Hemidactylus angulatus Hallowell, 1852

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta & Riva, Ignacio De La, 2022, Synopsis of the terrestrial Reptiles of Equatorial Guinea, Zootaxa 5202 (1), pp. 1-197 : 31-32

Hemidactylus angulatus Hallowell, 1852

Figure 8A

Hemidactylus angulatus Hallowell, 1854: 63 . Type locality: “west coast of Africa”, corrected to Gabon fide Loveridge (1947).

Hemidactylus cyanodactylus Girard, 1858: 284 (non Rafinesque). Type locality: “Port Praya, San Jago, Cape de Verde Islands ”.

Hemidactylus stellatus Boulenger, 1885: 130 . Type locality: “ West Africa ”.

Hemidactylus brookii haitianus Meerwarth, 1901: 17 . Type locality: “ Haiti, … Port au Prince ”.

Hemidactylus brookii angulatus ( Hallowell, 1852) : Mertens 1955.

Hemidactylus cyanogaster Schleich, 1987: 51 (nomen substitutum pro Gecus cyanodactylus Girard, 1858 ).

Hemidactylus haitianus ( Meerwarth, 1901) : Powell et al. 1996.

Hemidactylus leightoni Boulenger, 1911a: 19 . Type locality: “ Honda , Magdalena R., Colombia, 300-400 feet ”.

Hemidactylus neotropicalis Shreve, 1936: 270 . Type locality: “ Puerto Witches , Santander, Colombia ”.

Distribution. Widely distributed in Africa, from Mauritania and Cape Verde at the west, to Kenya and Tanzania at the east. Introduced in several Caribbean islands and coastal localities. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded from Bioko ( Boulenger 1885; Bocage 1903) at Malabo ( Mertens 1941; Pérez del Val 2001; Carranza & Arnold 2006), and from Río Muni at Bata (Pérez del Val 2001) ( Map 6B ).

Comments. Hemidactylus angulatus is probably a species complex endemic to Africa ( Carranza & Arnold 2006). The taxonomic history of this taxon has been confusing. Hemidactylus angulatus was long considered part of the polytypic taxon H. brookii Gray, 1845 [although Schmidt (1919) recognized it as a full species]. Thus, old records of this species from Equatorial Guinea were recorded under the names H. brookii ( Boulenger 1885; Bocage 1903; Mertens 1941) and H. brookii angulatus ( Mertens 1964a) . With the revision by Kluge (1969), the populations from Africa of this species complex were treated as H. brooki angulatus . Carranza & Arnold (2006) considered H. angulatus with specific status, separated from H. brookii , as they do not form a monophyletic group. In the same work, the single specimen sequenced from Bioko was genetically more similar to the Cuban specimens (considered as H. haitianus Meerwarth, 1901 ) than to the rest of African populations ( Carranza & Arnold 2006). Currently, the H. brookii species complex is limited to Asia [type locality restricted to Borneo by Mahony (2011)] ( Carranza & Arnold 2006; Bauer et al. 2010; Mahony 2011), whereas the H. angulatus species complex occurs in Africa, but also in the New World, where it has been introduced ( Carranza & Arnold 2006; Weiss & Hedges 2007). Pérez del Val (2001) listed the specimens MNCN 15664 and MNCN 15666–15668 as H. mabouia , which are herein re-identified as H. angulatus . The specimens MNCN 15664 and MNCN 15666–15668, were supposedly collected in Annobon, together with a single specimen morphologically allied to H. longicephalus (MNCN 15665). Both species have never been recorded in Annobon despite the sampling efforts carried out on this small island ( Jesus et al. 2003). Due to these doubts regarding the specimens MNCN 15664, MNCN 15666–15668, we do not consider H. angulatus as part of the Annobon fauna until further investigations confirm its presence in the island.

Specimens examined. Eight specimens. Río Muni: Bata, 14 March 1933 ( MNCN 4475–4476 ) . Bioko : Malabo 16–24 January 1933 ( MNCN 4473–4474 ) . Annobon Island? ( MNCN 15664 , MNCN 15666–15668 ) .

Figures

MAPS 6 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Ancylodactylus koehleri; (B) Hemidactylus angulatus (question mark represents a dubious record; see species account); (C) Hemidactylus aporus.

FIGURE 8. From left to right: dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of the head of. Hemidactylus angulatus (A) (MNCN 4473), Hemidactylus coalescens (B) (MNCN 4504); and dorsal view of the head, dorsal trunk surface and ventral view of the head of Hemidactylus cf. longicephalus (C) (MNCN 15665). Photos: AS-V.