A new subspecies , Lyciasalamandra atifi oezi n . ssp . ( Urodela : Salamandridae ) from Gazipaşa ( Antalya , Turkey )

In this study, a new subspecies of the Lycian salamander, Lyciasalamandra atifi oezi n. ssp., was described from Gazipaşa (Antalya, Turkey). The Lyciasalamandra specimens collected in Doğanca (Gazipaşa, Antalya) are clearly distinguished from the known subspecies of L. atifi by the very small and few white flecks on the dorsal ground pattern or by the absence of the flecks in some specimens. The light coloration, which can be distinctly observed in front of, behind, and under the eye of L. atifi, is indistinct in the new subspecies, unlike the other subspecies. The body length was observed to be shorter than that of the nominate subspecies but close to that of L. a. bayrami. In juveniles, scattered black flecks are striking on the posterior parts of their parotoids and, unlike adults, denser small and white flecks are striking on top of the head as well as on the dorsum, the tail, and the extremities. In addition, scattered yellow flecks in different sizes and shapes are present on the dorsal tail.

A molecular study by Weisrock et al. (2001) suggests that Turkish terrestrial salamanders in genus Mertensiella should be included in the genus Salamandra.In the same study, it was further pointed out that the forms flavimembris, fazilae, luschani, billae, antalyana and atifi, inhabiting southwestern Anatolia, could be considered at the species level (Salamandra flavimembris, S. fazilae, S. luschani, S. billae, S. antalyana, and S. atifi).Veith & Steinfartz (2004) state that a total of seven terrestrial salamander specieswith one polytypic and six monotypicinhabit south-western Anatolia and the islands in its close vicinity, providing the views of previous researchers (Weisrock et al., 2001) and their respective unpublished data.However, they included those species in genus Lyciasalamandra, which was introduced in the same study, instead of genus Salamandra.Therefore, terrestrial salamander species L. luschani Steindachner (1891), L. helverseni
Lyciasalamandra atifi has a relatively wider distributional range, which extends from Selge (Altınkaya, Manavgat) to Gazipaşa than the other sister species do.Within this relatively wider area, the examined specimens obtained in the Dim Cave in the east of the Dim Tributary were described as L. atifi bayrami by Yıldız & Akman (2015).The researchers stated that the form bayrami had a shorter body length than the nominate subspecies did, a relatively long rostrum, and dark grey coloration on the dorsal side and that the subspecies bayrami of different sexes exhibited pattern differences in comparison with the nominate subspecies.
The present study aims to examine the Lyciasalamandra atifi specimens first recorded in the vicinity of the Doğanca Village, Gazipaşa (Antalya) by morphologically comparing them with the adult specimens collected in Türbelinaz (Dereköy)the type locality of the nominate subspeciesas well as from the vicinity of nearby Taşatan and is intended to provide data on the taxonomical status of these specimens, which were first recorded from the Doğanca Village.

