A PRELIMINARY CHECKLIST AND DISTRIBUTION OF LIZARDS OF QATAR

Aitor Valden1,2, Aurora M Castilla3,4, Dan Coglniceanu5, Alberto Gos2, Paloma Mas-Peinado6, Ali Alkuwary7, Essam O. H. Saifelnasr8,9, Noora Al-Jaidah3, Renee Richer10 , Ahmad Amer Mohd Al-Hemaidi11
1Department

of Geography and Regional Planning. University of Zaragoza. Pedro Cerbuna, 12. Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail: emys@galapagosdenavarra.com; 2Department of Herpetology, Aranzadi Society of Sciences. Zorroagagaina, 11. San Sebastin, Spain. E-mail: emys@galapagosdenavarra.com; agosa@aranzadi-zientziak.org; 3Department of Biodiversity, Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Qatar Foundation, Education City, P.O. Box 5825, Doha, Qatar; mail: acastilla@qf.org.qa; castilla.aurora@gmail.com; naljaidah@qnrf.org.qa; 4Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC)-Spanish National Research Council (CSIC); 5University Ovidius Constana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Agricultural Sciences, Al. Universitatii 1, corp B, 900740 Constana, Romania. E-mail: dcogalniceanu@univ-ovidius.ro; 6Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology; National Museum of Natural Sciences; Spanish National Research Council (CSIC); C/ Jos Gutirrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; E-mail: p.mas@mncn.csic.es; 7Wildlife Research Section, Ministry of Environment, Qatar, P.O. Box 7635, Doha, Qatar; E-mail: alialkubary@hotmail.com; 8Genetic Resources Department, Biotechnology Centre, Ministry of Environment, Qatar, P.O. Box 200022, Doha, Qatar; E-mail: esnasr@moe.gov.qa; es_saifelnasr@yahoo.com; 9Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt;10Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar Foundation, Education City, P.O. Box 5825, Doha, Qatar. E-mail: rer2007@qatar-med.cornell.edu; 11 Ministry of Environment, Qatar, P.O. Box 7634, Doha, Qatar; E-mail: moe@moe.gov.qa

Table 1. Lizard families and species recorded in 2012-2013 in Qatar.

Sphaerodactylidae
Pristurus rupestris

Hemidactylus robustus Hemidactylus flaviviridis

Acanthodactylus schmidti Acanthodactylus opheodurus

Gekkonidae
Stenodactylus arabicus Stenodactylus slevini Stenodactylus doriae Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis Bunopus tuberculatus Cyrtopodion scabrum Hemidactylus persicus

Scincidae
Scincus mitranus Trachylepis septemtaeniata

Varanidae
Varanus griseus

Agamidae
Uromastyx aegyptia Phrynocephalus arabicus Trapelus flavimaculatus

Trogonophidae
Diplometopon zarudnyi

A preliminary inventory of lizards of Qatar was done during October 2012 and March-May 2013 (45 days of total fieldwork). Our aim was 1) to develop a sample protocol in order to perform a future atlas of distribution (10 x 10 km grid), and 2) to obtain the first systematized records, which are now presented. During fieldwork 605 lizard sightings were made, 132 in 2012 and 473 in 2013. Three islands (Halul, Alaliah, and Saflia) furthermore the mainland were prospected. The precise location of the animals was taken with a handheld GPS and a database was created, including data on habitat, toponimy when available, and information on observed animals, sex, age, etc. These data were translated to 10 x 10 Km grid system, based on the Qatar National Datum (QND 1995).

Species inventory

Lacertidae
Mesalina adramitana Mesalina brevirostris

Our data confirm the presence of 21 lizard species (Table 1; Figures 1 and 2), two of them new for Qatar (Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis and Hemidactylus persicus). The 21 species inventoried belong to 7 families, Gekkonidae being the most abundant with nine species (see Table 1).

Pristurus rupestris

Stenodactylus arabicus

Stenodactylus slevini

Stenodactylus doriae

Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis

Bunopus tuberculatus

Cyrtopodion scabrum

Hemidactylus persicus

Hemidactylus robustus

Hemidactylus flaviviridis

Scincus mitranus

Trachylepis septemtaeniata

Figure 1. Distribution maps of lizard species occurring in Qatar (QND95 10 x 10 km grid).

Diplometopon zarudnyi

Mesalina adramitana

Mesalina brevirostris

Abundance

We estimated the relative abundance of the different lizard species based on the total number of sightings. Uromastyx aegyptia, Bunopus tuberculatus and Cyrtopodion scabrum were the most observed species, amounting more than 50 % of sightings (figure 3). Lizard populations are seemingly disseminated with low population densities, a large proportion of species were being rare or very rare. Therefore, we computed a Species Accumulation Curve (SAC), indicating that the inventory is not complete because the curve does not reach an asymptote (Figure 4). Based on the number of lizard species occurring in the near Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (>30) some additional species could be found in the future in Qatar. Our preliminary results will help to understand the terrestrial biodiversity in the country, and will lead to establishing better management and conservation of biodiversity.

Acanthodactylus schmidti

Acanthodactylus opheodurus

Varanus griseus

Uromastyx aegyptia

Phrynocephalus arabicus

Trapelus flavimaculatus

Figure 3. Relative abundance of lizard species inventoried in Qatar based on the percentage of sightings (n=605) during the 45 days of fieldwork.

Figure 4. Species accumulation curve (SAC) and 95% confidence interval, based on daily effort of capture (days in the field, n=45).

Figure 2. Images of the 21 species of lizards.

We acknowledge the logistic support of Qatar Foundation, the Ministry of the Environment, Ras Laffan and Qatar Petroleum, and particularly to Dr Rabi Mohtar, Mr Faisal M Alsuwaidi, Dr Khalid Al-Subai, Dr Chee Wen Chong, Dr Mohammad Khaleel, Mr Mohammed El-Mohanady, Mr Khaled Helal Al-Enazi, Mr Mohammed Ali Humaid, Mr Jackie Wessel, Mr Salman Fahad Salman H. Al-Mohannadi and Dr Mohammad Albeldawi. Many thanks to Dr Anthony Herrel, Dr Rodrigo Riera, Ms Maha K Al-Sulaiti, Ms Mooza Al Mohannadi, Ms Sara Al Naimi, Mr John Tribuna, to different members of the QF and the QEERI teams, and also to many Qatari students, farmers and locals that provided their help during the field work or gave us the location and photos of some lizards in Qatar. The Department of Education of the Government of Navarre (Spain) granted Mr Aitor Valden. This study has been possible by the Project #QF.00.307.722011.QE11 (Qatar Foundation) to Dr Aurora M Castilla.

Acknowledgements