Islands between the realms: A revised checklist of the herpetofauna of the Talaud archipelago, Indonesia, with a discussion about its biogeographic affinities

2005·13.4 MB·English

by  Andre Koch

BonnerzoologischeBeiträge Band 56 (2007) Heft 1/2 Seiten 107-129 Bonn, März2009
Islands Between the Realms:
A
Revised Checklist of the Herpetofauna
of the Talaud Archipelago, Indonesia,
with a Discussion About its Biogeographic Affinities
André Koch'^*), Evy Arida^)'^), Awal Riyanto^) & Wolfgang Böhme')
^Zoologisches ForschungsmuseumA. Koenig, Bonn, Germany; 2)Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Cibi-
nong, Indonesia, ^Current address: Zoologisches ForschungsmuseumA. Koenig, Bonn, Germany;
*'Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract. Since the lasttaxonomic accountwaspublished 80years ago, weprovide the firstupdated annotatedcheck-
list for the herpetofauna ofthe remote TalaudArchipelago, which lies between the biogeographic realms ofSulawesi,
thePhilippines,andthe Moluccas.Wereportonasmallcollectionfrom Pulau(= island)Salibabu,thesecondlargest is-
land within the TalaudArchipelago, which, until recently, was one ofthe least-known areas ofthe Sulawesi region. In
total, 37 specimensrepresentingthreeanuran species, 11 lizardspecies(fourgeckos, fourskinks,twoagamids,andone
monitorlizardspecies),andtwosnakespecieswerecollected. Ofthese, six species,viz. onemicrohylidfrog(Callulops
cf dubius), three lizard species (Nacius cf.pelagicus, Gehyra miitilata, and Eutropis cf rudis), andtwo snake species
(Typhlops sp. andBoiga irregularis), arerecordedhere forthe firsttime fortheTalaud Islands,whileHydrosaiiriis sp.,
Cyrtodactylus ci.jellesmae,Eutropismulticarinata and Emoiaatrocostata have not been previously known from Sali-
babuIsland.NovelrecordsforTalaudarecompletedbyHemidactylusfrenatusandEutropisniultifasciatafromtheMCZ
onlinedatabase.Ahistorical recordofGekkovitattus maybe incorrectbut seemspossiblegiven thebiogeographic dis-
tributionpatternsofAustralopapuanamphibianandreptilespeciesdiscussedinthispaper. HistoricalreportsofCandoia
reaching North Sulawesi appear dubious. Combined with previous records, the herpetofauna ofTalaud currently com-
prises 27 species ofamphibians and reptiles that include three different species offrogs, 17 lizards (five geckos, eight
skinks,threeagamids,andonevaranid),fivesnakespeciesaswellasoneseaturtleandonecrocodile.Twohistorical re-
cordsofGekko vittatusandBronchocelajubata, respectively, requireverification.
Finally, the Zoogeographie affinities oftheTalaud Islands and their implications forthe course ofpast dispersal routes
betweenthe Philippines, North Sulawesi andthe northern Moluccasarediscussed in thelightofherpetofaunistic distri-
butionpatternscomparedwith those shown by othergroupsoforganisms.
Keywords.Wallacea, Sulawesi region, amphibians, reptiles, biogeography, endemism.
Abstrak(Bahasa Indonesia). Kami memperbaharui daftarjenis-jenis herpetofauna yang ditemukan di KepulauanTa-
laud,yangsecarabiogeografidiapitoleh Sulawesi,KepulauanFilipina,danKepulauan Maluku,setelahdaftaryangper-
tamadipublikasikan 80tahun yang lalu. Laporan kami mencakupkoleksi amfibidan reptil yangberasal dari Pulau Sal-
ibabu,yangmerupakanpulauterbesarkeduadiKepulauanTalaudyangsampaisaatinikurangdikenaldibandingkanden-
gan daerah lain di sekitar Sulawesi. Di antara koleksi kami yang berjumlah total 37 spesimen, termasuk di dalamnya
adalah 3jenisamfibi dari kelompokAnura,4jenisCicak,4jenis Kadal, 2jenis Londok, dan 1 jenis Biawak. Enam (6)
jenis di antara koleksi kami ini baru pertama kalinya dilaporkan dari Kepulauan Talaud, yaitu 1 jenis katak Mikrohila
(Callulopscf dubius), 2jenis Cicak (Naciusci.pelagicusdan Gehyramutilate), 1 jenisKadal (Eutropiscf rudis), dan
2jenisUlar(Typhlopssp. danBoiga irregularis). Catatanbarudari PulauSalibabuadalahHydrosaurussp., Cyrtodacty-
lus cf.jellesmae, Eutropis multicarinata and Emoia atrocostata. Kamijuga menambahkan Hemidact\'liisfremitus dan
Eutropismultifasciatakedalamdaftarkami,karenakeduajenisinidilaporkantelahditemukandiKepulauanTalauddalam
daftaronline MCZ. Laporan mengenai Gekko vitattus yang berasal dari KepulauanTalaud kemungkinan kurang tepat,
namun dapatdibenarkan bila didasarkan padapolapersebaran biografi amfibi dan reptil di daerahAustralopapuayang
kami ulasdalamtulisan ini. Selanjutnya, laporantentangditemukannya Candoiadibagian utaraSulawesi kurangdapat
dibenarkan. Sampai saat ini, secara keseluruhan tercatat 27jenis amfibi dan reptil dari Kepulauan Talaud, yang men-
cakup3jenis Katak, 5jenisCicak, 8jenis Kadal, 3jenis Londok, satujenisBiawak, dan 5jenis Ular, di samping 1 je-
nisPenyudan 1jenisBuaya.Seluruhcatatanmengenaihewan-hewaninikamisusundalamsebuahdaftarbesertaketeran-
gantambahannya.