Materials and Methods
One male, four female and two juvenile specimens evaluated in the study were collected in the vicinity of the Doğanca Village in Gazipaşa (Antalya) within the scope of the project "The Task of Inventory and Monitoring of the Biological Diversity of the Terrestrial and Inland Water Ecosystems in Antalya Province", which was funded by the 6 th Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs.Although one male specimen was evaluated in the study, the other two male specimens collected during the study died while they were being transferred to the laboratory from the field and were too impaired to be used for a morphological evaluation.Nevertheless, the color-pattern observation at the first moment of their capture resembled the holotype.
Twenty-four specimens belonging to the three localities (Doğanca, Türbelinaz, and Taşatan) examined in the research were obtained during the fieldwork carried out in spring (March and April).Their color photographs were taken after their color-pattern characteristics had been determined.The new Lyciasalamandra atifi specimens collected in the Doğanca Village, Gazipaşa (Antalya) (1 male, 5 females, 2 juveniles; Leg.C.Varol TOK, Batuhan Y. YAKIN; Lat= 36.246945 , Long.= 32.43292, 390 m a.s.l.) were compared with 16 (6 males, 4 females, 6 juveniles, Leg.C.Varol TOK, Batuhan Yaman YAKIN; Lat.= 36.607821,Long.= 32.05359) additional specimens collected in Türbelinaz (Dereköy)the type locality of the nominate subspecies -as well as from the vicinity of Taşatan nearby Türbelinaz.The collected specimens have been preserved in the Collection of the Molecular Zootaxonomy Laboratory of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University.
The morphological measurements were performed considering the terminology provided by Peters (1964), Öz & Arıkan (1990), Mutz & Steinfartz (1995), Öz et al. (2004), and Çiçek et al. (2010) (Table 1).The researchers of this study carried out body measurements, namely total body length (TBL), head length (HL), snout-vent length 1 (SVL 1), snout-vent length 2 (SVL 2), tail length 1 (TL 1), tail length 2 (TL 2), the distance between the axillar and the inguinal (Ax-In), head width (HW), parotoid length (PL), parotoid width (PW), body length (BL), nostril-eye distance (NoED), the distance between nostrils (Ln), eye diameter (O), forelimb length (Pa), and hindlimb length (Pp).Furthermore, the ratios of HW/HL, TL/TBL, PW/PL and NoED/HL were measured on a caliper with a sensitivity of 0.01 mm.Diagnosis: This subspecies can be distinguished from the nominate subspecies and the subspecies bayrami by the following characteristics.The ground color of the dorsal side is dark brown unlike the subspecies bayrami but as in the nominate subspecies.However, unlike the nominate subspecies, much fewer irregularly scattered white flecks are distinguished on this ground color, whereas some specimens are almost fleckless (Figure 1 A).The white flecks, which are striking on the posterior edges of the parotid glands in the nominate subspecies, are on the dorsal side and much fewer and scattered in this new subspecies (Figure 1  B).The light coloration, distinctly visible in front of, behind, and under the eye in the other two subspecies, is indistinct in this subspecies.A row of white flecks found in the paravertebral area in the males of subspecies bayrami is absent in the males of this new form (Table 2).1).

Lyciasalamandra atifi oezi
The ground color of the dorsal side is dark brown, and very few scattered and irregular white flecks are striking as far as the tail on the posterior part of the head and on the dorsal side.The parotoids contain irregularly scattered black dots and a few white flecks.The black flecks continuing as far as the tip of the tail in the vertebral area are distinct.The upper parts of the extremities are brownish and partly flesh-colored.They contain few and sparse white flecks.The lateral sides of the body are off-white and easily distinguished from the dorsal side.The ventral side is flesh-colored, and white flecks can be seen towards the lateral sides.The projection on the base of the tail is visible to the naked eye (Figure 1 A, B) (Table 2).

Ground color of
Moreover, the coloration given for the holotype and the density of the irregularly scattered black dots and a few white flecks on the parotoids mostly resemble the females selected as the paratypes.The light coloration, distinctly observable in front of, behind, and under the eye in the other two subspecies, is indistinct.Moreover, whilst a relatively larger number of irregularly scattered white flecks are striking on the ground color of the dorsal side in some female specimens, the flecks concerned are absent in some.The black flecks continuing as far as the tip of the tail in the vertebral area are distinct in the females.The upper parts of the extremities are brownish and partly flesh-colored.They contain sparse white flecks.The lateral sides of the body are off-white and easily distinguishable on the dorsal side.The ventral side is flesh-colored, and white flecks can be seen towards the lateral sides (Figure 1 C) (Table 2).
The ground color of the dorsum is dark brown, and, as in the adult specimens, scattered black flecks are striking on the posterior parts of the parotoids in the two juvenile specimens collected from the same region.However, unlike the adult specimens, denser small and white flecks are present on top of the head as well as on the dorsum, tail, and extremities.Additionally, scattered yellow flecks in different sizes and shapes are present on the tail (Figure 1 D) (Table 2).

Habitat and Distribution:
The specimens were collected from the open areas in the forest around the Doğanca Village, Gazipaşa (Figure 2).One ♂, four ♀♀ and two juvenile specimens were obtained from beneath the karstic stones in the region during the first study (05.03.2016) carried out in these areas.In the other study, however, only one ♀ specimen was detected under a stone in an open forest area covered with needles of pine trees during the research performed in the same region.

