Asaccus elisae (Werner, 1895)

SYNTYPES. BMNH 1946.8.24.39 (ex. BMNH 95.3.2.3), NMW 17525 .

TYPE LOCALITY. Ruins of Niniveh [Ninawa], Ninawa Prov., Iraq .

DISTRIBUTION. S Turkey, Syria, Iraq, W Iran.

DISTRIBUTION IN IRAN. Fig. 118. The Mesopotamian Plain west of the Zagros (Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, Khuzestan, and Fars Prov.)

HABITAT. Gypsum and limestone deposits in valleys, caves, under bridges and on the house walls in a rocky mountain area at altitudes from 137 m to 1400 m (Fathinia et al. 2009).

REMARKS. In the light of the current knowledge on Asaccus diversity, it is likely that some previous records of A. elisae from the central Zagros belong today to different species. Since none of the species recently described were compared with the old material it is not possible to retract them from A. elisae at least until they are morphologically examined and, potentially, re-determined. Phyllodactylus eugeniae Nikolsky (type locality Dezful and Abu-Garia, Khuzestan Prov.,) synonymized with A. elisae is more closely related to A. griseonotus than to A. elisae itself (Papenfuss et al. 2010). Its taxonomic status should be reassessed in order to retain A. elisae monophyletic.

REFERENCES. Anderson (1999); Rastegar-Pouyani (2006); Fathinia et al. (2009); Parsa et al. (2009); Papenfuss et al. (2010); Torki (2010b, c).