KamijugamemaparkanketerlibatanKepulauanTalauddalamjalurpersebaranamfibidanreptilyangtelahterjadidian-
tara Pulau Sulawesi, Kepulauan Filipina, dan Kepulauan Maluku dan membandingkannya denganjalur persebaran or-
ganisme lain di daerah ini.
Kata kunci.Wallacea, Sulawesi, amfibia, reptilia,biogeografi,jenisendemik.
108 André Koch etal: ARevised Checklist ofthe Herpetofaunaofthe TalaudArchipelago, Indonesia
INTRODUCTION
1.
TheTalaudArchipelagorepresentsthenorthernmostarea soat400-500melevationonKaburuang,showingthesig-
within the Wallacea transition zone between the Oriental nificantamountofrecentuplift(Moore etal. 1981). The
andAustralianfaunalregions.Theremote islandgroup lies highest elevation ofonly 650 m above sea level is found
in the northern Molucca Sea between North Sulawesi, on Karakelong Island.
Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and Halmahera in
thenorthern Moluccas. TheTalaudArchipelagocompris- The Talaud Islands together with Sulawesi and other is-
esthreeinain islands: Karakelong, SalibabuandKaburu- landsofpresentdaycentral Indonesiabelongtoabiogeo-
ang(Fig. 1). Geologically, the MoluccaSeaPlatewith its graphic transitionregioncalledWallacea (see summaries
invertedU-shapedipseastunderHalmaheraandwestun- byMayr[1944] and Simpson [1977]).Australopapuanand
derthe SangiheArc(McCaffreyetal. 1980). TheTalaud Asian animals meet at the respective outer limits oftheir
Islands are situated on the Sangihe forearc separated by distribution. Consequently, in the light ofbiogeography,
a deep ocean trench from the largely submarine Sangihe theTalaudIslandsformthenorthernmostsubmergedarea
Arc with its few emergent volcanic islands like Sangihe ofthis region. Traditionally, the TalaudArchipelago has
and Siau (Hall 2002). The Talaud Island group consists been dealtwith scientificallywith Sulawesi towhich itis
ofa sedimentary sequence ofMiddle Miocene to Pleis- indirectlyconnectedviathe SangiheIslandarch. Howev-
tocene age and includes probable mid-Miocene volcanic er, the direct over-water distance to North Sulawesi of
rocks and volcaniclustic turbidites (Moore et al. 1981). about 300 km is significantly more distant than Halma-
Pleistocenecoral limestone,theyoungestrocksonTalaud, hera in the Moluccas (ca. 210 km) or Mindanao in the
are exposed mostly along the coast lines (Fig. 2), but al- Philippines (ca. 170 km).
120* 125*
Karakelong
A ^ Mffidanaa
Talaud Islands
^
Sangihe ^ Lirung
Salibabu C])
Kaburuang
0* Halmahera^
Vogelkop
(
¿ulavypsí
I
100
km
120'' 125* 130*
Fig. 1. Map oftheTalaud Islands locatedbetween Sulawesi, Halmahera (Moluccas) and Mindanao (Philippines).
The geographically isolated position between three bio- laud Islands are mostly deposited in the Zoological Mu-
geographicsubregionsinthecentreoftheIndo-Australian seumoftheUniversityofAmsterdam.Afewoftheirspec-
ArchipelagorendertheTalaudIslandsaninterestingfield imensarestoredintheherpetological collectionoftheMu-
ofresearch for biogeographers. Until recently, however, seum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB) on Java. Further
theTalaudArchipelago (togetherwith Sangihe) hasbeen material (e. g., collected by the Snellius Expedition in
oneoftheleast-knownareasoftheSulawesiregionasde- 1930) are located in the collections ofthe Natural Histo-
finedbyVane-Wright(1991). Hence, duetotheirminor ryMuseumNaturalisinLeiden(RMNH),theNetherlands.
