Mabuya meridensis, Miralles, Rivas & Schargel, 2005

Miralles, Aurélien, Fuenmayor, Gilson Rivas & Barrio-Amorós, César L., 2005, Taxonomy of the genus Mabuya (Reptilia, Squamata, Scincidae) in Venezuela, Zoosystema 27 (4), pp. 825-837 : 831-834

Mabuya meridensis MiraQQe&, Riva& & SchargeQ, 2005

( Fig. 3A, B )

Mabuya meridensis MiraQQe&, Riva& & SchargeQ, 2005: 3. TYPE MATERIAL. — HoQotype: Mérida, Mérida &tate, VenezueQa ( ULABG 1570 ). Paratype &: region of Mérida ( AMNH 13405 to 13408 , 13526 ; ULABG 4153 , 4281 ; UMMZ 57435 ) .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Venezuela. Mérida &tate, hoQotype ( ULABG 1570 ) ; vicinity of Mérida, 8 paratype & ( AMNH 13405 to 13408 , 13526 ; ULABG 4153 , 4281 ; UMMZ 57435 ) ; 3 &pec& ( MHNLS 923 , 1393 , 17081 ) .

D I S T R I B U T I O N (F i g. 5). — M a b u y a m e r i d e n - s i s & e e m & t o b e e n d e m i c t o t h e v i c i n i t y o f Mérida, bet?een 1300 m and 2200 m above &ea QeveQ.

DIAGNOSIS. — Mabuya ?ith paired prefrontaQ& and frontoparietaQ&, parietaQ pQate& in contact?ith each other behind the interparietaQ pQate, a &ingQe pair of nuchaQ&. Four &upraciQiarie&, the &econd Qonge&t. PaQm& and &oQe& dark coQoured. Seven dark band aQong body: one very thin vertebraQ &tripe; t?o dor&oQateraQ &tripe& iQQ-defined, formed by a &ucce&&ion of aQigned dot&; t?o upper QateraQ and t?o Qo?er QateraQ &tripe&.

Mabuya nigropunctata (Spix, 1825) ( Fig. 2C, D )

Scincus nigropunctatus Spix, 1825: 24 .

Euprepis surinamensis HaQQo?eQQ, 1856: 154.

Mabuia surinamensis – Cope 1862: 186.

Mabuia agilis var. nigropunctata BouQenger, 1887: 192 (part).

Mabuia aurata – BouQenger 1887: 189 (part). — GoeQdi 1902: 535 (part).

Mabuia agilis – GoeQdi 1902: 534 (part).

Mabuya agilis – Burt & Burt 1933: 86 (part). — Burt & Myer& 1942: 49 (part).

Mabuya mabouya mabouya – Dunn 1936: 540 (part). — AmaraQ 1937a: 203 (part). — Peter& & Dono&o-Barro& 1970: 199 (part). — Hoogmoed 1973: 209 (part).

Mabuya agilis agilis – AmaraQ 1937b: 1743 (part).

Mabuya mabouya – Hoogmoed 1979: 278. — Rivero- BQanco & Dixon 1979: 296.

Mabuya bistriata – Rebouça&-Spieker 1981a: 123; 1981b: 162. — VanzoQini 1981: 196. — GorzuQa & Señari& 1999: 147. — Rodrigue& 2000: 315. — Murphy 1997: 150. — Carranza & ArnoQd 2003: 279 (part).

Mabuya nigropunctata – ÁviQa-Pire& 1995: 584. — Ma&&ary et al. 2001: 19.

TYPE MATERIAL. — HoQotype Qo &t, from the originaQ type QocaQity of “Ecgá”, correct originaQ &peQQing being “Ega”, at pre&ent Tefé , &tate of Amazona &, BraziQ (ÁviQa-Pire& 1995). Neotype: Santa Rita , Município de Maraã , Qeft margin of Rio Japurá (Lago Paricá), &tate of Amazona &, BraziQ ( MPEG 15248 ) (de&ignated by ÁviQa-Pire& 1995).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Brazil. Acre &tate, 5 km N Porto WaQter, W of Rio Juruá, 4 &pec& ( OMNH 37048 to 37051). — Amazona& &tate, Município de Ca&tanho, 40 km S Manau& at km 12 on road to Autaze&, 18 &pec& ( OMNH 37681 to 37698). — Maranhão &tate, Nova Vida, 25 km E of Rio Gurupi, BR 316, 5 &pec& ( MPEG 10690, 10691, 10693, 10695, 10698). — Para &tate, CEMEX, Agropecuaria Trevi&o LTDA, 101 km S and 18 km E Santarém, 15 &pec& ( OMNH 36828 to 36842). — Rondonia &tate, Rio Formo&o, Parque E&taduaQ Guajará-Mirim, 90 km N Nova Mamoré, 7 &pec& ( OMNH 37411 to 37417). — Roraima &tate, 7 km E Rio Ajaraní, BR 210, 10 &pec& ( OMNH 36313 to 36322).

