change: bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)
in northwestern Mediterranean. ICES Journal of Marine Science
69: 1000-1009.
Sen, D., Aydin, R., Çatla, M. (2001): Relationships between fish
length and otolith length in the population of Capoeta capoeta
umbla (Heckel, 1843) inhabiting Hazar Lake, Elazığ, Turkey.
Archives of Polish Fisheries 9: 267-272.
Shepherd, G.R., Moser, J., Deuel, D., Carlsen, P. (2006): The
migration patterns of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) along the
Atlantic coast determined from tag recoveries. Fishery Bulletin
104: 559-570.
Smith, W., Berrien, P., Potthoff, T. (1994): Spawning patterns of
bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, in the northeast continental shelf
ecosystem. Bulletin of Marine Science 54: 8-16.
Tortonese, E. (1986): Pomatomidae. pp. 812–813. In: Whitehead,
P.J.P., Bauchot, M.L., Hureau, J.C., Nielsen, J., Tortonese, E.
(eds), Fishes of the Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean:
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization Press.
Treacy, S.D., Crawford, T.W. (1981): Retrieval of otoliths and
statoliths from gastrointestinal contents and scats of marine
mammals. Journal of Wildlife Management 45: 990-993.
Turan, C., Oral, M., Öztürk, B., Duzgunes, E. (2006): Morphometric
and meristic variation between stocks of Bluefish (Pomatomus
saltatrix) in the Black, Marmara, Aegean and northeastern
Mediterranean Seas. Fisheries Research 79: 139-147.
Villegas-Hernández, H., Lloret, J., Munoz, M. (2015): Reproduction,
condition and abundance of the Mediterrenean bluefish
(Pomatomus saltatrix) in the context of sea warming. Fisheries
Oceanography 24: 42-56.
Yazicioğlu O., Yilmaz S., Erbaşaran M., Uğurlu S., Polat N. (2017):
Bony structure dimensions-fish length relationships of pike
(Esox lucius L., 1758) in Lake Ladik (Samsun, Turkey). North-
Western Journal of Zoology 13: e162401.
Yilmaz, S., Yazicioglu, O., Saygin (Ayaydin), S., Polat, N. (2014):
Relationships of otolith dimensions with body length of
european perch, Perca fluviatilis L., 1758 from Lake Ladik,
Turkey. Pakistan Journal of Zoology 46: 1231-1238.
Zengin, M., Saygin, S., Polat, N. (2015): Otolith shape analyses and
dimensions of the anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus L. in the Black
and Marmara Seas. Sains Malaysiana 44: 657-662.
Zorica, B., Snovčić, G., Čikeś Keč, V. (2010): Preliminary data on the
study of otolith morphology of five pelagic fish species from the
Adriatic Sea (Croatia). Acta Adriatica 5: 89-96.
Key words: commercial fish, sagitta, otolith length,
otolith width, otolith weight
Article No.: e162402
Received: 30. March 2016 / Accepted: 27. June 2016
Available online: 27. July 2016 / Printed: June 2017
Melek ZENGIN*, Semra SAYGIN
and Nazmi POLAT
Ondokuz Mayis University, Faculty of Art and Sciences, Biology
Department, Atakum, Samsun, Turkey
*Corresponding author, M. Zengin, Tel: +90 (0)362 312 19 19/5504,
Fax: +90 362 457 60 81, E-mail: melek.zengin@omu.edu.tr
New state record and updated
geographic distribution for the little
known Psilophthalmus paeminosus
(Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae)
Psilophthalmus is a monotypic gymnophthalmid
genus represented by P. paeminosus Rodrigues,
1991. It is a small psammophilous lizard (SVL:
34.1mm to 38.1mm), usually found buried in
sandy soils or under leaf litter, fallen trunks, cacti,
bromeliads and other hideouts (Rodrigues 1991,
Delfim et al. 2006). Up to now it is reported only
from four municipalities inserted in the Caatinga

North-Western Journal of Zoology 13(1) / 2017

172
biome (IBGE, 2004): Santo Inácio (type locality)
and Vacaria, in the dune fields of the middle São
Francisco river, Bahia state (Rodrigues 1991);
Paulo Afonso, Bahia state (Garda et al. 2013) and
Canindé do São Francisco, Sergipe state (Delfim et
al. 2006), both in the lower São Francisco valley.
Psilophthalmus paeminosus is classified as near
threatened in the Brazilian list of threatened spe-
cies (MMA 2014) and as Vulnerable according to
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, because
of its habitat-specialism and presumably narrow
endemism (Nogueira 2013). In the present paper
we extend the geographic distribution of P. paemi-
nosus (Fig. 1) through its first record for the state
of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil (Fig. 2).
