Varanus rainerguentheri, Ziegler, Bohme & Schmitz, 2007

Weijola, Valter & Sweet, Samuel S., 2015, A single species of mangrove monitor (Varanus) occupies Ambon, Seram, Buru and Saparua, Moluccas, Indonesia, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 95) 9 (1), pp. 14-23 : 19

Varanus rainerguentheri

Somma and Koch’s (2012) distribution record of V. rainerguentheri , and their claim of its co-existence with V. cerambonensis , on Buru is based on a preserved specimen (Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt [ SMF 56469]) and a photo taken in the field ( Somma and Koch 2012, Fig. 6). Both were identified as V. rainerguentheri from the occurrence of rows of dorsal ocelli. However, there are eleven vouchered Varanus from Buru at the Naturalis Museum ( ZMA 15416a–j, RMNH 7223), which are similar in color pattern to those presented as V. rainerguentheri by Somma and Koch, and which were examined and identified as V. cerambonensis by Philipp et al. (1999) (forming the record of V. cerambonensis for that island). All above-mentioned specimens conform in color pattern to those observed in the field during this study. As is indicated by Weijola (2010) there are typically no distinct bands of dorsal ocelli on adult V. rainerguentheri but these are instead characteristic of the V. cerambonensis populations on Ambon and especially Buru ( ZMA 15416, Weijola field observations). For these reasons we regard Somma and Koch’s records of V. rainerguentheri from Buru to be mis-identifications of V. cerambonensis .