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Cuadernos de herpetología

On-line version ISSN 1852-5768

Cuad. herpetol. vol.31 no.1 San Salvador de Jujuy May 2017

 

NOVEDAD ZOOGEOGRAFICA

First record of Liolaemus azarai and Hemidactylus mabouia for Ñeembucú Department, Paraguay

 

Víctor Hugo Zaracho1, María Esther Tedesco1, Martha Motte2, Alberto Yanosky3

1 Laboratorio de Herpetología. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Av. Libertad 5470 (3400) Corrientes, Argentina.

2 Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay. Km 10 ½ Ruta Mariscal Estigarribia. San Lorenzo, Departamento Central, Paraguay.

3 Asociación Guyra Paraguay, Paraguay.

Recibida: 22/06/16
Revisada: 23/07/16
Aceptada: 22/12/16


Liolaemus azarai Ávila, 2003

Locality - Paraguay, Ñeembucú Department, Laureles District, San Sebastián (27°11'33''S; 57°48'11''W. WGS84. 70 m above sea level.). Date: 23/01/2016. Col: M. E. Tedesco, V. H. Zaracho and M. Motte. Voucher: MNHNP 12086 (juvenile, snout-vent length: 32.14 mm).

Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818)

Locality - Paraguay, Ñeembucú Department, Cerrito (27°20'38''S; 57°38'24''W. WGS84. 65 m above sea level ). Date: 22/01/2016. Col: M. E. Tedesco, V. H. Zaracho and M. Motte. Voucher: MNHNP 12087 (adult, snout-vent length: 55.53 mm).

 

Comments - The distribution of reptiles from Paraguay was recently revised and updated by Cacciali et al. (2016). Here we report the presence of two lizard species not recorded previously for Ñeembucú Department.

In Paraguay, Liolaemus azarai is known mainly for its type locality, Isla Yacyretá (Itapúa Department), and other population from Yabebyry (Misiones Department) (Fig. 1). Land area in Isla Yacyretá has been greatly reduced due to the permanent flooding caused by the construction and operation of the Yacyretá hydroelectric dam. A L. azarai adult male was observed active in January 21, 2016 (11:13 h), and two days later, several juvenile were observed (one of them was collected) (Fig. 2A-B). The individuals were found in a sand dune dominated by Elyonurus muticus grasses and "yatay" palms (Butia sp.). This habitat is similar to that in Argentina where the species is also present (Álvarez et al., 2003; Ávila, 2003; Zaracho et al., 2014). In Paraguay, its conservation status is Vulnerable (Motte et al., 2009). The new locality extends its distribution ca. 110 Km to the west of the two localities where it was previously recorded in Paraguay: Isla Yacyretá (Itapúa Department) and Yabebyry (Misiones Department).


Figure 1. Distribution of Liolaemus azarai (circles) and Hemidactylus mabouia (squares) in Paraguay (open symbols: new records). Closest Argentinean records are included as gray symbols (Álvarez et al., 2003; Zaracho et al., 2014; Baldo et al., 2008).


 Figure 2. Voucher individuals of two species of lizard from Ñeembucú Department, Paraguay. A-B, Liolamus azarai (adult and juvenile, respectively); C, Hemidactylus mabouia (Inset: ventral view of the left hand).

Hemidactylus mabouia has been previously reported in urban areas of Alto Paraná, Central, Concepción, San Pedro, and Itapúa Departments (Cacciali et al., 2016) (Fig. 1). It is an invasive species from Africa that currently occurs in México, Cuba and other islands, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay (Cacciali and Motte, 2009). Its presence in Paraguay likely originated, as in other places, by passive transportation through floating vegetation or ships (Avila-Pires, 1995; Kluge, 1969; Cacciali and Motte, 2009). The collected specimen (Fig. 2) was found climbing a wall in a house, about at 17:00 h. This new record extends the distribution of H. mabouia in Paraguay ca. 200 km to the south of Asunción, and 200 km to the west of Encarnación, the nearest localities with confirmed presence of the species.

Acknowledgements

We thank CONACYT (Paraguay) for financial support for the project "Visión de biodiversidad nacional y evaluación ecorregional: la ecología al servicio de las decisiones de conservación y análisis de la fragmentación de los hábitats" (Código 14-INV-063). To E. Etchepare for their help with the Figure 1. To Secretaría del Ambiente (Paraguay) for collection permit (N° 133/2015).

Literature cited

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6. Cacciali, P.; Scott, N.J.; Aquino Ortíz, A.L.; Fitzgerald, L.A. & Smith, P. 2016. The Reptiles of Paraguay: Literature, Distribution, and an Annotated Taxonomic Checklist. Special Publication of the Museum of Southwestern Biology 11: 1-373.         [ Links ]

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8. Motte, M.; Núñez, K.; Cacciali, P.; Brusquetti, F.; Scott, N. & Aquino, A.L. 2009. Categorización del estado de conservación de los Anfibios y Reptiles de Paraguay. Cuadernos de Herpetología 23: 5-18.         [ Links ]

9. Zaracho, V.H.; Ingaramo, M.R.; Semhan, R.V.; Etchepare, E.G.; Acosta, J.L.; Falcione, A.C & Álvarez, B.B. 2014. Herpetofauna de la Reserva Natural Provincial Isla Apipé Grande (Corrientes, Argentina). Cuadernos de Herpetología 28: 153-160.         [ Links ]

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