Figure 1. A female (SVL 37.5 mm) Psilophthalmus paemino-
sus (UFMG-2221) found at Parque Estadual de Grão
Mogol (-16.591117°, -42.961696°), State of Minas Gerais,
Brazil.
We collected four adult specimens of P. paeminosus during
a herpetofaunal survey between 16 and 22 of January
2014, in the protected reserve Parque Estadual de Grão
Mogol (PEGM) and its surroundings, municipality of
Grão Mogol, northern state of Minas Gerais. All individu-
als were outside the limits of the PEGM, but in its buffer
area. The studied area lies between elevations ranging
from 650 m a.s.l. in the lowlands of the Itacambiraçu
river, to 1299 m a.s.l. in mountaintops of the Espinhaço
range. Climate is markedly seasonal, with a rainy season
from October to April. The vegetation of Grão Mogol is a
mosaic of arboreal savannah (Fig. 3), semi-deciduous for-
est, “carrascos” (closed, tall-shrubby, xerophilous vegeta-
tion on quartz sand soils), and predominantly “campos
rupestres” (rupestrian grasslands, Pirani et al. 2003). For
more information on evolution and ecology of “campos
rupestres” see Silveira et al. 2015. We installed 13 lines of
pitfall traps with drift fences; each grid comprised 10 30 L
buckets, and eight meters of plastic fence between each
bucket (total length = 80 m each). We kept open all buck-
ets during eleven days (total sampling = 264 hours). We
captured three specimens by traps (UFMG 2188, 2221,
2226) and one by active search hidden under the leaf litter
(UFMG 2189). All specimens inhabited areas with sandy
soil, sparse vegetation, available leaf litter and close to
campo rupestre, see figure 3 for detailed information. We
collected all specimens near the Itacambiraçu River, the
main watercourse of the region and a tributary of Jequit-
inhonha River basin (Fig. 2). We deposited the voucher
specimens at Coleção Herpetológica da Universidade
Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte mu-
nicipality, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Instituto Chico
Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio, li-
cense number #42369-1) and Instituto Estadual de Flo-
restas (IEF, license number 004/2014) provided collecting
permits. We described the morphological variation of col-
lected specimens in Table 1.
We found all individuals at 730 m a.s.l. occurring
on its previously known type of habitat (i.e., sandy
soils, Rodrigues 1991, Delfim et al. 2006). Up to
now, all specimens of P. paeminosus have been re-
corded close to the right bank of the São Francisco
River at a maximum distance of 70 km from the
Figure 2. Distribution map of Psilophthal-
mus paeminosus, depictin
g
biomes and
main river watersheds. Black circles de-
note literature records: 1. Vacaria [Rodri-
g
ues (1996)]; 2. Paulo Afonso [Garda et al.
(2013)] in Bahia state (BA); 3. Canindé do
São Francisco [Delfim et al. (2006); in Ser-
gipe state (SE); 4. Palmeiras [Freitas &
Silva (2007)]; 5. Mucu
g
ê [Freitas et al.
(2012)], in Bahia state); 6. Parque Nacional
Grande Sertão Veredas [Recoder & No-
gueira, (2007)]. Black star represents the
t
y
pe localit
y
in Santo Inácio [Rodri
g
ues
(1996)]; and the red circle denote the re-
cords from this stud
y
in Minas Gerais
state (MG).

Correspondence –Notes

173
Figure 3. Environments where specimens of Psilophthalmus paeminosus were found at Parque Estadual de
Grão Mogol, State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Clockwise from upper left: A - closed, tall-
shrubby, xerophilous vegetation on quartz sand soil; B - arboreal savannah, typical of the Brazilian Cer-
rado; C - open vegetation on sandy soil, with emphasis on the cactus Pilosocereus fulvilanatus; D - leaf-
litter in arboreal savannah, with emphasis on the “palm cactus” Tacinga inamoena.
Table 1. Pholidosis and measurements (mm) of Psilophthalmus paeminosus, collected in county of Grão Mogol, state of
Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, in accordance with its description by Rodrigues (1991). VS = number of ventral
scales; DS = number of dorsal scales; SAM = Scales around midbody; SC = number of supraciliary scales; SO = num-
ber of supraocular scales; SL = number of supralabial scales; IL = number of infralabial scales; P = number of pores
on each thigh; LI = number of infradigital lamellae; SVL = snout vent length. Coordinates given for Rodrigues (1991)
are approximated, based on P. paeminosus type locality.
