VARANIDAE

Krysko, Kenneth L., Somma, Louis A., Rochford, Michael R., Gillette, Christopher R, Enge, Kevin M. & Cueva, Daniel, 2012, Taxonomic corrections of certain verified non-indigenous reptiles from Florida reported by Krysko et al. (2011), Zootaxa 3199, pp. 66-68 : 67

VARANIDAE

UF 153409 (Fig. 65 in Krysko et al. 2011; MorphoBank M88656 ) was reported as the East African White-throated Monitor , Varanus albigularis microstictus Boettger 1893 . However, W. Böhme (personal communication) reidentified this photographic voucher as the Southern White-throated Monitor , Varanus albigularis albigularis ( Daudin 1802) , a varanid indigenous to a broad region of southern Africa as far north as extreme southern Congo Republic ( Bennett 1998; Phillips 2004). UF 152520 was correctly identified as the East African White-throated Monitor , V. a. microstictus (A. Koch personal communication), but it was inadvertently referred to as the “Black-throated Monitor ” in Table 1 of Krysko et al. (2011). This image was uploaded to Morphobank (M 101333), which represents the only known voucher of this taxon to date and increases the number to 138 of known introduced non-indigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida from 1863 through 2010.

UF 160345 (Fig. 66 in Krysko et al. 2011; MorphoBank M88657 ) was reported as the Pacific Mangrove Monitor , Varanus indicus ( Daudin 1802) . However, W. Böhme and A. Koch (personal communication) reidentified this photographic voucher as the Blue-tailed Monitor , Varanus doreanus ( Meyer 1874) , a morphologically similar species indigenous to large parts of New Guinea and neighboring islands, Aru Islands, and northernmost Queensland, Australia ( Böhme et al. 1994, 2004; Bennett 1998).

As for the two varanids ( Varanus albigularis albigularis and V. doreanus ) and one skink ( Trachylepis perrotetii ) above, we were limited in our abilities to correctly identify morphologically similar species that we were unfamiliar with based on only a photograph. This is another reason why physical specimens as vouchers are always preferred over photographs, but we also must stress that it is difficult at times to persuade collectors to deposit their animals in a research collection instead of keeping them as pets.