Hemidactylus robustus Heyden, 1827

Razzetti, Edoardo, Sindaco, Roberto, Grieco, Cristina, Pella, Francesca, Ziliani, Ugo, Pupin, Fabio, Riservato, Elisa, Pellitteri-Rosa, Daniele, Butikofer, Luca, Suleiman, Ahmed Saeed & Al-Aseily, Badar Awadh, 2011, Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia), Zootaxa 2826, pp. 1-44 : 10

Hemidactylus robustus Heyden, 1827

Hemidactylus robustus Heyden, 1827: 19 —Locus typicus “ Egypten, Arabien, und Abyssinien”. Hemidactylus turcicus [partim].— Boulenger 1903: 82.

Hemidactylus t. turcicus [partim].— Loveridge, 1947: 101, 142, Tab. [104]. Hemidactylus turcicus "subsp.".—Rösler, 1998: 34.

Hemidactylus turcicus .— Wranik, 1998b: 150.

Hemidactylus turcicus parkeri Loveridge, 1936 .— Rösler & Wranik 1998: 119 [132], Tabs 3–4, Fig. 2 . Hemidactylus turcicus .— Joger, 2000: 340. Hemidactylus sp. A.- Rösler & Wranik, 2004: 516, pl. 19. Hemidactylus form A.- Rösler & Wranik, 2006: 126, Tab. 1 .

Socotran specimens of this taxon have been doubtfully assigned to H. turcicus / H. robustus or alternately to an undescribed new taxon “sp. A” ( Rösler & Wranik, 1998; Wranik, 1998b, 2004; Schätti & Desvoignes, 1999). The specific identities of H. turcicus and H. robustus were demonstrated by the discovery of an area of simpatry along the Red Sea coast of Egypt ( Baha El Din, 2005) and by their high genetic divergence ( Carranza & Arnold 2006).

Original data. Fig. 14. Socotra Island: Qalansiyah, Kadheb E, Hadiboh plain, Howlef. Samha Island. In Socotra we observed H. robustus at low altitude only in coastal areas (up to 50 m a.s.l.) around the two main villages (Hadiboh, Qalansiyah) and the harbour of Hadiboh. In Samha Island the species was observed in and near the main village (Khaysat).

Original data. Socotra: Hadiboh plain, Howlef, Qalansiyah. Samha: Khaysat village.

Bibliographic data. Boulenger (1903), Loveridge (1947), Rösler & Wranik (1998, 2003, 2004), Wranik (1998b), Schätti & Desvoignes 1999.

General distribution. NE Afrotropical, from SE Egypt to Somalia and NE Kenya, most of the Arabian Peninsula, southern Iran and Pakistan (a distribution map was published by Sindaco & Jeremčenko, 2008). In the Socotran Archipelago it is likely introduced.

Remarks. H. robustus is here reported for the first time from Samha.

The record of “ H. turcicus subsp.” by Rösler (1998a) from “Dixan” (sic!) at 680 m a.s.l. very probably refers to H. inintellectus .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Areas cited in the Results. 1 — NE Coast; 2 — Homhil; 3 — Momi plateau; 4 — Timeroh area; 5 — Go'o area; 6 — Wadi Di-Fa'rhoh; 7 — E Noged; 8 — Wadi Di Asrhon; 9 — Firmihin; 10 — Dheroh; 11 — Diksam plateau; 12 — Diksam SW; 13 — Central Noged; 14 — Qa'arah area; 15 — Qabheten area; 16 — Meyhah area; 17 — Plateau W of Qabhete; 18 — Neet; 19 — Shu'ab inland; 20 — Shu'ab area; 21 — Ma'alah plateau; 22 — Qeysoh; 23 — Qalansiyah; 24 — Qalansiyah inland; 25 — Ghubbah area; 26 — Mori West; 27 — Terr Ditrur; 28 — Di Rohan; 29 — Mouri plain; 30 — Wadi Trubah; 31 — Skand; 32 — Adho Di Meleh; 33 — Wadi Ayhaft; 34 — Kadheb E; 35 — Hadiboh plain; 36 — Howlef; 37 — Di Lishah area; 38 — Kariyah area; 39 — Rokeb area; 40 — Darsa; 41 — Samha; 42 — Abd al-Kuri. Empty dots indicate sampling sites surveyed by the authors on a UTM grid 1 x 1 km.