UFMG VS DS SAM SC SO
SL IL P LI SVL Sex
Coordinates
UFMG 2221 25 37 20 3 2 7 5 0 17 37.5 F -16.591117° -42.961696°
UFMG 2226 27 38 19 3 2 7 7 0 17 34.1 F -16.603000° -42.925933°
UFMG 2189 25 37 17 3 2 7 7 5 16 38.1 M -16.591117° -42.961696°
UFMG 2188 27 39 20 3 2 7 7 0 17 35.1 F -16.604000° -42.937950°
Rodrigues (1991) 24, 25 36, 37 20, 21 3 2 7 7 4, 6
15, 17
35.1 -11.110696° -42.718339°
river. Our new record lies 600 km southward from
the species’ closest record in Santo Inácio, Bahia,
and at the right side of the São Francisco River, in
the Jequitinhonha River basin (Fig. 2).
Rodrigues (1984a, b, 1991a,b,c) described sev-
eral lizard species and genera for the Paleoquater-
nary dune fields of the middle São Francisco
River, many of them considered endemic to the
Caatinga biome, including P. paeminosus. The fau-
nal composition of these dune fields is markedly
diverse with endemic fossorial and psammophi-
lous species distinct from adjacent areas (Rodri-
gues 1996). However, in the past few years species
described from these dune fields and considered
restricted to the region have been recorded else-
where. For instance, Procellosaurinus erythrocercus
(Rodrigues 1991), another gymnophthalmid re-
garded as a middle São Francisco River dune en-
demic, was found further north in the state of Pi-
auí (Delfim et al. 2011). Similar to P. erythrocercus,
the gymnophtalmid genus Calyptommatus (Rodri-
gues 1991a) was endemic to the São Francisco
dune fields until Rodrigues et al. (2001) described
Calyptommatus confusionibus, from the Parque Na-

North-Western Journal of Zoology 13(1) / 2017

174
cional Serra das Confusões, in the state of Piauí.
Not a lizard, but also a psammophilous species,
the fossorial snake, Typhlops amoipira was consid-
ered endemic to the São francisco dune field until
it was found southwards at the State of Minas
Gerais (Fernandes et al. 2010), and later eastwards
in the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Alagoas
(Brito & Freire 2012).
Although the region of Grão Mogol is located
inside the limits of the Cerrado biome (according
to IBGE 2004), it actually lies in a transition zone
between the Caatinga, Cerrado and Atlantic Forest
biomes, evidenced by the complex and high di-
verse vegetation mosaic that characterizes the re-
gion (Pirani et al. 2003). Indeed, some patches of
vegetation in Grão Mogol resemble that of the
Caatinga, by the presence of several cacti and de-
ciduous shrub species (Pirani et al. 2003; Fig. 3). It
is important to note that there seem to be two can-
didate new species for the genus Psilophthalmus.
The first recorded inside the Cerrado biome limits,
at the left side of the São Francisco River in the
Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas (Fig. 2),
northwestern Minas Gerais (Recoder & Nogueira
2007). The other, inside the Caatinga biome limits,
recorded for the Chapada Diamantina (northern
segment of the Serra do Espinhaço mountain
range) at municipality of Mucugê and Palmeiras,
Bahia state (Freitas & Silva 2007 and Freitas et al.
2012). Freitas & Silva 2007 comment about speci-
mens found on the Planalto de Conquista, Bahia
state and northeastern region of Minas Gerais,
however, without detailing specific municipalities
or locations. The area where these specimens were
found also consists of sandy soils, the same habitat
of P. paeminosus in Grão Mogol. However, taxo-
nomic studies are not available to ascertain if the
specimens registered by Recoder & Nogueira
(2007) and Freitas & Silva (2007) are P. paeminosus
or a different species.
Our record adds important information for fu-
ture reassessment of the conservation status of P.
paeminosus. As the species occurs in the buffer area
of the protected reserve Parque Estadual de Grão
Mogol, some populations may also occur inside
the limits of the protected area, a positive factor
for the permanence of P. paeminosus in the region.
Furthermore, the distribution pattern of the genus
Psilophthalmus inside the Caatinga, and its transi-
tional area, together with recent species distribu-
tion extensions (e.g., Psyhosaura agmostica, Magal-
hães et al. 2014; and Tupinambis teguixin, Passos et
al. 2013) shows how little we know about the
Caatinga faunal diversity. Therefore, new surveys
are important to complement knowledge of this
important biome, endemic to Brazil.
