Acta Herpetologica 11(1): 59-61, 2016 ISSN 1827-9635 (print) © Firenze University Press ISSN 1827-9643 (online) www.fupress.com/ah DOI: 10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-17873 Amendment of the type locality of the endemic Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris Fritz et al. 2005, with some notes on the highest altitude reached by the species (Testudines, Emydidae) Federico Marrone*, Francesco Sacco, Vincenzo Arizza, Marco Arculeo Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi 18, 90123 Palermo, Italy. *Corresponding author. E-mail: federico.marrone@unipa.it Submitted on 2016, 27th January; revised on 2016, 12th February; accepted on 2016, 15th February Editor: Sebastiano Salvidio Abstract. The type locality of the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris is here amended, and its correct name and geo- graphical coordinates are provided. The locus typicus of the species lies at 1007 m a.s.l., i.e. nearly 400 m below what previously thought. The updated altitudinal distribution range of the species, based on verified published localities only, is between 0 and 1036 m a.s.l. Keywords. Altitudinal limit, type locality, Sicily, Emydidae. The largely Nearctic family Emydidae is represented in the Palaearctic region by two species belonging to the genus Emys Duméril 1805: the polytypic European pond turtle, E. orbicularis (Linnaeus 1758), which is widely spread in Eurasia and Maghreb, and the endemic Sicilian pond turtle, E. trinacris Fritz et al., 2005 (Stuckas et al., 2015; Vamberger et al., 2015). The Sicilian pond turtle was originally described based on molecular data only (Fritz et al., 2005), while its morphological variability and the possible morphological or morphometric differences between E. trinacris and E. orbicularis were later investigated by several authors (e.g. Fritz et al., 2006; Zuffi et al., 2006; D’Angelo et al., 2008; Arizza et al., 2014). Some data on the leech parasites occurring on E. trinacris and E. orbicularis are reported by Marrone et al. (2006). The holotype of Emys trinacris is an adult male col- lected on May 9th 1968 on the Nebrodi mountain range (north-eastern Sicily) by E. Kramer and S. Dereani, and stored in Museo Zoologico ‘La Specola’, Florence, with accession number MZUF11136 (Fritz et al., 2005). In the description of the species, the name of the collec- tion locality has been reported as “Lago Gian Fenaro, below the pass of Pizzo Laminaria approximately 1400 m above sea level” (Fritz et al. 2005). The same locality name for this specimen was reported by Turrisi and Vac- caro (1997), and Di Cerbo (2011), all of them directly or indirectly referring to Fritz (1995) or Fritz et al. (2005). Conversely, referring to the same specimen stored in ‘La Specola’, the locality name was reported as “Gran Ferraro” by Zuffi et al. (2006), and the specimen was erroneously reported as a female. In the light of the unusually high altitude reported for the type locality of E. trinacris, and of the lack of oth- er information about the type locality of this important endemic species, we attempted to gather further infor- mation on the precise location where the holotype was collected. We explored the Sicilian toponyms through the ‘Portale Cartografico Nazionale” of the Italian ‘Min- istero dell’ambiente e della tutela del territorio e del mare’ (http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/GN/) and through an accurate study of the available cartography focusing on 60 Federico Marrone et alii the Monti Nebrodi area, but the toponyms “Gian Fenaro” and “Pizzo Laminaria” were not found in the whole Sicil- ian territory. Through the courtesy of dr. Annamaria Nistri, we obtained access to the original hand-written label for the E. trinacris holotype, and could check for the spelling of the locality reported on it. The label reads: “Nel Lago Gian Ferraro, sotto il Passo di Pizzo Laminaria (Monti Nebrodi; Sicilia) m 1400 s.l.m.” (Fig. 1). In fact, on the Nebrodi mountains, few hundreds of metres NW of Piz- zo Luminaria (coord.: 14.50695 E, 37.95337 N, elevation: 1260 m a.s.l.), there is a spring (Sorgente Gianferraro, coord.: 14.50078 E, 37.95612 N, altitude: 1088 m a.s.l.) which feeds a pond. This last pond does not have a name on the official Italian IGM maps, but local shepherds call it “Laghetto Gianferraro” (i.e. “Lakelet Gianferraro”). We positively think that this pond is the locality where the specimen coded MZUF11136 in the collection of ‘La Specola’ was collected, furthermore we believe that “Pizzo Laminaria” (which does not exist in Sicily) is to be considered a misspelling of “Pizzo Luminaria”, and that “Lago Gian Ferraro” is