Pristurus obsti Rösler & Wranik, 1999

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 : 11

Pristurus obsti Rösler & Wranik, 1999

Pristurus obsti Rösler & Wranik, 1999: 254 —Locus typicus: “südwestl. von Qalansiyah, Bucht von Shu’ab (Locus typicus 12°34.67’N, 53° 23.87O), Sokotra ” [= SW of Qalansiya, Shu’ab Gulf].

Pristurus obsti . — Rösler & Wranik, 2004: 522, Pl. 27, 28.

Pristurus obsti . — Arnold, 2009: 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 16.

P. obsti was originally recorded from the mangroves of Shu’ab Gulf and Nit [= Neet] by Rösler & Wranik (1999, 2004) and since then considered a mangrove endemic species.

Habitat. Like P. guichardi , also P. obsti is purely arboreal. We observed it on branches and trunks of trees and medium size shrubs; it occurs on palms, trees along the wadis, on Tamarix bushes, on Croton trunks in the western Noged plain, and on mangroves ( Avicennia marina ); all genetically identified samples come from low-altitude localities (less than 100 m), except two samples from Menhem (SW Diksam Plateau) at 700 meters.

Original data. Fig. 17. Specimens identified by the genetic analyses (unpublished data by S. Carranza) were found in SW Diksam Plateau, Central Noged, Qa'arah area, Meyhah area, Neet, Shu'ab area.

Bibliographic data. Schätti & Desvoignes (1999), Rösler & Wranik (1999, 2004).

General distribution. Endemic to Socotra Island.

Remarks. P. o bs t i and P. guichardi are morphologically very similar. High altitude populations of P. guichardi , living in higher wooded covers and therefore in cooler and moister habitats, are usually darker, while the populations of P. o b s t i, living on mangroves or at lower altitudes in areas with more sparse vegetation and drier climate, are usually lighter. Moreover, the differences in the orange flank patterns in males of P. obsti and P. g u i c h a rd i reported by Rösler & Wranik (2004) seem to be subtle in many of the observed individuals. These species have been so far considered differentiated both in habitat and in distribution (coastal mangrove endemic vs. mountain endemic), but our findings show a much more continuous distribution of P. o b s t i. This is the reason why we lumped the data in a single distribution map (Fig. 16b) and indicated as P. guichardi vel obsti all specimens not identified genetically.