geographic size together with their remote location, the
TalaudIslandgrouphasbeenpaidonly little attentionby The herpetology department ofthe Museum ofCompar-
herpetologists inthepastandscientificliteratureaboutthe ativeZoology(MCZ),HarvardUniversity,housesasmall
herpetofauna of this small archipelago is scarce. Van number of vouchers (MCZ R-^5768-775; MCZ
Kampen(1907; 1923)anddeRoou (1915; 1917)provid- A-24288) from Karakelong Island collected by the first
ed the first herpetological data about the Talaud Islands FairchildTropical BotanicGardenExpeditionledbythe
based on material collected by M. Weber during the Si- lateDavidFairchild(1869-1954).Thisexpeditionmade
boga Expedition of 1899. De Roou (1915; 1917) listed ashortstop-overattheTalaudIslands from 12to 13 June
fivedifferentlizardsspecies{Calotesjubatus, Varanusin- 1940. The collection merely contains nine specimens re-
dicus, Lygosoma cyanurum, Lygosoma rufescens, and presenting five lizard species (Bronchocela cristatella,
Mabuia multicarinata) and one snake species (Candoia Emoia caeruleocauda, Hemidactylus frenatus, Lipinia
carinata). Later, deJong (1928) published the results of noctua,andEutropism. multifasciata)aswellasonesnake
anothersmall collectionby the Dutch botanist H. J. Lam (Candoia paulsoni tasmai) and one hylid Irog species
whovisitedKarakelongandSalibabuaswellasMiangas, (Litoria infrafrenata). To our knowledge, only McDow-
a small islet south of Mindanao, in 1926 (Lam 1926; ell (1979), Brown (1991) and Smith et al. (2001) re-
1942). His Talaud collection comprised ten different ferred,inpart,totheFairchildcollection.Therefore,these
speciesrepresentingeightlizardsandtwosnakes.Vouch- voucher specimens are included in ourreport.
er specimens by M. Weber and H. J. Lam from the Ta-
110 André Koch etal.: ARevisedChecklist ofthe Herpetofauna oftheTalaudArchipelago, Indonesia
ThischecklistoftheTalaudIslands summarizesthepres-
ent-dayknowledgeoftheherpetofaunaanddiscussesthe
biogeographic relations and implications ofthese data. It
isthe firstupdatedaccountoftheamphibiansandreptiles
ofthis remote oceanic archipelago since 80 years.
MATERIALAND FIELD WORK
2.
Field studies on the east coast ofSalibabu Island (ca. 95
km^) were conducted by AK and EA from 13 to 21 July
2005. Collections and observations were made in the
vicinityofLining,asettlementwithaferrylandingstage.
Field numbers are AK039 to AK075. The surroundings
Fig. 4. UndisturbedriverinehabitatupcountryofSalibabuIs-
near the coastline are dominated by agricultural vegeta- land. HabitatofLimnonectessp. andanunidentifiedsnakespe-
tion, especially coconut {Cocos nucifera) and nutmeg cies. PhotobyAndré Koch.
{Myristicafragram)plantations(Fig. 3). Theisland'shilly
interior was not intensively surveyed. In the low central
hills, however, primary habitats orat leastareas ofminor forested. Surveys were done throughout all hours ofday
disturbance still exist (Fig. 4).As recently recognizedby and early night. Specimens were mainly collectedmanu-
Riley(2002), andunliketheneighboringisland Salibabu, ally and with the assistance ofa local villager. Voucher
large areas of Karakelong Island (ca. 970 km-) are still specimenswerephotographedpriortoandaftereuthaniza-
%
tion and preserved in 70 ethanol. They are deposited
in the Zoological Museum in Bogor(MZB). Tissue sam-
ples ofmonitor lizards were taken for molecular investi-
%
gations and preserved in 95 ethanol. Photographic
vouchers aredepositedintheprivatephotocollectionsof
AK and EA.
Species determination and distribution records follow
BoETTGER(1895a.b; 1903), Boulenger(1897),Barbour
(1912), de RooiJ(1913; 1915; 1917), vanKampen(1923),
DE Jong (1928), Mertens (1929), Parker (1934), Tan-
ner(1950), Brown&Alcalá(1970), Brown&Alcalá
(1980),Brown (1991),Monketal. (1997), Hallermann
(2005), DE Lang & Vogel (2005), and Ziegler et al.
(2007).AllspeciesknownfromtheTalaudIslandsarelist-
ed in Table 1. Abbreviations used are: SVL- snout vent
length;TL-tail length;TiL-tibialength. Measurements
are given in mm. Museumacronyms areas follows: CAS
- California Academy of Science, San Francisco. USA
(CAS-SUdenotestheStanfordUniversitycollection [SU],
which is also housed in the CAS); MCZ - Museum of
Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, USA; MTD - Muse-
um ofZoology (Museurn für Tierkunde), Dresden. Ger-
many; MZB - Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense. Cibi-
nong, Indonesia; RMNH - Nationaal Natuurhistorisch
Museum Naturalis, Leiden, Netherlands; ZFMK - Zoo-
logisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn,
Gemiany; ZMA-ZoologicalMuseum,UniversityofAm-
sterdam, Netherlands.
InformationaboutZMAspecimenswastakenfromtheon-
Fig. 3. Coconutandnutmegplantationsdominatethecultivat-
line database at http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/zmawebsite/search-
edcoastallandscapeofSalibabuIsland. RedaiTowindicates Va-
specimens.php.
ranus sp. baskingon apalm trunk. Photo byAndréKoch.
