Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768)

Jablonski, Daniel, Khalili, Faizurrahman & Masroor, Rafaqat, 2023, The herpetofaunal diversity of Takhar Province, Afghanistan, Herpetozoa 36, pp. 73-90 : 73

Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768)

Figs 9 , 10E, F

Takhar records.

Taleqan (Takhar University Campus), 36.7388°N, 69.4852°E, 775 m a.s.l., 14 September 2020, observed near the irrigation canal and rice fields around 11 p.m., one adult female eating Pelophylax terentievi (CUHC-PA 176); Bay Yawa (Parchaw Khana), 37.4088°N, 69.7346°E, 720 m a.s.l., 4 September 2021, stony shore near the water, juvenile individual of unknown sex (CUHC-PA 205); Bay Yawa, 37.4291°N, 69.7208°E, 681 m a.s.l., 9 September 2021, stony shore near water, one adult female (later killed by the local farmer).

Distribution in Afghanistan.

The species is known from the Provinces of Badakhshan, Balkh, Bamiyan, Faryab, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kunduz ( Wagner et al. 2016) and Takhar, representing 26% of all provinces.

Chorotype.

Turanian + Siberian-European + Mediterranean + West Asian Mountains transition zone.

Remarks.

Jablonski et al. (2023) studied populations of dice snakes from Central Asia including Afghanistan and found that their previously uncovered mitochondrial lineages ( Guicking et al. 2009) are affiliated with specific river systems. The population from adjacent Kunduz Province has been affiliated to so-called Uzbekistan lineage distributed in the Amu Darya Basin. Moreover, Central Asiatic populations show deep divergence from populations from Europe and, thus, further taxonomical changes are possible with additional data. Our here-provided records are the first-ever documentation of this species for Takhar Province. The geographic origin of specimens BMNH 1938.2.4.12-14 mentioned by Wagner et al. (2016) is unknown. Thus, they cannot be included to the georeferenced dataset of the species from Afghanistan.

Figures

Figure 9. Herpetofaunistic records of Erycidae, Colubridae, Natricidae and Elapidae from Takhar Province in the context of updated records from Afghanistan (white dots: published data; red dots: new data).

Figure 10. A. Juvenile individual of Eryx tataricus from Taleqan (CUHC-PA 175); B. Adult female of E. tataricus from Bay Yawa (Kaserkul) (CUHC-PA 188); C, D. Dorsal and ventral view on subadult male of Hemorrhois ravergieri from Bay Yawa (Kaserkul) (CUHC-PA 177); E. Ventral view on adult female of Natrix tessellata from Taleqan (CUHC-PA 176); F. Adult female of N. tessellata from Bay Yawa (CUHC-PA 206); G. Juvenile individual of Naja oxiana from Bay Yawa (CUHC-PA 199).