Scincidae

Aloufi, Abdulhadi, Zayer, Mohammed Al & Amr, Zuhair S., 2023, Reptiles and Amphibians along the Coastal Area of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Ecologica Montenegrina 68, pp. 66-87 : 76-78

Family Scincidae

Trachylepis brevicollis (Wiegmann, 1837) Fig. 7A & B

Material examined: EZC018-19, Abo Ma’an (Al Dhahi farms), 3.6.2023 .

Remarks: This is an African species that penetrated to the north along the coastal area of the Red Sea reaching around Umluj ( Aloufi & Amr, 2015). It was reported from southwestern Saudi Arabia ( Arnold, 1986; Schätti & Gasperetti , 1994), Kharj and near AI Ha'ir ( Tilbury, 1988), around Riyadh, several localities in Al Hassa ( Al-Sadoon, 1988, 2010). The short-necked skink is a viviparous species, inhabiting humid areas with relatively dense vegetation and sand areas with bush cover. This species is characterized by the presence of two keels on the dorsal scales, five upper labial scales anterior to the eye, whereas the first supraocular scale is in contact with the frontal scale ( Carranza et al., 2021).

Six eggs were found in a female. This species prefers humid soil and vegetation cover as observed in farms.

Trachylepis tessellata (Anderson, 1895) Fig. 7C & D

Material examined: EZC007-009, and 016, Al Qudaih Farm, 1.6.2023. EZC059-60, and 62, Al Suhaemeah farms, 5.9.2023.

Remarks: The Tessellated mabuya was reported from Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates ( Carranza et al., 2021). This is the first record of this species to the herpetofauna of Saudi Arabia. It is considered as endemic species to southern Arabia. It is associated with farmlands with water resources and cultivated areas across its range ( Carranza et al., 2021). It differs from T. brevicollis by having 4 upper labials anterior to the eye, whereas the first supraocular scale is not in contact with the frontal scale and the dorsal scales have three keels ( Carranza et al., 2021). One examined female was found to have four eggs.

Heremites septemtaeniatus (Reuss, 1834) Fig. 7E & F

Material examined: EZC020, Abo Ma’an (Al Dhahi farms), 3.6.2023 . EZC 058, Al Suhaemeah farms, 5.9.2023. KFUPM collection, Jana Island , 15.8.2016 .

Remarks: The southern grass mabuya has a distribution range extending from the eastern Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and southern Turkey ( Sindaco & Jeremčenko, 2008). It was collected from irrigated and shaded areas with date palm trees in Al-Aba oasis near Al Jubail ( Martens, 1996). Records from the eastern region includes Al Hassa and Hofuf ( Arnold, 1986; Al-Sadoon, 2010). This species is characterized by having four upper labial scales anterior to the eye, three keels on the dorsal scales and with the first supraocular scale in contact with the frontal scale ( Carranza et al., 2021).

This species was found in sympatry with T. brevicollis . It was found in farmland with humid soil and abundance of vegetation. In two females, five eggs were found in each animal.

Scincus mitranus Anderson, 1871 Fig. 8A

Material examined: EZC023, Tufaieh, 6.6.2023. EZC063, Al Ahsa National Park, 4.9.2023. Jabal Al Araba’a Area. EZC64, 5.9.2023.

Remarks: The Arabian sand skink is a sand dweller with distribution extending from the arid southern parts of Saudi Arabia to the east along eastern Arabia including Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, reaching as far as Kuwait ( Arnold & Leviton, 1977; Carranza et al., 2021). It was collected from Al Jubail along sand sheets ( Martens, 1996), and from several localities in Al Hassa ( Al-Sadoon, 2010). Three species of sand skinks are known to occur in the Arabian Peninsula; Scincus mitranus Anderson, 1871 , in eastern and southern Arabian Peninsula reaching northwards to southern Iraq and southeastern Iran, Scincus conirostris (Blanford, 1881) in Iran and northern Arabia, and Scincus hemprichii Wiegmann, 1837 from southwestern Saudi Arabia ( Šmíd et al., 2021).

Figures

Figure 7. A. Trachylepis brevicollis with two keeled scales. B. Lateral view of Trachylepis brevicollis showing the upper labial and the first supraocular scale in contact with the frontal scale. C. Trachylepis tessellata with three keeled scales. D. Lateral view of Trachylepis tessellata showing the upper labial and the first supraocular scale not in contact with the frontal scale. E. Heremites septemtaeniatus with three keeled scales. F. Lateral view of Heremites septemtaeniatus showing the upper labial and the first supraocular scale in contact with the frontal scale.

Figure 8. A. Scincus mitranus. B. Varanus griseus. C. Diplometopon zarudnyi.