BonnerzoologischeBeiträge 56 (2007) III
Thewebsitehttp://collections.oeb.harvard.edu/Herp/Rept- Morphology: Van Kampen (1907) mentioned that disk
Search.htmprovidesinformationonTalaudspecimens in sizevariesinthisspecies.Thus, inspecimensfromLirung
the MCZ collections. forinstance, the disks are smallerthan the tympanum (in
one specimen three vs. four mm). The same relation ap-
plies to our voucher specimens where the disks are also
3. RESULTS smaller than the eye diameter. SVL oflargest specimen
(MZBAmph. 11492) 115.5 mm; TiL: 62 mm. Males ex-
Annotated checklist oftheamphibiansand rep- hibit black rugosities on the inner side ofthe first finger.
tiles OFTHE Talaud Islands This is the case in our specimen MZB Amph. 11480.
AMPHIBIA
Microhylidae
Hylidae
Callulops cf. dubius (Fig. 6)
Litoria infrafrenata (Günther, 1867) (Fig. 5)
Materialexamined: MZBAmph. 11443 (AK047), MZB
Material examined: MZB Amph. 11480, 11490, 11492 Amph. 11469 (AK054), MZB Amph. 11470 (AK053),
(AK039-040, AK072) MZB Amph. 11496 (AK074), MZB Amph. 11500
(AK052).
MCZ
Additional material: A-24288, Karakelong, coll.
FairchildGardenExpedition 1940; ZMA8570(3 spec). Distribution: OurfindingsonSalibabuIslandexpandthe
Lining, Salibabu, coll. M. Weber 1899; ZMA 8576 (1 knownrangeofthegenusbyapproximatelytwohundred
spec), Beo, Karakelong, coll. M. Weber 1899. kilometerstothenorthandrepresentanewfamilyrecord
forthe Talaud Islands.
Ecology: Subadultandadultvoucherspecimenswereei-
ther found in small holes near the base oftrees (Fig. 6),
or after rainfall near a small stream in the early evening
hours (7.30-8.30 pm).
Morphology & Taxonomy: Characteristically short-
snouted, smallfrogswithshortlimbs: SVL23.0-39.6mm,
TiL 9.5-15.5 mm; dorsally uniform dark brown to gray-
Fig. 5. LitoriainfrafrenatafromSalibabuIsland.PhotobyAn-
dró Koch.
Distribution: VanKampen(1907)wasthe firsttorecord
this species for the Talaud Islands (at that time as Hyla
dolichopsis Cope, 1867, ajunior synonym ofL. infrafre-
nata). According to Barbour (1912) it "(...) is the most
widespreadHyla ofthis whole region [i.e. the Indo-Aus-
tralian Archipelago]". He listed four female specimens
from Lining and Beo, on Salibabu and Karakelong, re-
spectively.Laterhowever,VanKampen(1923)onlystates Fig. 6. Callulopscf.dubiusfromSalibabuIsland.PhotobyAn-
"Talaut Islands" without specifying the exact locality. dré Koch.
112 André Koch etal:ARevised ChecklistoftheHerpetofauna oftheTalaudArchipelago, Indonesia
ish black, ventral side either uniform light grey or dark Morphology & Taxonomy: All three adult specimens
greywithmoreorlesslightmottling,toeswithweaklight closely resemble in morphology and coloration. SVL
transverse bands. 58.6-63.6 mm, TiL 32.7-33 mm, head as broad as long
or broader than long; vomerine and maxially teeth pres-
The Talaud population may represent a member of the ent; nostril nearerto tip ofsnout than to eye; tympanum
Callulops {Phynomantis) robustas group (R. Günther, distinct, 3/4thediameteroftheeye; strong supratympan-
pers. comm.). The genus Callulops inhabits the Moluc- ic fold; finger tips pointed, those ofthe toes with very
cas, New Guinea and surrounding island groups with 17 small discs; first finger slightly longer than second; fin-
recognized species (Frost 2007), two of which (C. gerswithout webbings, toes nearly fiillywebbed; dermal
hoettgeriand C. dubius)arefoundonHalmahera.Accord- fringe along the outer side offifth toe present; innerpal-
ing to MÉHELY (1901) and Parker (1934) C. boettgeri is martubercle swollen, outermissing; innermetatarsal tu-
characterizedby largetriangulardiscsat fingersandtoes, berclepresent, outermissing; skinsmoothwithoutridges
whilethoseofthe fingersare largerthanthoseofthetoes. ortubercles. Colorationdorsallyolive-greentobrownish
Havingthe fingertipspointedandthoseofthetoesslight- with little dark spots; tympanum partly blackish;
ly enlarged, fingers and toes without webbings, no max- supratympanic fold above tympanum black; upper lips
illary teeth, a smooth skin above and beneath, the nostril withdarkverticalbars;limbswithoutdarkcrossbars;pos-
much closertothetipofthe snout, tympanumfeeblydis- terior part ofthighs blackish with orange marbling; ven-
tinct and about halfthe diameter ofthe eye, presence of tral side either unicolored whitish cream under head and