a misspelling of “Lago Gianferraro”. Accordingly, the erroneous name of the type locality was corrected, following Recommendation 74A.2 of the Inter- national Code on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999). Thus, the amended type locality of Emys trinacris is: Laghetto Gianferraro Coordinates (WGS84, decimal degrees): 14.497241 E, 37.951625 N Elevation: 1007 m a.s.l. This pond occurs within the protected area “Parco Regionale dei Nebrodi”, in the Municipality of Caronia (Province of Messina), Sicily, Italy. The amended type locality for Emys trinacris lies at an altitude of 1007 m a.s.l., which is within the known range of the species. In fact, although existing literature reports for the species an altitudinal distribution range of 0-1200 m a.s.l. (e.g. Tur- risi, 2008), or 0-1400 m a.s.l., when the altitude reported in the label of the specimen MZUF11136 is included (e.g. Podloucky, 1997; Turrisi and Vaccaro, 1997, Di Cerbo, 2010; Mazzotti and Zuffi, 2006), to our knowledge the higher occurrence locality for the species published to date is the pond Urio Quattrocchi (coord.: 14.395758 E, 37.901304 N), occurring at 1036 m a.s.l. on the Nebrodi mountain range (municipality of Mistretta); the occur- rence of the species at higher altitudes is to date only anecdotal, and the isolate observations of single E. tri- nacris specimens in the highly popular Lago Maulazzo (coord.: 14.672098 E, 37.941825 N, altitude: 1448 m a.s.l.) (F.P. Faraone and M. Romano, pers. comm.) are likely to Fig. 1. Label of the holotype of Emys trinacris Fritz et al., 2005 stored in the Museo ‘La Specola’, Florence. Note that the code reported on the label is “111136”, while on the specimen the code “11136” is reported (cf. Fig. 2B). Fig. 2. Holotype of Emys trinacris. A: anterior view; B: posterior view. Note the label with the code “11136”. 61Amendment of Emys trinacris type locality be ascribed to the anthropogenic introduction of observed specimens. Accordingly, to date, the updated altitudinal distribution range of the species is 0-1036 m a.s.l. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. A. Nistri (Museo ‘La Specola’, Florence) and Dr. S. Lo Bianco (University of Palermo, Palermo) are kind- ly acknowledged for the help they provided in accessing and taking pictures of the label of Emys trinacris holo- type. Prof. U. Fritz (Senckenberg Dresden, Dresden) is acknowledged for the stimulating discussion on the topic of this note. REFERENCES Arizza, V., Russo, D., Marrone, F., Sacco, F., Arculeo, M. (2014): Morphological characterization of the blood cells in the endangered endemic pond turtle, Emys tri- nacris (Testudines: Emydidae) Ital. J. Zool. 81: 344-353. D’Angelo, S., Galia, F., Lo Valvo, M. (2008): Biometric characterization of two Sicilian pond turtle (Emys tri- nacris) populations of south-western Sicily. Rev. Esp. Herp. 22: 15-22. Di Cerbo, A. (2010): Emys trinacris. In: Fauna d’Italia Reptilia, p. 163-168. Corti, C., Capula, M., Luiselli, L., Razzetti, E., Sindaco, R., Eds, Calderini, Bologna. Duméril, A.M.C. (1805): Zoologie analytique, ou méth- ode naturelle de classification des animaux. Perron- neau, Paris. Fritz, U. (1995): Zur innerartlichen Variabilität von Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758). 5a. Taxonomie in Mittel- Westeuropa, auf Korsika, Sardinien, der Apenninen- Halbinsel und Sizilien und Unterartengruppen von E. orbicularis. Zool. Abh. 48: 185-242. Fritz, U., Fattizzo, T., Guicking, D., Tripepi, S., Pennisi, M.G., Lenk, P., Joger, U., Wink, M. (2005): A new cryptic species of pond turtle from southern Italy, the hottest spot in the range of the genus Emys (Reptilia, Testudines, Emydidae). Zool. Scripta 34: 351-371. Fritz, U., D’Angelo, S., Pennisi, M. G., Lo Valvo, M. (2006a): Variation of Sicilian pond turtles, Emys trina- cris - What makes a species cryptic? Amphibia-Reptil- ia 27: 513-529. ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomen- clature) (1999): International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th edn. International Trust for Zoo- logical Nomenclature, London. (accessible at: http:// www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp). Linnaeus, C. (1758): Systema naturae per regna tria nat- urae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (10th ed.). Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm. Marrone, F., Sacco, F., Kehlmaier, C., Arizza, V., Arculeo, M. (2016): Some like it cold: the glossiphoniid para- sites of the Sicilian endemic pond turtle Emys trina- cris (Testudines, Emydidae), an example of ‘parasite inertia’? J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 54: 60-66. Mazzotti, S., Zuffi, M. (2006): Emys orbicularis. In: Atlan- te degli Anfibi e dei Rettili d’Italia, p. 377- 381. Bar- bieri, F., Doria, G., Sindaco, R. Eds., Firenze, Polis- tampa. Podloucky, R., (1997): Emys orbicularis. In: Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Europe, pp. 170-171. Gasc, J.