Derivatio nominis:
The name of the newly described species here is derived from the surname of the Turkish herpetologist Prof. Dr. Mehmet Öz, who made valuable contributions to the Lycian salamander taxonomy.

Discussion
Lyciasalamandra atifi, endemic to southern Anatolia, was first described from Türbelinaz (Dereköy, Alanya, Antalya) in 1967 by Başoğlu and considered a monotypic species until recently.It has been recently stated that the species atifi is represented by more than one subspecies in its distributional range, and the population inhabiting the Dim Cave has been introduced as a new subspecies, L. a. bayrami.It has been discovered that the subspecies concerned has grayish dorsal coloration unlike the nominate subspecies (Yıldız & Akman, 2015).The specimens detected from the vicinity of the Doğanca Village (Gazipaşa, Antalya) in the present study are immediately distinguished from the subspecies bayrami by their dark brown dorsal ground color.Even though the ground color of the dorsal side was stated to be dark brown in the specimens from Türbelinaz (terra typica of the nominate subspecies) in the original definition made by Başoğlu (1967), it was reported that dense, thin and white flecks were visible in this ground color.The color-pattern status indicated for the nominate subspecies by Başoğlu (1967) was also found similar in the adult specimens of the nominate subspecies examined from Türbelinaz and Taşatan by us, and irregularly scattered thin and white flecks were detected on the dorsal ground color.Nevertheless, unlike the nominate subspecies and the subspecies bayrami, the white flecks are either very rarely encountered on the dark brown ground color on the dorsal side in the adult specimens we detected around the Doğanca Village or hardly visible as in some specimens.However, it was established that the white flecks concerned formed two longitudinal bands in the males of the subspecies bayrami, and this type of pattern was not encountered in the male specimens we detected from the vicinity of the Doğanca Village in the present study.
In the study by Yıldız & Akman (2015), it was reported that the mean body length value of the adults of the subspecies bayrami [136 mm (range: 102-171 mm)] was lower than that of the nominate subspecies [158 mm (134-176) by Başoğlu (1967); 141.33 mm (range: 105-164) by Öz et al. (2004); 161 mm (range: 134-181) by Baran & Üçüncü (1994); and 153 mm (range: 132-171) by Yıldız & Akman (2015)].The mean total length value in the adult specimens of the new subspecies we detected from the vicinity of the Doğanca Village was calculated to be 139 mm (range: 127-154), and it was observed that this value was lower than the mean values given for the nominate subspecies in the literature but close to the value for the subspecies bayrami.
Until recently, the distributional range of L. atifi, described from the Türbelinaz Village (Alanya, Antalya), has been known to cover a narrow zone (Baran & Üçüncü, 1994;Öz et al., 2004).Nevertheless, the distributional range of the species was relatively extended with the studies carried out in the following years (Akman et al., 2011;Göçmen et al., 2013;Yıldız & Akman, 2015).However, L. atifi is included in the EN category of the IUCN Red List, and it is stated that its population tend to decrease due to the degradation of their habitats (Cox et al., 2006).By determining, in the present study, that the specimens detected from the vicinity of the Doğanca Village (Gazipaşa, Antalya)a new localityshowed morphological and morphometric differences from the other two subspecies acknowledged to inhabit the distributional range of L. atifi, it was revealed that a new subspecies inhabited the region and this new population was named L. atifi oezi n. ssp.As also emphasized before, there is a need for studies on the distributions, ecologies, and taxonomies of taxa Lyciasalamandra in southern Anatolia.A taxonomical evaluation should be made by examining an adequate number of specimens from the other populations of L. atifi that inhabit its distributional range.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.A Dorsal aspects of the holotype; B Parotoids of holotype; C Dorsal aspects of the paratype female; D Dorsal aspects of the juvenile specimen from the Doğanca Village (Gazipaşa, Antalya).

Table 2 .
Comparison of morphological features of the subspecies of L. atifi.