a supratympanic fold (but absent in MZB Amph. 11443 chest, limbs and posteriorhalfofventer orange, particu-
and 11500, possibly due to preservation), our voucher larly towards vent (MZB Amph. 11494), or underside
specimens resemble more the second Callulops species whitish with grey mottling under head and many grey
known from Halmahera, C. dubius (Boettger 1895b). spotsandblotchesonchestandventer. Probablythreefe-
However, in contrast to the latter species, the first finger maleswerecollectedwithoutvocal sacs.Accordingly,the
is longerthan the second in theTalaud specimens. It can- specimens lack bony processes in the lowerjaw as typi-
not be ruled out that the Talaud specimens represent two cal formales ofL. modestus.Afourth subadult specimen
distinctspeciesduetotheirdifferencesinventralcolorpat- ofLimnonectes was collected in a narrow gorge with a
ternandthepresenceorabsenceofasupratympanic fold. smallriverine(Fig.4). SVL27.3 mm,TiL 13.8 mm, head
slightlylongerthanbroad. Morphologically,thisspecimen
resemblesthethreeadult specimens, exceptforthe indis-
Ranidae tinct supratympanic fold. However, it shows differences
in color pattern. Thus, the dorsal side is brown with dis-
Limnonectes cf. modestas (Boulenger, 1882) tinct darker cross bars and blotches on the limbs; a dark
crossbarbetweentheeyesispresent,too;thedistinctmar-
Materialexamined: MZBAmph. 11478 (AK073), 11493 bling on the posteriorpart ofthe femurs is missing.
(AK068), 1494 AK050), MZBAmph. 1497 (AK05
1 ( 1 1).
Menzies (1987) suggested that populafions of Sulawesi
Additionalmaterial: Probably ZMA 8870 (5 spec), and Ceram might represent different taxa. Furtherinves-
'Taloek, island North ofHalmaheira" (= Talaud?!), tigations, morphologically andgenetically, are neededto
coll. M. Weber 1900 clarify the taxonomic identity ofthe Talaud populations.
Distribution: Based on material collected by the Siboga
Expedition of Max Weber (six specimens according to SAURIA
van Kampen [1907], but only five accordingto the ZMA
onlinecatalogue; see 'additional materiar), van Kampen Agamidae
(1907) was the first to record L. modestus from the Ta-
laud Islands without indicating the exact locality. This Bronchocela cristatella (Kuhl, 1820) (Fig. 7)
species is also known from North Sulawesi, the type lo-
cality, and soine islands in the Moluccas. The Philippine Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5080 (AK057).
populationshavebeenremoved fromthe synonymyofL.
Modestus (Inger 1954). Additional material: ZMA 18832 (4 spec), Gunung
Doeata(=Mt. Duata), Karakelong,coll. H.J. Lam, 1926;
Ecology: While two adult voucher specimens were col- ZMA 18833, Lirung, Salibabu, coll. H. L Lam, 1926;
lected near a small stream in the vicinity ofthe village MCZR-45770, -771,Karakelong,coll.FairchildGarden
Lining, thethird(MZBAmph. 11493)was foundasroad Expedifion, 1940
kill next to a coconut plantation.
BonnerzoologischeBeiträge 56 (2007) 113
Bronchocelajubata Duméril & Bibron, 1837
Materialexamined: none
Additionalmaterial: ZMA 18866, Lining, Salibabu,coll.
M. Weber 1899; ZMA 18869, Beo, Karakelang
(= Karakelong), coll. M. Weber 1899.
Distribution & Taxonomy: Because Hallermann
ZMA
(2005) did not examinethe specimens collectedby
Weber, he statedthat olderrecords ofB.jubata fromthe
Talaud Islands by de Rooij (1915) may be correct. How-
ever, 14 specimens from Sulawesi formerly deposited in
the Leiden collection (RMNH 3021a-e, 3023a-d, and
7419a-e)asB.jubata,wereredeterminedbyHallermann
(2005)asB. celebensis, which is endemic to Sulawesi. In
turn,threeolderrecordsofB.jubata from Sulawesi inthe
Berlin collection (ZMB) are conect according to this au-
thor. From the entire Philippine Archipelago only one
voucherspecimen from Mindanao (ZMB 16305) was in-
cluded in the review by Hallermann (2005). Four fur-
ther specimens (ZMB 34117) allegedly from the Philip-
pines lack specific locality data. Thus, it remains uncer-
tain iftwo different species ofBronchocela live in sym-
patry on the Talaud Islands. Pending molecular genetic
studiesandftirtherfieldworkwillhopefullyrevealthesys-
Fig. 7. BronchocelacristatellafromSalibabuIsland.Photoby tematics and the exact distributions ofthese morpholog-
André Koch. ically diverse agamids.