-P., Cabela, A., Crnobrnja-Isailovic, J., Dol- men, D., Grossenbacher, K., Haffner, P., Lescure, J., Martens, H., Martinez Rica, J.P., Maurin, H., Olivei- ra, M.E., Sofianidou, T.S., Veith, M., Zuiderwijk, A. Eds., Societas Europaea Herpetologica and Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (IEGB/SPN), Paris. Stuckas, H., Velo-Antón, G., Fahd, S., Kalboussi, M., Rouag, R., Arculeo, M., Marrone, F., Sacco, F., Vam- berger, M., Fritz, U. (2014): Where are you from, stranger? The enigmatic biogeography of North Afri- can pond turtles (Emys orbicularis). Org. Divers. Evol. 14: 295-306. Turrisi, G.F., Vaccaro, A. (1997): Contributo alla con- oscenza degli anfibi e dei rettili di Sicilia. Boll. Acc. Gioenia Sci. Nat. 353: 5-88. Turrisi, G.F. (2008): Emys trinacris. In: Atlante della Bio- diversità della Sicilia: Vertebrati terrestri, p. 277-280. AA.VV., Palermo, Arpa Sicilia. Vamberger, M., Stuckas, H., Sacco, F., D’Angelo, S., Arcu- leo, M., Cheylan, M., Corti, C., Lo Valvo, M., Mar- rone, F., Wink, M., Fritz, U. (2015): Differences in gene flow in a twofold secondary contact zone of pond turtles in southern Italy (Testudines: Emydidae: Emys orbicularis galloitalica, E. o. hellenica, E. trinac- ris). Zool. Scripta 44: 233-249. Zuffi, M.A.L., Odetti, F., Battistoni, R., Mancino, G. (2006). Geographic variation of sexual size dimor- phism and genetics in the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis and Emys trinacris, of Italy. Ital. J. Zool. 73: 363-372. Acta Herpetologica Vol. 11, n. 1 - June 2016 Firenze University Press Feeding Habits of Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Testudines: Chelidae) Elizângela Silva Brito1,*, Franco Leandro Souza2, Christine Strüssmann3 Morphology, ecology, and behaviour of Hylarana intermedia, a Western Ghats frog Ambika Kamath1, Rachakonda Sreekar2,3 A new account for the endangered Cerrado Rocket Frog Allobates goianus (Bokermann, 1975) (Anura: Aromobatidae), with comments on taxonomy and conservation Thiago Ribeiro de Carvalho1,2,*, Lucas Borges Martins1,2, Ariovaldo Antonio Giaretta1 Molecular phylogenetics of the Pristimantis lacrimosus species group (Anura: Craugastoridae) with the description of a new species from Colombia Mauricio Rivera-Correa, Juan M. Daza* Population structure and activity pattern of one species of Adenomera Steindachner, 1867 (Anura: Leptodactylidae) in northeastern Brazil Maria Juliana Borges-Leite1,*, João Fabrício Mota Rodrigues2, Patrícia De Menezes Gondim1, Diva Maria Borges-Nojosa1 Vocal repertoire of Scinax v-signatus (Lutz 1968) (Anura, Hylidae) and comments on bioacoustical synapomorphies for Scinax perpusillus species group Marco Antônio Peixoto1,*, Carla Silva Guimarães1, João Victor A. Lacerda2, Fernando Leal2, Pedro C. Rocha2, Renato Neves Feio1 Amendment of the type locality of the endemic Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris Fritz et al. 2005, with some notes on the highest altitude reached by the species (Testudines, Emydidae) Federico Marrone*, Francesco Sacco, Vincenzo Arizza, Marco Arculeo Photo-identification in amphibian studies: a test of I3S Pattern Marco Sannolo1,*, Francesca Gatti2, Marco Mangiacotti3,4, Stefano Scali3, Roberto Sacchi4 No evidence for the ‘expensive-tissue hypothesis’ in the dark-spotted frog, Pelophylax nigromaculatus Li Zhao, Min Mao, Wen Bo Liao* No short term effect of Clinostomum complanatum (Trematoda: Digenea: Clinostomatidae) on survival of Triturus carnifex (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae) Giacomo Bruni1,*, Claudio Angelini2 Yeasts in amphibians are common: isolation and the first molecular characterization from Thailand Srisupaph Poonlaphdecha, Alexis Ribas* Introduction of Eleutherodactylus planirostris (Amphibia, Anura, Eleutherodactylidae) to Hong Kong Wing Ho Lee1, Michael Wai-Neng Lau2, Anthony Lau3, Ding-qi Rao4, Yik-Hei Sung5,* Correlation between endoscopic sex determination and gonad histology in pond sliders, Trachemys scripta (Reptilia: Testudines: Emydidae) David Perpiñán1, Albert Martínez-Silvestre2,3, Ferran Bargalló3, Marco Di Giuseppe4, Jorge Orós5, Taiana Costa6,* Book Review: John W. Wilkinson. Amphibian Survey and Monitoring Handbook. Pelagic Publishing Franco Andreone Book Review: Susan Newman. Frogs amphibians and their threatened environment. Discovery and expression through Art K-3. Frogs are green Franco Andreone