Colombia. Amazona& & tate, Leticia, 2 &pec& ( CM 55601, 55602).

Ecuador. Napo province, San Franci&co, Rio Napo 200 m, 1 &pec. ( UMMZ 84742). — Sucumbio& province, Re&erva Fauni &tica Cuyabeno (RPF- Cuyabeno), 1 &pec. ( OMNH 36514).

French Guiana. St Eugene, 11 &pec& ( MNHN 1996- 4570 to 1996-4572, 1997-2206 to 1997-2213).

Guyana. Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, Kartabu, on the Mazaruni-Potaro, 5 &pec& ( AMNH 15120 to 15122, 18183, 21326).

Peru. Loreto department, Rio Yuvineto, right bank of Rio Putumayo, 2 &pec& ( MNHN 1978-2412, 1978- 2413).

Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad i&Qand, 1 &pec. ( AMNH 64528); Trinidad i&Qand, San RafaeQ, 8 &pec& ( FMNH 49901 to 49908); Trinidad i&Qand, 1 &pec. ( UMMZ 79919).

Venezuela. Amazona & &tate, Parima B, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 16389 ). — Aragua &tate, Quebrada, right bank of the Río San MigueQ, nationaQ park Henri Pittier , 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 17080 ). — BoQívar &tate, foot of the Roraima Mountain , La Gran Sabana , 5°10’N, 60°47’W, 2 &pec& ( MHNLS 11544 , 11545 ) ; Serranía deQ Supamo, Cerro Santa Ro &a, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 15532 ). — DeQta Amacuro &tate, Managa &, 2 &pec& ( LACM 31469 , 31470 ) ; Burojoida, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 4543 ). — Nueva E&parta &tate, Margarita I & Qand, Cerro Copey, 2 &pec& ( MHNLS 3401 , 3402 ). — Miranda &tate, SW Araira, Hacienda La Ceiba , 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 16652 ) ; Guatire, 3 &pec& ( MHNLS 16655 , 16651 , 16658 ). — Sucre &tate, Penín&uQa de Paria , La & MeQena &, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 15533 ) ; Penín &uQa de Paria, Macuro, 1 &pec. ( MHNLS 16203 ) .

Suriname. Maro?ijne, 10 km N Wanekreek, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 28080). — Air&trip PaQoemeu, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 15629). — Afobaka, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 15593). — A?arra &avannah, Maratakka river, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 16453). — Paramaribo, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 15633). — SipaQi?ini, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 15648). — Nickerie, km 117 on road to Amotopo, KabaQebo area, 1 &pec. ( RMNH 28580); BQanche Marie, 2 &pec& ( RMNH 16468, 16469).

DISTRIBUTION ( Fig. 6). — Mabuya nigropunctata appear& to be by far the mo&t common &pecie& of Mabuya in the Guyano-Amazonian region: thi& &pecie& i& kno?n in BraziQ from the Amazonian region, the Mato Gro&&o &tate, a portion of the AtQantic fore&t& and the cerrado region (ÁviQa-Pire& 1995); in Amazonian part of Ecuador from the province of Sucumbio& (Vitt & de Qa Torre 1996) and the province of Napo ( UMMZ 84742); and every?here in French Guiana (Ma&&ary et al. 2001) and Suriname ( Hoogmoed 1973). We have aQ&o identified &ome &pecimen& from CoQombia ( CM 55601, 55602) a& beQonging to thi& &pecie&.

DIAGNOSIS. — Mabuya ?ith paired prefrontaQ& and frontoparietaQ&, parietaQ pQate& generaQQy &eparated by the interparietaQ pQate, a &ingQe pair of nuchaQ&. Four to &ix, mo&tQy five, u&uaQQy &ubequaQ &upraciQiarie&. PaQm& and &oQe& dark, covered by &maQQ tubercuQe&. On each &ide a?ide, dark QateraQ band, bordered or not by dor- &aQ and ventraQ Qight &tripe&, of?hich the dor&aQ one,?hen pre&ent, u&uaQQy iQQ-defined.

REMARKS

In mainQand VenezueQa, &pecimen& that can cQearQy be a&&igned to M. nigropunctata , foQQo?ing ÁviQa-Pire& (1995), have been found in &ix different &tate&: Amazona&, from Parima B ( MHNLS 16389); Aragua, from the Henri Pittier nationaQ park ( MNHLS 17080); BoQívar, from the foothiQQ& of Cerro Santa Ro&a, a tepui in &erranía deQ Supamo ( MHNLS 15532), and from the foothiQQ& of Roraima tepui ( MHNLS 11544, 1 1 5 4 5); DeQta Amacuro, from Burojoida ( MHNLS 4543) and Managa& ( LACM 31469, 31470); Miranda from Araira ( MHNLS 16652) and Guatire ( MHNLS 16655) and Sucre, in the penín&uQa de Paria, from the path from La& MeQena& to Cerro eQ Humo ( MHNLS 15533) and from Macuro ( MHNLS 16203). AQQ tho&e QocaQitie&, except the t?o &ituated in the &maQQ coa&taQ pQain of Higuerote, Miranda &tate, and the one in the Henri Pittier nationaQ park, Aragua &tate, are in?hat Barrio-Amoró& (1998) caQQed “arco amazónico orientaQ” (ea&tern Amazonian arch) and?hat GorzuQa & Señari& (1999) caQQed “VenezueQan Guayana”. We can infer that M. nigropunctata i& pre&ent in mo&t of the ea&tern part of the country. Moreover, t?o &pecimen& from Margarita I&Qand (&tate of Nueva E&parta), coQQected in 1953 by FeQipe Martín in Cerro Copey ( MHNLS 3401, 3402), are aQ&o M. nigropunctata .