Distribution: DeJong(1928)reportedthatH. J. Lamcol- Hydrosaurus sp. (Fig. 8)
lected several specimens ofB. cristatella on Karakelong
andSalibabuIsland.Twofurtherspecimenswerecollect- Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5081 (AK049).
ed by the Fairchild Expedition in 1940. As neither of
these old voucher specimens has been included in a re- Distribution: DeJong(1928)reportedHydrosau?-usam-
cent review of the genus Bronchocela (Hallermann boinensis for Karakelong Island. This is the first record
2005),theirtaxonomicidentificationrequiresverification. ofthis large agamid for Salibabu Island.
Nevertheless, ourinvestigationsconfirmthatB. cristatel-
la also inhabits theTalaudArchipelago nextto Sulawesi, Ecology: During recent field surveys on Salibabu Island
the Philippines and the Moluccas. threeadultspecimenswere flushedout. Onefemalespec-
imenwas observed sitting on a tree with remarkable thin
Ecology: The voucher specimen (MZB Lac. 5080) was branches. One juvenile voucher specimen was encoun-
found on a tree trunk near three small fish ponds where terednearasmallfishpond. OnTalaud,Hydrosaurusdis-
Hydrosaurusalsooccurred.Anothersubadultspecimenof playsacryptic lifestyleandseemstoavoidthecoastline.
Bronchocelawasdiscoveredsittingonathinbranchabove This agamidspeciesprefers less anthropogenically influ-
a small stream near Lining village. enced inland habitats with freshwater environment.
Morphology: SVL89mm, TL298 mm (TL/SVL: 3.34); Morphology: SVL 116.5 mm,TL243 mm;tympanumdi-
eightsupralabials;nineinfralabials; 55 scalesaroundmid- ameter3.1 mm; dorsalcrestmissing,nuchalcrestindicat-
body, the first five to six upper scale rows ofthe lateral edbyarowof16prominentscales; sixto seven interocu-
side keeled and pointing upwards; ventral scales larger laria; 11 supralabials, sixth to eleventh under eye; 11 in-
thandorso-laterals; 35 stronglykeeledscalesunderfourth fralabials;mentallarge;onerowofsixandsevenenlarged
toe; six to seven scales along canthus rostralis between submaxillaries,respectively,separatedfrominfralabialsby
nostrilandanteriorborderoforbit;diameteroftympanum one(firstIL)orseveralsmall scales; lateral scaleshetero-
more than halfdiameter oforbit (0.83). geneous,mainlysmallandsfronglycarinate, interspersed
114 André Koch et al.: ARevisedChecklist ofthe HerpetofaunaoftheTalaudArchipelago, Indonesia
Additionalmaterial: ZMA 15942 (1 spec), Gunung
Doeata (= Mt. Doata), Karakelong, coll. H. J. Lam
ZMA
1926; 17884 (1 spec), same data as previous
specimen.
Distribution: DeJong(1928)reportedonespecimen(but
see 'additionalmaterial')ofC. marmoratusfromKarake-
long Island. However, Brongersma (1934) showed that
Sulawesi specimens ofC. marmoratus were referable to
C.fumosus.Accordingly, Iskandar&Nio(1996) doubt-
ed the occurrence ofC. marmoratus on Sulawesi as pre-
viously mentioned (e.g., de Rooij 1915). This is the first
record of C. cf. jellesmae for Salibabu Island and the
northernmostoccurrenceoftheentirerangeofthisspecies.
Ecology: Both voucher specimens, apparently a female
andamale (thefemalecarryingtwowell-developedeggs
Fig. 8. Hvdrosaiirussp.fromSalibabuIsland. PhotobyAndré which are visible through the thin skin), were found at
Koch. 20.30 p.m. at low elevations onthe trunks ofatree and a
coconut palm, respectively.
with six groups oftwo to six tubercular, carínate scales; Morphology: Both sexes lackpreanal andfemoral pores
three further such enlarged scales along the side ofthe andtheearopeningsareovalascharacteristicforC.jelles-
neck;towardstheventral sidenumerousenlarged, smooth mae(Boulenger 1897;deRooij 1915). Lateralfoldpres-
scales arranged in more or less distinct transverse rows; entbetween axillaand groin. However, in coloration and
ventral scales homogenous, smooth; subdigitals under scalation the Salibabu population differs from those of
fourth toe small at basis, followed by 35 relatively en- Sangihe Island and north Sulawesi. The characteristic
largedsubdigitals after firstphalanx; toes laterally with a dark, V- and M-shaped dorsal markings are less distinct
rowofextremelywide(upto 1.9 mm)scales, 36at fourth andthetubercleshave lighttipsonly laterally. Inaddition,
toeformingaserratededge.Tenandelevenfemoralpores, theTalaudpopulationshowslesspronouncedtubercleson
respectively. Ground color green to brownish with en- dorsum, legsandtail. Fromthenewdescribedspecies, C.
larged scales ofthe dorsal and lateral side being lighter; wallacei, the Talaud geckos are distinguished by the ab-
ventral side whitish, throat darker. sence ofenlargedsubcaudalscales(Haydenetal. 2008).