Acknowledgments. We are gratefull to Fernando Leal,
Samantha Lee Oliveira, Carlos Abrahão, Julia Soares
Parreiras, Mario R. Moura, Pedro Rocha and Claudiane
Werneck for their help in fieldwork at Grão Mogol;
Henrique Caldeira Costa for his valuable suggestions on a
first draft of this manuscript; Centro Nacional de
Pesquisa e Conservação de Répteis e Anfíbios (RAN) and
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da
Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for financial support concerning
the PAN Herpetofauna do Espinhaço. SCG is grateful to
CAPES for scholarship; ETS is grateful to CNPq for
scholarship.
References
Brito, P.S., Freire, E.M.X. (2012): New records and geographic
distribution map of Typhlops amoipira Rodrigues and Juncá, 2002
(Typhlopidae) in the Brazilian Rainforest. Check List 8(6): 1347–
1349.
Delfim, F.R., Gonçalves, E.M., Silva, S.T. (2006): Squamata,
Gymnophthalmidae, Psilophthalmus paeminosus: distribution
extension, new state record. Checklist 2(3): 89-92.
Delfim, F.R., Mesquita, D.O., Ferreira, H.F., Cavalcanti, L.B.Q.
(2011): Procellosaurinus erythrocercus Rodrigues, 1991 (Squamata:
Gymnophthalmidae): Distribution extension. Check List 7(6):
856-858.
Fernandes, V.D., Moura, M.R., Dayrell, J.S., Santana, D.J., Lima,
L.H.R. (2010): Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes, Typhlopidae,
Typhlops amoipira Rodrigues and Juncá, 2002: Range extension
and new state record. Check List 6(2): 268-269.
Freitas, M.A., Silva, T.F.S. (2007). A Herpetofauna das Caatingas e
Áreas de Altitudes do Nordeste Brasileiro. Pelotas: USEB.
388pp.
Freitas, M.A., Veríssimo, D., Uhlig, V. (2012): Squamate Reptiles of
the central Chapada Diamantina, with a focus on the
municipality of Mucugê, state of Bahia, Brazil. Check List 8(1):
016-022.
Garda, A.A., Costa, T.B., Silva, C.R.S., Mesquita, D.O., Faria, R.G.,
Conceição, B.M., Silva, I.R.S., Ferreira, A.S., Rocha, S.M.,
Palmeira, C.N.S., Rodrigues, R., Ferrari, S.F., Torquato, S. (2013):
Herpetofauna of protected areas in the Caatinga I: Raso da
Catarina Ecological Station (Bahia, Brazil). Check List 9(2): 405–
414.
IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2004): Mapa
de Biomas do Brasil – primeira aproximação.
<http://mapas.ibge.gov.br/tematicos>. downloaded at 11 June
2014.
Magalhães, Jr, A.J.C., Pereira, L.C.M., Nicola, P.A., Ribeiro, L.B.,
Junior, S.M.A. (2014): Distribuição geográfica de Psychosaura
agmosticha (Rodrigues, 2000) (Squamata, Mabuyidae). Biotemas,
27: 217-222.
MMA - Ministério do Meio Ambiente. (2014): Portaria Nº 444, de 17
de Dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da União - seção 1, Nº 245:
121-126.
Passos, D.C., Lima-Araujo, F, Melo, A.C.B., Borges-Nojosa, D.M.
(2013): New state record and distribution extension of the
golden tegu Tupinambis teguixin (Linnaeus, 1758)
(Squamata:Teiidae) to the Caatinga biome, northeastern Brazil.
Check List 9: 1524-1526.
Pirani, J.R., Mello-Silva, R., Giulietti, A.M., (2003): Flora de Grão-
Mogol, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Boletim de Botânica da
Universidade de São Paulo 21(1): 1-24.

Correspondence –Notes

175
Recoder, R., Nogueira, C. (2007): Composição e diversidade de
répteis na região sul do Parque Nacional Grande Sertão
Veredas, Brasil Central. Biota Neotropica 7(3): 267-278.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1984a): Uma nova espécie brasileira de Tropidurus
com crista dorsal (Sauria, Iguanidae). Papéis Avulsos de
Zoologia 35(16): 169-175.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1984b): Notobachia ablephara: novo gênero e espécie
do nordeste do Brasil (Sauria, Teiidae). Papéis Avulsos de
Zoologia 35(28): 361-366.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1991a): Herpetofauna das dunas interiores do Rio
São Francisco: Bahia: Brasil: I. Introdução à área e descrição de
um novo gênero de microteiídeos (Calyptommatus) com notas
sobre sua ecologia, distribuição e especiação (Sauria, Teiidae).
Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 37(19): 285-320.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1991b): Herpetofauna das dunas interiores do Rio
São Francisco: Bahia: Brasil: II. Psilophthalmus: um novo gênero
de microteiídeos sem pálpebras (Sauria, Teiidae). Papéis
Avulsos de Zoologia 37(20): 321-327.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1991c): Herpetofauna das dunas interiores do Rio
São Francisco: Bahia: Brasil: III. Procellosaurinus: um novo gênero
de microteiídeos sem pálpebras, com a redefinição do gênero
Gymnophthalmus (Sauria, Teiidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia
37(21): 329-342.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1996): Lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians from
the Quaternary sand dunes of the middle rio São Francisco:
Bahia: Brazil. Journal of Herpetology 30(4): 513-523.
Rodrigues, M.T., Zaher, H., Curcio, F. (2001): A new species of
lizard, gênus Calyptommatus, from the caatingas of the state of
piaui, northeastern Brazil (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae).
Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia 41(28): 529-546.
Silveira, F.A.O., Negreiros, D., Barbosa, N.P.U., Buisson, E., Carmo,
F.F., Carstensen, D. W., Conceição, A.A., Cornelissen, T.G.,
Echternacht, L., Fernandes, G.W., Garcia, Q.S., Guerra, T.J.,
Jacobi, C.M.,Lemos-Filho, J.P., Le Stradic, S., Morellato, L.P.C.,
Neves, F.S., Oliveira, R.S., Schaefer, C.E., Viana, P.L., Lambers,
H. (2015): Ecology and evolution of plant diversity in the
endangered campo rupestre: a neglected conservation priority.
Plant Soil 403: 129-152.
Key words: Psammophilous, Caatinga, Cerrado, Espin-
haço Range, biogeography.
Article No.: e162504
Received: 09. November 2015 / Accepted: 08. March 2016
Available online: 30. March 2016 / Printed: June 2017
Hans THOMASSEN1,*,
Samuel Campos GOMIDES1,
Emanuel Teixeira da SILVA1,
Hugo B. A. PINTO2, Felipe S. F. LEITE3
and Paulo C. A. GARCIA1
1. Laboratório de Herpetologia, Universidade Federal de Minas
Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG,
Brazil.
2. Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade,
Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Répteis e An-
fíbios-RAN, 74605090, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
3. Universidade Federal de Viçosa, campus Florestal, Florestal, Ro-
dovia LMG 818, km 06, 35690-000, MG, Brazil.
* Corresponding author, H. Thomassen, Email:
hans.thomassen1989@gmail.com
First record of the eastern spadefoot
toad (Pelobates syriacus Boettger, 1889)
in Albania
Albania has a rich herpetofauna with 58 species,
16 known amphibians and 42 known reptiles
(Bruno 1989, Haxhiu 1994, 1998, Jablonski 2011).
Despite the diversity of the country, intensive re-
search and mapping of the distribution of its spe-
cies are lacking (Sillero et al. 2014). To fill this gap,
we started to assemble the published and unpub-
lished records of the herpetofauna of Albania in a
geodatabase, which allows us to understand the
geographic pattern of species distributions and
diversity (Mizsei et al. 2017).
Populations of P. syriacus are known from the
central and south-eastern Balkan Peninsula, Tran-
scaucasia, northern Iran, Turkey and the Middle
East (Džukić et al. 2008, Budak & Göçmen 2008).
Although P. syriacus is included in a national
register on the fauna of Albania (Dhora 2010), we
were unable to find any location data by review-
ing the literature. One reason for this is that the
register also includes species which live around
transboundary lakes or rivers shared with
neighbouring countries. Bruno (1989) mentioned
sightings of the species close to the Albanian bor-
der in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-
donia on the shores of transboundary lakes Ohrid
and Prespa, but not in Albania. However, he pos-
tulated that P. syriacus is present in Albania, and
we decided to search for the species based on his
suggestion.
On 05 May 2015, we confirmed the presence of
P. syriacus within the borders of Albania near the
village of Kallamas on the shore of Lake Prespa
(N40.89°, E20.93°, 841 m above sea level) (Fig. 1.).
We found the animal during visual surveys with
torches at night at c. 22:00 pm, as it was moving in
shallow water (~2 cm) in a grazed meadow with
short grassy vegetation (~10 cm) flooded by the
lake. In a subsequent visit on 20 July 2015, we
found two additional individuals close to our first
observation. We heard the breeding calls of three
other amphibian species in May in the same habi-
tat, the green toad (Bufotes viridis), the green tree-
frog (Hyla arborea) and the marsh frog (Pelophylax
ridibundus). However, we did not hear the calling
of P. syriacus. Nevertheless, we assume that the
lake itself serves as a breeding site due to the scar-
city of other wetlands suitable for reproduction in
the vicinity of the new locality.