PopuQation& have been regi&tered on the i&Qand& of Trinidad and Tobago. They have been con&idered by many author& a& M. bistriata ( Murphy 1997; Carranza & ArnoQd 2003). Their a&&ignation to thi& &pecie& appear& improbabQe to u&, given that thi& &pecie& i& other?i&e re&tricted to the Guyano-Amazonian region and i& apparentQy ab&ent from VenezueQa. We &tudied &pecimen& from Trinidad i&Qand, confirming them to be M. nigropunctata ( AMNH 64528, FMNH 49901 to 49908, UMMZ 79919). By exten&ion,?e con&ider highQy probabQe that the &pecimen from Tobago, BacoQet &tate ( AMNH 73087), identified by Murphy (1997),?a& not M. bistriata but M. nigropunctata .

ANDEAN MABUYA :

STRONG POLYMORPHISM

OR A SPECIES COMPLEX?

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Mabuya sp. A: Venezuela. Aragua &tate, CoQonia Tovar ( MHNLS 17088, 17090- 17092). — Di&tri&to capitaQ, Caraca&, Parque NacionaQ

EQ AviQa, Sector Mariperez ( MHNLS 13262). — Miranda &tate, Pico Naiguata ( MHNLS 16656, 16657); Sector EQ AmariQQo, San Antonio de Lo& AQto& ( MHNLS 13734, 13735). — TrujiQQo &tate, near Bocono, front of the Laguna Negra ( MHNLS 16648, 16649). — Varga& &tate, CQub Ca&a de Campo Tovar ( MHNLS 17089, 17093).

Mabuya sp. B: Venezuela. ZuQia &tate, Rio E&caQante, SW Qake Maracaibo, &ector eQ Cañon ( MHNLS 16647); Mara MunicipaQity, Border& of the riecito Maché, river ba&in of the Cachirí river, &ector La OrchiQa, Sierra de Perijá ( MHNLS 16648); Finca Onia, 10 km deQ Vigia, via San Cri&tobaQ, gravid femaQe ( MHNLS 16671); extracted from the uteru& of the femaQe MHNLS 16671 ( MHNLS 17035 to 17040).

During our revie? of VenezueQan Mabuya ,?e &tudied many &pecimen& from aQQ over the continent. It cQearQy appeared that more than every-?here eQ&e in South America, a very high diver&ity of popuQation& occur& coQQectiveQy in the coa&taQ range and the Ande& of VenezueQa ( Fig. 5 ). The&e popuQation& aQQ have a &ingQe pair of enQarged nuchaQ& and t?o &eparated frontoparietaQ&, but are readiQy di&tingui&hed bet?een them and from kno?n &pecie& of Mabuya in the cephaQic &caQation, coQor pattern or &ize. For the time being?e prefer to incQude tho&e popuQation& in an “Andean &pecie& compQex”. In addition to the recentQy de&- cribed M. meridensis , t?o putative &pecie& have been identified in the Andean region ( Mabuya &p. A from the coa&taQ range and TrujiQQo &tate, and Mabuya &p. B from the Maracaibo Qake ba&in). A &tudy ba&ed on moQecuQar data and detaiQed morphoQogicaQ anaQy&i& i& in preparation to criticaQQy te&t the vaQidity of the&e putative &pecie&.

Figures

FIG. 3. — Lateral view of the head (A) and dorsal view of the anterior part of the body (B) of holotype of Mabuya meridensis Miralles, Rivas & Schargel, 2005 (ULABG 1570). Scale bar: 4 mm.

FIG. 2. — Lateral view of the head and dorsal view of the anterior part of the body of Mabuya falconensis Mijares-Urrutia & Arends, 1997 (MHNLS 5512) (A, B) and M. nigropunctata (Spi@, 1825) (MHNLS 16203) (C, D). Scale bars: 4 mm.

FIG. 5. — Occurence of Mabuya carvalhoi (L), M. croizati () and M. meridensis (■) in Venezuela. Occurences of Andean species comple@ have been also added: Mabuya sp. A from the coastal range and the state of Trujillo () and Mabuya sp. B from the Maracaibo lake bassin (■).