Taxonomy: Phenetically, theTalaudspecimenresembles Taxonomy: ProbablydeJong's(1928)specimenfromthe
ajuvenileH.pustulatus from Panay Island,central Philip- Talaud Islands will prove to belong to C. cf.jellesmae
pines, incolorpatternandscalation(photocourtesyofM. whichwas frequently foundon Sulawesiandadjacentis-
Gaulke). However, asystematic assigrmientoftheTalaud lands compared to C.fumosus and C. wallacei (unpubl.
population either to H. amboinensis from Sulawesi. H. data). Future molecular studies are required to enlighten
pustulatus from the Philippines, H. weberi from Halma- the systematics and taxonomy of this morphologically
heraortoanotherhithertounrecognizedtaxonseemspre- cryptic complex ofgecko species inthe Sulawesi region.
mature at this time, due to the lack ofdiagnostic charac-
ters (dorsal and nuchal crests, adult color pattern) in the
juvenile voucher specimen and insufficient material for Gehyra mutilata (Wiegmann, 1834)
comparison ofthe three Hydrosaunts taxa currently re-
cognized. Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5124 (AK046).
Distribution: Gehyra mutilata is herein reported forthe
Gekkonidae first time for the Talaud Islands. This invasive gecko
species inhabits Southeast Asia, Oceania, Madagascar,
Cyrtodactylus cf.jellesmae (Boulenger, 1897) Mexico, California, Hawaii, and New Zealand. It was
probably accidentally introduced fromthe Philippines or
Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5126 (AK056), MZB North Sulawesi by human transportation.
Lac. 5128 (AK055).
BonnerzoologischeBeiträge 56 (2007) 115
&
Ecology Morphology: Thevoucherspecimen,afemale
containingtwoeggs,wascollectedonthewallofahouse
inLiningvillagewhereseveralspecimenswereobserved.
SVL 50 mm, TL 53 mm.
Gekko vittatus Hottuyn, 1782
Materialexamined: none
Distribution: In the distribution table of"East Indian"
herptiles, Barbour (1912: 179) listed the Talaud Islands
within the range ofGekko vittatus. This gecko species is
knownfromtheMoluccas,New Guineaandsurrounding
archipelagos. Thomas Barbour himselfdid not visit the
TalaudIslandsbuthewasawareofvanKampen's(1907) Fig. 9. Nactuscf.pelagicusfromSalibabuIsland. PhotobyAn-
accountaboutamphibiansbasedonMaxWeber'scollec- dró Koch.
tions from that island group. The correctness of Bar-
bour's (1912) data cannot be proven as no infonnation
onvoucherspecimenswasprovided. Theoretically, how- clesformingsixregularlongitudinalrowsontheback, ir-
ever, the occurrence ofthis gecko species on the Talaud regularlyarrangedalongthelateralsides;rostral large;on-
Archipelago seems possible as other Australopapuan ly5 supralabials(ascomparedtootherpopulations); 7 in-
speciesalsoinhabitthisislandgroup. Futureinvestigations fralabials; mental large, a pair ofsmall chin-shields pos-
intheherpetofaunaoftheTalaudIslandsmayanswerthis teriortothemental; ventral sidecoveredwithsmall gran-
question. ulous scales; 19 subdigits under fourth toe. Coloration of
dorsalsidedarkbrownwithblackishblotchesontheback,
increasing in number towards the snout, labial sutures
Hemidactylusfrenatus Duméril & Bibron, 1836 whitish; ventrally dark grayish-brown, regenerated tail
with irregular light markings.
Materialexamined', none
Distribution & Taxonomy: This isthefirstrecordofthe
MCZ
Additional material: R-45768, and R-45769, genusNactusfortheTalaudIslandsrepresentingthenorth-
Karakelong, coll. Fairchild Expedition 1940. em most population of this widespread Pacific species
groupwhich isknowntoconsistofbisexualandpartheno-
Distribution & Ecology: This circum-tropically distrib- genetic species (Moritz 1987; Donnellan & Moritz
utedgecko specieswas frequently seen onwallsofhous- 1995; Zug 1998). The taxonomic status of most New
es. Ourobservations suggest thatH. frenatus and G. mu- Guiñeanpopulationis stilluncertain(Kraus2005; Jack-
tilata are more common on Talaud than on neighboring man et al. 2008). Traditionally, they have been assigned
Sangihe Island. Two voucher specimens (see 'additional to A'^. pelagicus and A^. vankampeni, but unisexual A'^.
material')oftheFairchildExpeditionaredepositedinthe pelagicus have been shown to be restricted to southern
MCZ collection. Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Oceania (Zug & Moon
1995). Tanner (1950) reported a specimen from Moro-
tai close to Halmahera which was obviously a male be-
Nactuspelágicas complex (Fig. 9) cause it "(•••) has an angular series of7 preanal pores".
Materialexamined'. MZB Lac. 5086 (AK075).
Scincidae
Ecology: Duringdaytimeonespecimenwasfoundunder
arottentreetrunk inahillyareanearLiningon Salibabu Emoia a. atrocostata (Lesson, 1826) (Fig. 10)
Island.
Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5130 (AK071).
Morphology: SVL54mm;tailregenerated, 55mmlong,
RMNH
fifthtoeoflefthindlimbmissing;probablyafemale,pre- Additionalmaterial: 18659, Karakelong, coll.
analporesmissing; dorsum, limbsandtail (exceptforre- Snellius Expedition (Dr. H. Boschma), 14-21 June
generatedpart) coveredwith granules and conical tuber- 1930.
116 André Koch et al.: ARevised Checklist ofthe Herpetofauna oftheTalaudArchipelago, Indonesia
Lirung), Salibabu, coll. H. J. Lam 1926; ZMA 18409 (as
Lygosoma triviale; 1 spec), Beo, Karakelong, coll. M.
Weber 1899.
Distribution & Taxonomy: The Talaud populationwas
formerly recognized as E. cyanura (de Rood 1915; de
Jong 1928), which in contrast to E. caeruleocauda is
widely distributed in Pacific islands from the Bismarck
Archipelagoeastwards(Brown 1991). Brown(1991)re-
visedthegenusandidentifiedonespecimen(MCZ45774)
from Karakelong as E. caeruleocauda.
Morphology: Accordingto Brown(1991),thesephenet-
ically similar species (E. cyanura andE. caeruleocauda)
can be distinguished by the shape and number oflamel-
Fig. 10. Emoiaa. atrocostata from Salibabu Island. Photoby lae under the fourth toe. Two specimens from Salibabu
André Koch. (MZB Lac. 5115, 5127) each had 44 lamellae under the
fourthtoe,thusconfirmingtheoccurrenceofE. caeruleo-
Distribution: According to Brown (1991) the Talaud cauda on the Talaud Archipelago. Lower eyelid with a
population ofE. atrocostata belongs to the nominotypic transparent disk; hind limb reaches the axilla.
subspecies. Heexaminedonespecimen fromKarakelong
(RMNH 18659).Thiscoastal skinkspecies iswidespread Ecology: On Salibabu IslandE. caeruleocauda was fi"e-
ranging fromthe Philippinesthroughthe Indo-Australian quently found on the groundand lowvegetation. Itis the
Archipelago and many Pacific island groups such as the most common lizard of the Talaud Archipelago. These
Carolines and Palau reaching NorthAustralia. This is the conspicuous lizards use theirmetallic-blue tail fluttering
first record ofE. a. atrocostata for Salibabu Island. fromsidetosidetodistractpotentialpredators,markmale
territories and attract potential mates.
Ecology: The voucher (MZB Lac. 5130), a weak adult
specimeninfestedwith severalredmites(Acari),wasrest-
ingoncoral limestonewithtemporarypondsattheshore- Eugongyliis rufescens (Shaw, 1802)
line where this species was frequently found on Salibabu
Island (Fig. 2). Early activity was observed at 7 a. m. al- Materialexamined: none
though the sky was cloudy and temperatures were rela-
tively low. Additionalmaterial: ZMA 12491 (4 spec), Gunung
Doeata (= Mt. Duata), Karakelong, coll. H. J. Lam
Morphology: SVL 85.4 mm, tail short, laterally com- 1926; ZMA 12492 (1 spec), Lirung, Salibabu, coll. M.
pressed, 73.6mm long;TL/SVL0.86; seven supralabials, Weber 1899
fifthenlargedandbeloweye; tympanumsmall; lowereye-
lid with a transparent disk; one pair ofnuchals; 38 mid- Distribution: De Roou (1915) listed Eugongylus
body scale rows; 33 rounded lamellae under fourth toe. rufescens for Salibabu Island andde Jong (1928) report-
ed another specimen ofthis skink from Karakelong (ac-
ZMA
cordingtotheonline database4specimensaresum-
Emoia caeruleocauda (de Vis, 1892) marizedundercollectionnumberZMA 12491).Wecould
not find this species during our field work. The Talaud
Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5114 (AK043), MZB populationsrepresentthemostnorth-westerndistribution
Lac. 5115 (AK041), MZB Lac. 5118 (AK042), MZB ofthisshort-leggedskinkwhichinhabitsNewGuinea,the
Lac. 5127 (AK069). Solomon and Admirality Islands finally reaching north-
em
Australia.
MCZ
Additionalmaterial: 45774, coll. Fairchild Expe-
ZMA
dition, 1940; 18384 (1 spec), Liroeng (= Lining),
Salibabu, coll. M. Weber 1899; ZMA 18391 {asLygoso- Eutropis m. multicarinata (Gray, 1845) (Fig. 11)
ma triviale; 2 spec), Beo, Karakelong, coll. H. J. Lam
1926; ZMA 18392 (as Lygosoma triviale; 5 spec), Gu- Materialexamined: MZB Lac. 5084 (AK063), MZB
nung Doeata (= Mt. Doata), Karakelong, coll. H. J. Lam Lac 5085 (AK062), MZB Lac. 5087 (AK061), MZB
1926; ZMA 18395 (as Lygosoma triviale), Liroeng (= Lac. 5116 (AK060), MZB Lac. 5117 (AK058).